5?Eui fork ?tatB (flalUge of AgrttuUute At Qlornell MninerHttH 3tljaca. J}. S. ..2.-'^.l-fc.- Cornell University Library HF 5500.E5 Employer and employee 3 1924 013 823 814 The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013823814 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE BUILDING AN EFFICIENT ORGANIZATION PROMOTION FROM THE RANKS SECURING A POSITION TRAINING FOR HIGHER PLACES A. W. SHAW COMPANY CHICAGO NEW YOEK LONDON 1916 Copyright, IMS, by The System Company Entered at Stationers' Hall in Great Britain, 19og, by The System Company Entered according to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year 1909, by the System Company at the Department of Agriculture Entered according to the Act of Parliament of the United Commonwealth of Australia in the year 1909, by The System Company Copyright in Germany. 1009, by The System Company Copyright in France, 1909, by The System Company Copyright in Mexico, 1909, by The System Company Under the Title "The Business Man's Library" — Vol. VHI (Trade-mark Registered) PREFACE The greatest problem before the modem business man is the organization and maintenance of his work- ing force. The first essential to a successful career for the employed man is to fit himself for definite work and then to secure the position where he can use his ability to the best advantage and gain ad- vancement The realization of these two facts proved true by the experience of every man, has led the publishers to put into print this volume on "Employer and Em- ployee." It is not a discussion of the "labor problem," so-called. It does not teach an employer how to squeeze his working force down to the minimum wage, nor the employee how to hold the club of disruption over his employer's head. Business harmony and industrial progress are promoted by other means than these. This book is based on the belief that they can be secured, on the one hand, through proper organization of the working force, consistent treatment of employees, careful selec- tion of men, fairness and candor in all dealings with them; on the other hand, through thorough training for a particular kind of work, honesty in stating one's qualifications, judgment in taking a position, experience in the things that contribute to giving satisfaction, willingness to use every effort for the business in which one is employed. To the discussion of such questions, this book is devoted. PREFACE The first part considers the viewpoint and prob- lems of the employer, and discusses the selecting, hir- ing and organizing of a working force, the systems by which it may be handled satisfactorily and the methods by which the individuals and the force may be developed in efficiency and capability. In the second part of the book, the employee's point of view is maintained: how to secure a position, how to hold it, how to prepare himself for higher positions, how to work up through the ranks. These points are treated in their varying aspects as they ap- pear in different lines of activity and in every grade of workmen — from manufacturing to retailing, from office boys to executives. The men who are most competent to discuss these matters are the men who have had experience in them — employers who have hired and handled working forces, employees who have made the most of their opportunities. Such men have written this book, and have therefore made it a practical textbook. They are not theorists, writing on something that they know not of, but men who have tried and succeeded, and whose names count for much in the lines of work concerning which they write. To all these men the thanks of the publishers are due for their co-operation in this task, and for the time and thought they have devoted to the perfecting of their individual chapters. THE PUBLISHERS. CONTENTS BOOK I— THE EMPLOYER PART 1— HOW TO FIND, SELECT AND HIRE MEN Ghapteb Pagb L BuTLDiNQ A Business Machinb 3 John V. Farwell, President, John V. Farwell Company TL HmrNG and Thaining Office Workers 8 Marshall D. Wilber, President of the Wilber Mer- cantile Agency IIL Building Up a Sales Force 13 W, A. Waterbuiy, Sales Manager, A B. Dick Oo. IV. Developing An Advertising Staff 27 Stanley Clague, President, Clague Painter Jones Co. V. Securing and Training Technical Men 31 F. M. Peiker, Technical Editor VL Hiring Factory Clerks 39 F. M. Feiker, Technical Editor VII. How to Secure Factory Workers 45 H. A. Worman, Former Manager Employment Department, National Cash Register Co. VIII. Promoting Men from the Ranks 53 H. A, Worman, Former Manager Employment Department, National Cash Register Co. IX. Building Up a Retail Sales Force 59 C. M. Jones, General Superintendent, The Fair X. Selecting and Trainlng Executives 65 Clarence M. WooUey, President, The American Radiator Company Part n— SYSTEMS AND RECORDS FOR HANDLINQ THE WORKING FORCE XL The Machinery op Hiring Men 71 H. A. Worman, Former Manager Employment Department, National Cash Register Co. XII. Handling Application and History Records . . 82 O. N. Manners XIIL Timekeeping and Payroll Systems 92 James Germain XIV. Paying Labor for the Best Results 102 Hugo Diemer, Former Shop Systematizer, Good- man Manufacturing Co. BOOK II— THE EMPLOYEE Part ni.— HOW TO SECURE A POSITION CbAFTEB PaOB XV. Choosing an Employer 116 H. A. Worman, Former Manager Employment Department, National Cash Roister Co. XVL The Essentials op Personal Salesmanship . . . 123 H. A. Worman XVII. Applting for a Position as Office Clerk 132 S. Roland Hall, of the International Correspond- ence Schools XVIIL How to Secure a Position as Bookkeeper .... 146 S Roland Hall XIX. How TO Secure a Position as Stenooraphbb. . 150 S. Roland Hall XX. How TO Secure a Position as Retail Clerk . . 155 S Roland HaU XXL How to Apply fob a Position as Adtebtisinq Man 159 S. Roland HaU XXIL How TO Apply for a Position as Technical Man 164 S Roland Hall Part IV— HOW TO ACQUIRE TRAINING FOR HIGHER POSITIONS XXIIL How TO Work Up Through the Ranks 169 H. A. Worman, Former Manager Employment Department, National Cash Register Co XXIV. Self Training for a Head Bookkeeper's Posi- tion 178 Charles A. Sweetland, Consulting Accountant XXV. The Making of a Credit Manager 183 G. William Barnum XXVL Pbeparation fob the Work of a Purchasing Agent 190 F. Lancaster, Former Purchasing Agent, Goodman Manufacturing Co. XXVII. TsAiNiNa fob Salesmanship 194 W. A. Waterbury, Sales Manager, A. B. Dick Co. X XVIIL How to Become a Correspondent 199 Charles R. Wiers, Chief Correspondent Larkin Soap Co. XXIX. How TO Become an Advbbtising Man 204 William D. McJunkin, Advertising Agent XXX. Secubino Promotion to a Fobemanship 208 Hugo Diemer, Former Shop Systematizer, Good- man Manufacturing Co. XXXI. The Rise of a Chief ENaunsER-- 213 Hugo Diemer BOOK I THE EMPLOYER CHAPTER I BUILDING A BUSINESS MACHINE BY JOHN V. FARWELL, JR. President, John V. Farwell Company While the individuals of a business house are think- ing beings and should work freely, as a co-ordinate whole, they must work together automatically — they must be molded into a smoothly running, precise ma- chine. To build a successful business requires the same factor as the building of any great organization; first, proper selection of material; second, proper molding or training of this material; third, the generation of power which is to run the organization, and fourth, the transmission of this power into and through the compli- cated organism. The selection of employees follows carefully tested principles. I have always believed in hiring young men and boys for the minor positions and letting them develop into the more responsible office positions. The employer who has this end in view is necessarily careful whom he chooses. The first requisite is heredity — ^that he eome from a good family. By this I do not mean an aristocratic ancestry, but the family show itself industrioxis, hon- est and with business instinct — for good blood nowa- days means commercialism. 