Quantifying Human Resources

5The Ethical Issues of Quantification

The philosopher Hans Jonas (1995) devoted part of his work to the question of human responsibility in a context of very rapid technological and logical change. He thus pointed out that the modern context is characterized by a strong unpredictability due to this speed, and by a considerably increased power of the human being over their environment. He thus proposed to renew the categorical Kantian imperative (“Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law”) by “act so that the effects of your action are compatible with the permanence of genuine human life”. This imperative underlines the responsibility of human beings toward nature, but also toward future generations.

However, the changes that have appeared in the field of quantification and its use in HR seem to contribute to a context similar to that studied by Jonas: a strong unpredictability of future developments for the HR function and organizations, and an increased power of quantification in the HR field. Therefore, in this chapter the question of the ethical issues associated with the use of quantification will be raised. The first issue, highlighted at European level by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) but also at national level (for example by the French National Commission for Data Protection (CNIL) in France), concerns the protection of personal data (section 5.1). Indeed, the rise of quantification ...