3 4 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE Second is environment — which means the home life and the bringing up of the boy. If a man has not been reared in proper surroundings, he will not have those habits of industry, breeding and integrity which we want. And if his environment is not good, while he is in our employ he will be so influenced by his poor surroundings that our training will have no effect upon him and he will not fit into our organization. Fitness is the final essential in selection. This means that he must have good working ability. I have never laid great stress upon marked talents— evidences of unusual cleverness or business acumen; these are likely to produce a superior feeling which means fail- ure in every related part to do its work. A determined propensity makes a man hard to fit into a particular place. It is better to take unshaped material and mold it to the proper form. Next comes the training of the individual. Here three things are to be demanded: first, thoroughness; second, promptness; third, appreciation. To be thorough is the basis of this training. It plays the same part in business as smooth, absolutely exact molding does in a machine. Here again is a reason for starting a man in at the bottom; he learns all the details about the business A Ch to ^^ working with them — and he is left Demonstrate long enough in one place so that he will Abiuty learn these details. When a man is placed in a department, he usually enters as a junior and passes through three grades of juniors before he be- comes a responsible head. As he learns he is advanced. If he qualifies, he is promoted to a senior — a grade filled only by those who have demonstrated absolutely their ability with us. Thus we put no part in our or- JOHN V. PAEWELL, JR. 5 ganization that is likely to break or grind, unable to stand the pressure at some unforeseen point. To be prompt is the next essential. Many people will wonder at this, but here the analogy to the machine is especially close. What would be the value of the machine if one wheel or even a bolt were missing for half an hour? The machine might work in a stumb- ling manner, but far under its normal efficiency. So in an institution like ours the individuals should be at their various posts ready to do their duties, ready to carry along their part of the work. If one employee comes in at 8, another at 8 :10, and a third at 8 .-15, the machine inevitably stumbles along, gets a false start — and thus forever destroys co-ordi- nation. By appreciation — the third point — ^I mean a feel- ing of the importance of the work which the man has in hand, of the responsibility to do the best he can for the house. Our aim is always to place an employee where he best fits and then give him full responsibility. He must appreciate this opportunity — he must appreciate that one part of the work rests absolutely with him. It is false in training employees to put too much emphasis upon the fact that they are unrelated indi- viduals ; they should also be taught that they are parts of a great whole. The employee must know and feel that he is with the house for the good of the house; that every duty, every difficulty, every exaction is for its service; that the organization is bigger than the individual units. If this understanding is established, and if at the same time a sympathy with the policy of the house is aroused in the employee, a real beginning for co-ordinate service has been started. 6 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE To co-ordinate the various parts of this organism to run the business is the worfe of the executive at the head; and he must be the man who generates the power — the spirit of enthusiasm which pushes a busi- ness ahead. To make a group of department managers, such as the thirty-five we have, work together, the executive How Contact ^^^^t use a tangible system. We have an With Executive informal trade committee which meets as 18 Maintained required for the consideration of matters of vital interest, also three merchandise directors who are experts in sections. The executive head also aims to talk and consult with the merchandise directors and with the department managers individually at frequent intervals. The policy, aims and methods of the house are thus transmitted from the executive head to the department^ manager, from him to the sub-manager, through him to the seniors, and then to the juniors in the service. The power flows without waste from the generator to the uttermost parts of the machine. The handling of the outside parts of this organiza- tion, the traveling men, who come in contact with the public, is the most difficult matter. Our aim has always been to secure our salesmen either from our own ranks, and thus be sure of having men who understand our policy, or from among retailers, and thus secure men who know the other side of the problem. In either case, they lack one-half of the training, and this must be instilled into them. Our salesmen come in much closer contact with the home office than in most houses, for the specific object of transmitting to them this spirit which I have described. It is the duty of the department manager to ex- plain to the salesmen the classes of goods and their JOHN V. FARWELL, JR. 7 faults, to present to them the policy of the house, teach them our selling methods, and our methods of handling our customers, and imbue them with the spirit of co- ordination. The consequence is that when the sales- man starts out on the road he goes with the feeling that he is part of the house, that he must work for the good of the house. With the traveling force, it is especially important that close touch be kept ; this can be done by means of reports which the salesman makes daily, semi-weekly and monthly. In a special book we have the complete details regarding each salesman — details regarding the man himself, regarding the business he does weekly, his aggregate sales, the cost, his expense, the exact profit. The record of every salesman can be put before the executive's eye in a moment. The reports coming in from him are carefully con- sidered; we allow him no doubt that we are watching him. If he is losing ground, the superintendent writes to him suggesting, encouraging, stimulating. If he shows an increase in his business, the appreciation of the house is made manifest. "When the salesman makes his periodical visits to the home ofSee he is not handled like an outsider; he is a part of us. A card is immediately sent to the sup- erintendent informing him that Mr. Blank has returned from his trip in Tennessee. He goes at once to the superintendent and they have a general talk on all matters relating to the business and the salesman's spirit is strengthened as much as possible. If neces- sary, he sees some of the department managers, and the credit department. Before he can leave, his ticket must be checked by the superintendent, who gives him a "clearance." CHAPTER II HIRING AND TRAINING OFFICE WORKERS BY MARSHALL D. WILBER Preddent of the Wilber MercantiU Agency Radical changes in the methods of conducting busi- ness have made corresponding differences in the de- mands on the office working force. Business is more and more becoming an exact science. Gradually the element of chance is being eliminated. Business is becoming a game of shrewdness in which every move must be carefully analyzed and worked out before it is set working. Years ago even the best business man knew only once or twice a year how his affairs were going. Now every executive knows every week and every day just the progress his department or his concern has made, and he judges from this re- port in conducting the business of to-morrow. This systematic method of doing all things commer- cial has made its greatest demand upon the personnel of the office, the human machine which actually con- ducts and records the events of each business day. Each employe is an indispensable unit in the operat- ing force of the modern office. No matter whether it be the office boy, receiving cards of visitors, the stenog- rapher, handling in her work important secrets of the firm or executing details of correspondence; the office clerk, recording, computing and analyzing the month's 8 MARSHALL D. WILBER 9 sales or the year's profits, each is playing an essential part in the business game, and each is deserving of proper credit and consideration on the part of the man higher up. "To my mind, hiring an ofiBce boy is just as im- portant as engaging a chief clerk," said the office manager of a well-known concern. "And it might be considered even more important, because the right kind of a boy, trained right, has greater possibilities, and may in time prove worth more to the firm than the older man. The office boy of to-day may be the execu- tive ten or twenty years hence.'" Any office manager who has once had a really good office boy appreciates his value and knows that it is a aUti to ^orth while to go to some trouble in find- Seek in an ing and training this employe. Ordinarily Office Boy ^j^g j^gg^. d^^g of boys are those who come from the middle class of families and from homes where they have learned the importance of honesty and obedience. Those who contribute at least a part of their earnings to the family support are most satis- factory. Boys about fourteen seem most suitable, as to age, as those older than that are inclined to feel above their work, and those younger seldom have the requisite edu- cation. A thoroughly good knowledge of reading, writing, spelling and arithmetic should be demanded. But even more essential than the education already possessed is an ability to pick up duties quickly and an ambition for development and promoton. Choosing and hiring, however, is only the first step in handling an office boy. He must be developed at the hands of the office manager or others who direct him. This necessitates a thorough understanding of 10 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE the boy himself, and square treatment of him at all times. More than any other employe in the offlce the boy is affected by the treatment he is accorded, for he is just at the age when his character and habits are most subject to outside influence. Comparatively few office executives seem to realize the value of having a thorough understanding with all -. . . their employes, even to the office boy. Boy Ee- When he is engaged he should be told sponsibiiities clearly just what is expected of him and what he may expect from the firm. There can be no better way of handling him than by giving him specific things to do and impressing him with the fact that he alone will be held responsible. If his duty is to carry notes and papers between different departments of the office, show him that that is a division of work which he alone has in charge. If he is stationed at the information desk to receive and report visitors, impress him with the fact that he ia in a way a department head, an executive on a small scale. This can scarcely fail to prompt him to do his very best. More than this, though, a boy should understand that the firm is anxious for him to fit himself for something better. From the very beginning he should be given all the help and encouragement possible. No office manager can make a mistake by getting acquainted with his office boys and making them feel that he has a personal interest in them and their success. A kindly word of greeting in the morning, an inquiry as to the health of folks at home or an occasional commendation when work has been well done will go far in inspiring him to interest in the work of his employer. MAESHALL D. WILBER 11 The hiring of a force of stenographers differs from the engaging of most other office employes in that a certain degree of efficiency is required of the be- ginner. Any firm can usually find a plentiful supply of stenographers through 'business colleges and type- writer companies. The commercial schools are turn- ing out thousands of stenographers every year, but the principal difficulty is, that while these graduates are well up on speed and accuracy, they lack the knowledge of business and office conditions which many employers demand. Firms demanding more experienced workers must, therefore, go elsewhere. Most city offices of typewriter companies maintain special departments for supplying stenographers and usually have a list of the experienced people on hand. In selecting a stenographer from among applicants little can be judged except from the recommendations based on past work and the apparent general ability of the candidate. A test of three or four letters at the time of the first interview is of little value, except to show how efficient they are in grammar, spelling and punctuation. The average applicant is inclined to be nervous on taking first dictation from anyone, and no candidate should be refused simply because of failure to take dictation correctly at the first endeavor. Comparatively few employers know just what to demand of a stenographer; that is, with what specific things about all kinds of stenographic rapher Shouia work the applicant should be familiar. ^"^ One executive, experienced in this, sums up these requirements as follows: "The first-class operator knows that his machine must be kept free from dirt; that the rollers, escape- 12 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE ment wheel and other wearing parts must be oiled and cleaned at least once a week; that scrapings from a cheap eraser are harmful, and that when he finds it absolutely necessary to make correction he should use a good eraser and cover the basket of his machine to prevent the scrapings from falling into the mechanism. The eraser has been properly likened to an antidote to poison — necessary only in extreme cases— and the good operator avoids its use. "He knows that it does not pay to use a ribbon when it is full of holes— now ribbons cost less than a new roller. He knows that the two time-killers in type- writing are frequent lifting of the carriage (usually without reason) and stopping to make corrections, so he has learned to write page after page without lifting the carriage or making errors. He does not allow all the type to become filled with dirt before cleaning, but cleans each type as it shows it needs it. "He takes dictation coolly and in distinct characters. He is not a maehiae, but has a clear understanding of the work in hand and calls attention to unfinished sentences, lapses of speech and such grammatical errors as he does not feel at liberty to correct without men- tioning. He is always alert, responsive to the slightest suggestion and often even thinking ahead of the one whose dictation he takes. "He is able to transcribe his shorthand notes rapidly and accurately; to take dictation direct upon his ma- chine ; to do tabulated work and billing ; to cut mimeo- graph stencils ; to manifold ; to write all kinds of legal papers, depositions and affidavits ; to copy from printed work or rough draft; to write telegrams; to write on ruled paper, on narrow or wide sheets; to direet en- velopes or to write post cards." MAESHALIi D. WILBER 13 Probably no quality in a stenographer is more appre- ciated than absolute secrecy with respect to the affairs of the firm. The average employer wants the par- ticulars of his business never to go outside his office door. The most desirable stenographer is the one who shows greatest discretion in keeping to herself even the most trivial details concerning her employer's affairs. Every executive should train his stenographer to be, in fact, a private secretary, to independently take care of the details of his work. Some employers do not realize how much of their work could as well as turned over to such an assistant. Some executives answer only a very small percentage of their letters by personal dictation, turning the great mass of them over to a stenographer with brief instruc- tions as to how each letter should be treated. This not only relieves the executive of a great deal of detail work, but develops stenographers and fits them for higher positions. The executive who has a number of stenographers in his department cannot be too careful in seeing that they _. , -^ are given a square deal and that each one Giving Stenog- . . , , , , raphersthe IS suitably promoted or given better pay Square Deal ^g ability warrants. A firm's reputation with respect to its treatment with its employes travels fast and once a concern is known to ill-treat its stenog- raphers it cannot hope to have their enthusiasm in its work or get the best service from them. Frequently trouble or lack of fairness among the stenographers is due to enmity on the part of some sub-executive. "My youngest stenographer. Miss McGuire, was re- ported by my head stenographer as not making good," said the manager of an eastern concern, "and I adver- 14 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE tised for her successor. The advertisement called for an experienced stenographer and typewriter capable of handling correspondence and of acting temporarily as oiEce manager. I signed it with a newspaper number. "In the first twelve hours I got 156 answers. Some were written with pen and ink on the stationery of the most expensive hotels in town. Others were badly spelled or sloppily typewritten. One applicant sent a carbon copy of a letter originally dated 'Nov., '06;* the date was crossed out and the new date inserted in pencil. An unsigned letter invited me to call up a cer- tain telephone number and ask for Miss B., 'when an interview can, perhaps, be arranged.' One envelope had a special delivery stamp on it and had been mailed before 9 o'clock the morning the advertisement ap- peared. It was from Miss McGuire. "It was a clean-cut business letter and closed with the sentences, 'My reason for wanting to leave my present employer is that there are three stenographers ahead of me and I am not getting a square deal from the head stenographer. I could make good right here if I was willing to squeal to my employer. Kindly con- sider this confidential and oblige, very truly yours.' "Inside of a week I had the tangle straightened out and had fired three stenographers. Miss McGuire, with one assistant, is now doing the work that the bunch were doing before." In no class of employes is it more difficult to get competent men than in that of office clerks. Clerical ,™. i „ ^ work demands a number of qualities al- What Modern . .,,,., r, BuBiness De- most impossible to judge until an appli- mands of Clerks ^j^jj^ jja,s been tried out in his specific work. Modern business, withal that it is done under high pressure, demands absolute exactness in all its MARSHALL D. WILDER 15 records and reports. Hence, the good clerk must have a combination of speed and accuracy. Every large business must have a department devoted simply to the correction of errors in its records of transaction. The man, therefore, whose figures can be depended upon is welcome in any accounting department. There is a notable tendency on the part of extensive employers of clerical help to enlist their men from the ranks of college graduates. In many business offices there is a prejudice against the college man because, it is said, he considers himself too good to begin at the bottom and work up. It is interesting to find, however, that statistics show a large percentage of college men in clerical positions and that the great majority of them are making good. One manufacturing concern in the middle west has adopted a policy of starting a number of young college men in its offices each year at nominal salaries and advancing them as their ability becomes evident. The records of this firm now show that over 90 per cent of these men made good, as compared with 10 per cent of the non-college men who were taken in under similar circumstances. To-day a large majority of the execu- tive officers of this company are college graduates and the engaging of college paying men in all departments has become a policy of the firm. When applicants are being considered for the cleiieal or for other departments of office work the employer can ordinarily depend more on the general past asso- ciations and training than he can upon particular evi- dence of ability at the time of his interview. Influ- ences of early life go far toward laying a foundation for future development. This is particularly evident in that best results come from men who spend their 16 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE early life on fasms or in small towns and villages. This does not infer that city-bred men are incompetent, but simply that records show the greater percentage of success on the part of the country boy. One excellent characteristic of the country youtk is that, first of all, while he may be inexperienced in ,_ ^. the line he undertakes, he is not afraid Why the ' Country Boy to work. He is honest, loyal and willing Hakes Good ^^ g^g^pj qjj g^ small salary and ordinarily hip habits are good. A concrete example of chis was told in an interview with Mr. J. Harry Selz, of Selz, Schwab & Co., in which he gave not only his opinion of the country product as a potential business man, but his estimate of what a good office worker should be. "Who," he was asked, "was the best man you ever hired?" "About twenty-one years ago," Mr. Selz replied, "a young man, fresh from Canada, so green that they said of him the horses used to nibble at him as he walked on the streets, came in here and applied for a position. His brother was then in our employ ; he was a good employe and through his influence the new man secured a temporary position in our house as substitute bill clerk. It was made plain to him that the position was only temporary — to be filled until such time as the regular bill clerk returned. Our main reason for en- gaging him at the time was, first of all, the recom- mendation of his brother; second, he seemed to be bright, energetic and had an honest, frank countenance, which spoke well for him and invited our confidence in him. "He proved his worth from the start. The first week he made good. When I went out in the shipping MARSHALL D. WILBER 17 room there I foand him giving orders like an old hand at it. He seemed to have been trained in that kind of service. In fact, he performed his duties as substitute bill clerk so satisfactorily and v?as so faithful, rapid and attentive to his work that when the regular bill clerk returned he was taken on permanently and given another position in our office. "He was always one of the first men on hand in the morning, and one of the last to leave at night. His work was always up and in good condition. And one of his traits that appealed most strongly to us was his unbounding stock of cheerfulness. His optimism not only served to help him accomplish his own work quickly and with apparent ease, but also inspired his associates to greater efficiency. I never saw him ruflaed. He simply grappled problems as they came to him and solved them calmly. "He had a memory that was a marvel. When any- one was in a hurry and wanted to know to whom we sold in a certain town he was appealed to and could give the information without hesitation. He grad- ually became familiar with every account on our books; he had the wonderful faculty of being able to tell when a town was mentioned the name of the customer in that town; if the customer's name was mentioned he knew instantly the name of the town where that customer was located. He was known throughout the house as a walking encyclopedia. "He rose from one position to another, until he finally became assistant credit man. No work was too much for him. He became known not only as a good employe, but as a good man for other men to work under. He cultivated the employes around him and won their confidence. They went to him with their 18 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE troubles and, being of a sympathetic nature, he not only gave them good advice but in many instances did practical things for them that won their respect and that of his employers also. "When the manager of the office resigned he was given charge. There was no second choice. He was the only man whom our company could consider and seemed to be the only man whom the employes them- selves wanted to have in that position. One of his greatest faculties was the ironing out of spots that were apt to lead to friction. He got more work out of his employes and they performed their duties more cheerfully for him than for any other man who ever had charge of the office. "By his ways, he gradually assumed additional re- sponsibilities, so that about three years ago his position became next in importance only to the officers of the corporation, and in recognition of his services he was given the opportunity of buying some stock in the company, of which he availed himself. "He is one of the very few men I have ever known who carried his religion into business, in the sense that he always had iippermost in his mind the question of right. He is an ardent churchman and lives up to not only the tenets of his church but the principles under- lying all religion— the golden rule. "Summing up, I should say his main character- istics that won the respect and admiration of all were his energy, his promptness, his memory, his fearless- ness of work and his desire always to do right. He has never been called upon at any hour of the day or night to do anything but that he was ready and will- ing and prompt to do it. He is to-day in the prime of life, full of health and vigor." CHAPTER III BUILDING UP A SALES FORCE BY W. A. WATERBURY Sales Manager, A. B. Dick Company Ask any extensive employer what class of men he finds it most difficult to obtain and he will almost invariably tell you, "Good salesmen." This is not be- cause the supply of salesmen is limited, for there are always plenty of applicants for any open sales posi- tion, but the emphasis in the employer's reply is on the word ' ' good. ' ' The world is full of would-be sales- men who are trying to sell goods and who in their own mind think they possess the quality of salesmanship. But the supply of really good men in the selling pro- fession—if it may be called such— is distinctly limited. To the employer this scarcity of good men is espe- cially unfortunate because selling is the most important division of his business. On his sales the success of his business depends and when he has no efficient force to dispose of his goods to the retailer or consumer the support of his business fails. A selling machine such as every big business to-day must have cannot be built up in a few days or a few months, nor can it be bought for any amount of money. It must be built up through years of work in develop- ing a training method and a selling policy until each salesman on the force has become a unit in the machine 19 20 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE itself and is in his way directly representative of the firm. This development must come to a great extent from the inside rather than the outside. That is, suc- cessful building up of a sales force is largely depend- ent upon the ability of the employer or sales manager to exercise judgment and discrimination in the select- ing, training and handling of his men. There is m definite source for obtaining men for the sales department and no one best way of reaching salesmen when they are wanted. Newspaper classified advertisements are unsatisfactory because they yield an abundance of applicants, a large majority of whom are entirely unfitted. Many employes are finding the advertising in trade papers an excellent way to getting into touch with salesmen. These advertisements, of course, bring fewer responses, but tht men are usually good salesmen and have acquired experience in the particular line the paper represents. But whatever method of reaching salesmen is em- ployed, good, experienced men are not easily picked A. Orowinff ^P' "^^^^^^^^ o^^^e a firm secures a good Tendency to salesman it is not anxious to have him go. Train Salesmen Recognizing this difiaculty, many firms have adopted the policy of building up their sales force from new and inexperienced material. When this is done, it is necessary, of course, to chose men who show particular promise of a natural sales ability. Training an inexperienced man means considerable expense to any firm— hence the greatest care and discrimination is exercised before any man is accepted. Much will depend in considering an inex. perienced applicant upon the man's personal appear- ance and his evident ability to meet and interest others ; W. A. WATERBURY 21 for personality is an all-important factor in salesman- eliip. Back of this, however, he must have a founda- tion in education and general character. When an applicant has been accepted by the sales manager he is put through a course of training spe- cially designed to fit him for best presenting the firm's goods to the trade. The amount of this training neces- sary to equip a salesman for the road depends upon the nature of the goods he is to handle. For selling to an established retail trade only a general knowledge of his line is essential, combined with the faculty of making friends and building up business for the house. But the salesman introducing direct to the con- sumer an expensive mechanical product, such as an adding machine or a typewriter, requires a much more extensive preparation. In the modern selling training school he is first given a course of study in the factory, where he follows first hand each step in the manu- facture of the product, observes the reason for each part and learns just how to adjust and repair it. Fol- lowing this he is trained in sales talk and sales argu- ments. He masters every selling point of the machine he is to handle and learns how to meet every objection that is raised against it. This new idea of giving salesmen a specific course of training is a radical change from the old-time con- ception that salesmen were "bom and not made." More and more the employer is coming to prefer the trained man. True, certain inherent qualities are de- sirable which may be readily developed into sales abil- ity, but invariably the born salesman is spasmodic in his work. He has brilliant flights in which he returns record-breaking orders, but he is too apt to think him- self a genius and constant application unnecessary. 22 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE In the eyes of the modern sales manager a man whose orders are not quite so large, but who is continuously on the job, it to be preferred. Salesmanship is in itself difficult to define, because in different men it may depend upon entirely differ- The Personal ^^* qualities or abilities. Probably it may Factor In most commonly be interpreted as an abil- Baiesmanship ^^^ ^^ ^.^^^ human nature, because so much is dependent upon the personal factor. Some men's success is to be attributed to a purely individual characteristic. It has been said that "some salesmen succeed by knowing how to talk— others by knowing how to listen." The wise sales manager is always on the lookout for half-hidden evidences of peculiar traits in new men which he foresees as possible of develop- ment into future sales ability. Very often a recruit picked up by chance turns out suddenly to be a star salesman. "Some three years ago," said an official of a large Chicago clothing house, "a young man of promising appearance, who said he had had some experience as salesman in a small western town, applied to me for a Dosition in my sales department. It so happened that we needed just such a man to fill a vacancy and, not having anyone in mind just then, I thought it would do no harm to give him a trial. "As a matter of precaution, however, I told him to accompany one of our skilled salesmen for a week in order to give him a broader viewpoint of the busi- ness and a businesslike manner of address in meeting the trade. "He joined our man in a territory new to our goods and one which required a salesman of consider- able charm and impressiveness of personality in order W. A. WATERBURY 23 to blaze an opening into the trade of long popular rivals. "After watching our salesman at work upon an apparently hopeless customer the novice asked to be allowed to introduce our goods to the next merchant in the town, one who was deemed equally opposed to trying a new firm. "His request was granted, more for amusement than any hope of success. The result was startling to say the least. Not only did the novice make a good first impression with a prompt and direct line of talk, but he approached the proposition from an entirely new angle and with a strikingly original presentation of his stock samples. "In less than ten minutes he had made a sale of no mean value and secured the promise of further trade. What is more to the point, he returned to the first 'hopeless case' and made a sale by working along a different tack. "That young man is one of our most valued salesmen to-day, with every prospect of advancement in good time to the highest position in his department. His ability to make himself valuable, to make the oppor- tunities for his advancement was his best starting cap- ital." However carefully a salesman may be trained, he cannot do his best work for the house unless he is _ „ , . wisely handled after he takes to the road. The Value ol . •' . . Tactful This requires exceptional tact on the part Managrement ^j ^j^g gg^jgg manager, for it is seldom that two men on the same force can be handled in exactly the same way. Some require constant en- couragement; some need an occasional word of criti- cism; while with others a judicious word of praise 24 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE here and there is sufficient to keep them at their best. To be most successful the salesman must be in constant touch with the home office and be kept con- tinually posted with all important information. Ideas vary as to the best means of keeping up enthu- siasm on the sales force. Many of the larger concerns in the country publish a house organ for the salesmen through which every few days or every week each man learns of the work and success of other men on the force. Naturally this is one of the best incentives to increased endeavor on the part of each man. Other employes, however, take very little stock in the idea of increasing sales efficiency with "ginger talk" from the home office, "There is only one way to make a salesman enthu- siastic," says one sales manager. "Give him some- thing that has true worth to sell; make him believe that it is the very best thing of the kind on the market ; give him an opportunity to make money at the work and you will find your man selling goods for dear life. The article that the salesman gets enthusiastic about is the one he believes in, has faith in, and, above all, can make money on." Both these attitudes toward the salesman contain an element of wisdom. There is no doubt that a sales- man will do better work if he has the assurance of constant support from his manager and is given enthu- siastic talk either through personal letters or a house organ. But no sales manager would think this support sufficient. Every salesman wants to make as much money as his ability will bring him and he is deserving of an opportunity to do so. The relative value of salesmen should be caiefuUy watched and each man should be given opportunities W. A. WATEEBURY 25 and remoneration in proportion to his demonstrated ability to sell goods. No sales force can work successfully as a whole unless it works as a unit. There must be perfect har- mony between manager and salesmen and, likewise, perfect harmony between the men on the force if best results are to be obtained for the house. This should be every manager's ultimate aim— to cement the relations of the entire department so that valu- able information will be shared in common. One of the best methods for accomplishing this is to get the men together occasionally to talk over their difficulties ftnd any new sales ideas they have picked up. Such meetings get the men out of the old rut and instill them with new vigor and enthusiasm. "When I joined the city sales force of an eastern typewriting house," said a successful salesman, "there Oettins T - were nine other men in the local territory, gother to Bnlid Everybody worked for hiinseif— we talked Up Business things over casually sometimes, but had no general discussions. "Finally someone diplomatically suggested to 'the chief that we might profitably get together in his office once a week and go over our various problems. He agreed to try it out— and the change was marked in the way things moved our way. We picked problems to pieces, and with everybody lending a hand we landed prospects who had never before been induced to see the light. "We developed along the easiest lines first, trying to get the most business for least effort. We worked harder on individual follow-up letters. We kept a careful record of the information we secured and a brief account of every attempt to land business. Con- 26 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE versations with new prospects were reported in detail and a summary made in onr index, so that our mem- cries could always be refreshed. "Every once in so often we devoted a momiag to going over our entire list of local and out-of-town busi- ness and finding out how we stood. Our index never forgot and we landed many a man simply because by working together we were able to collect the arguments that swung him our way." Aside from the hints and helps that the salesmen can gain from such meetings as these, and from the few rules which every firm naturally lays down, the man on the road should be as free as possible from regulations and restrictions. Rules invariably restrict individuality— a salesman's greatest asset. The aver- age salesman knows his local territory jnuch better than his manager and freedom to proceed as he thinks best will show the greatest returns in orders. CHAPTER IV DEVELOPING AN ADVERTISING STAFF BY STANLEY CLAGUE President, Clague Painter Jonea Co. The advertising department of the modern business concern is recognized as conducting one of the most important divisions of its work, yet good men to con- duct it are exceedingly scarce and the employer finds vacancies in his advertising positions among the most difficult to fill. There are a number of reasons for this. In the first place the advertising profession is a new one. Modern publicity methods have developed with mushroom growth. Twenty years ago there was hardly a man in the country who could be called either a professional adver- tising writer or director from the present-day point of view. Hence, no class of men have as yet developed to which the employer can turn as he would were he in search of an accountant or salesman. Several schools have sprung up with an aim to train men for the advertising field, but as yet no method for doing this has come to be accepted, and few large concerns are willing to intrust the launching of an ex- pensive campaign to the mere theorical Jjnowledge of the men thus turned out. It is significant that very few of the successful advertising men have followed their work from the beginning. Most of them are 27 28 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE ■writers, salesmen or ofSce men, who have drifted into the work after acquiring a thorough knowledge and experience in some other line. Another reason why good advertising men are hard to obtain is that the work requires a peculiar combina> tion of qualities. A keen capability for organization, a knowledge of human nature and an analytical mind, with unlimited capacity for study of cause and effect— these are the requisites in the ideal advertising man. He must, of course, be able to produce clever ideas and to present them in the most forcible and attractive way, yet there can be no possible rule laid down for his work. Advertising, after all, is largely a matter of per- sonality, and two men exploiting the same product might conceive two campaigns, entirely different in nature, which would be equally successful. For this very reason the advertising man stands in a somewhat different position than any other employe in his rela- tion to the executive over him. The purely routine phases of business, such as ac- counting, credits, shipping, are matters which naturally come within the scope of thorough systeraatization and their work is conducted under strict and definite orders. The inspirational phases, however, must be organized much more flexibly. This applies particu- larly to the departments of promotion and advertising. Here, in advertisements, booklets and letters, the ag- gressive and possibly autocratic head of the firm "un- bends" and requests something (your trade and mine) instead of ordering or commanding it, as is his wont in dealing with employes. And right here is the thin ice of the whole advertis- ing problem : if that request for any trade— and STANLEY CLAGUE 29 yours— is to prove effective, it must be good natured, solicitous and convincing. The slightest dictatorial touch kills it. No writer can produce advertising copy with this happy, free-handed, trade-persuading quality fully de- veloped if he be handicapped by a system which puts him on a basis with the clerk or, in fact, if any course be followed which tends to disillusionize him of the idea that much of the firm's success is due to its printed salesmanship. The advertising man is naturally developing, just as advertising itself is passing through a noticeable change. Some of the first big successes in the adver- tising game were the result of bright ideas or catchy phrases, purely inspirational. As a result the idea long prevailed that the work of the advertising man was anything but steady. If he could produce one exceptionally clever idea every week or every month it was believed he had done his part. But this concep- tion of advertising is undergoing a radical change and the advertising man of to-day who is making a true success is the one who is continually on the job, not only in originating new schemes and campaigns, but in furthering the interests of the house he represents. An example of the varied demands made upon the modem director of publicity is found in a case of a Chicago advertising man who undertook the direction of a campaign for a well-known product. He studied the qualities, the selling points of the article he was to advertise. He studied the field which could be most profitably reached. He originated a campaign for cov- ering the entire country. He prepared copy and pro- ceeded by engaging space for it in newspapers and magazines. 30 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE But his working did not end there. It so happened that a competitor ventured to imitate his schemes and infringed directly upon his rights by engaging space in the same publication and anticipating the latter part of ' his campaign. Immediately he took steps to protect himself and his employer. He resorted to the courts and secured an injunction preventing the issue of the publications containing the rival advertising. So suc- cessfully and diplomatically did he conduct this attack that he was sustained in his every move and the pub- lications involved were obliged to make public acknowl- edgement of their guilt in the matter. As a result his campaign and his product obtained far more pub- licity and real advertising value than would have re- sulted from the original campaign. This very instance shows how necessary it is that the advertising man not only have ability in his par- ticular line, but that he have a broad business knowl-^ edge as well. Appreciating the knowledge of this com- bination, employers are recognizing the wisdom of de- veloping advertising men from other departments in the house, or taking young men who are interested in the game and willing to start at a small salary, and training them up in advertising work, while they are becoming thoroughly familiar with the other features of the concern's busmess. Furthermore, the advertising man who has grown up with the house la more valuable because he usually has a real interest in the firm's welfare and thoroughly believes in the business he is connected with. Again, he is in closer touen with the men and the work of all departments and knows just how to best represent his firm and its products before the public. CHAPTER V SECUEING AND TRAINING TECHNICAL MEN^ BY P. M. FBIKBE Technical Editor Teelmieallx trained men give stability to a constantly increasing number of business activities. Educated intensively in some one branch of the present industrial development, such a man, either as employer or em- ploye, has a fund of fact on which to build a stable business. Often abnormally developed in one direc- tion, this very one-sidedaess has developed his power of logical thought to such a degree that contact with men and the wider affairs of business suggest to him opportunities of business analysis which the more broadly trained man misses. The technically inclined mind seeks the wherefores and whys. Because a man with this training gets at the root of the problem his work is essentially creative. From time to time spectacular results of technical training appear in the popular periodicals and the daily papers, but the modem engineer does more for the world's work than build skew-bridges across moun- tain ravines, dig sea-level canals, harness African water powers or design a city for a steel plant. His knowl- edge and training are woven so intimately into the texture of daily business activity that the results of his work are exhibited as well in much smaller aDd more widely diversified lines of business. 31 32 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE Men of technical ability are available to-day in prac- tically every line of work. Technical experts in patent causes offer testimony for the basis of legal decisions. Even a minister suggested to me that an abridged technical training must form a part of his preparation if he were to appeal most widely to his congregation. The executive heads of large concerns are recruited from the ranks of the technically trained rather than Teoimical the financial and legal departments, as Executives i^^ed to be the case. When a rapid transit company is to be reorganized the man chosen to put the business on a paying basis is no longer a man versed only in the game of stocks and bonds, but the man who himself understands the needs of the operating equip- ment is chosen as the concern's head with the financial man as an advisory. When the service of the telephone company in the second largest city in the United States is to be placed on a business basis the end sought is best attained by the selection of a man who under- stands the difference between a jack and a relay. And in the smaller concern the technically trained man is daily proving his worth. Said the treasurer of a textile plant to me: "We recently had to increase the capacity of our- power house and had decided to buy a steam engine. A young technical man who was working with us, headed toward the superintendency, called our atten- tion to the gas producer engine. 'You can save $3j000 a year by using pea coal and a gas producer rather than a steam engine,' said he. 'Here are the figures.' "I took a trip with him to see how the engine worked in some other plants and as a result we are now run- ning our mill with a producer gas engine. That mita is booked for the superintendency." F. M. FEIKEB 33 In spite of this general tendency to base all business on the knowledge of the expert in technics, you must not look for too much detailed knowledge in your tech- nical recruit. "When you have selected a young, tech- nically trained nian do not expect him to be a consult- ing mechanical engineer or to have a specialized knowl- edge of your own particular work. No basic technical training which will meet all conditions of manufacture could possibly be given a man in four years of college work. But after having trained your man by placing him under actual conditions in your establishment, you will find that his ability to analyze conditions and to absorb knowledge in the special fields you have laid down will make him a most valuable man inside of two years. I have in mind a young man hired by the manager of a New England cutlery concern. Trained as a mechanical engineer, this new man had no practical knowledge of the manufacture of a steel knife, but he had a basic understanding of the principles of ma- chinery and machine operation and had also acquired a knowledge of shop economics through contact with shops in which he had worked during his summer vaca- tions. As a result, this young man at the end of a year had absorbed enough of the cutlery business to suggest a number of improvements, two or three of which were practically simple enough to adopt with profit. Sources of supply for technical men of specialized training in various lines are comparatively limited. The fact that a man is a specialist Specialized makes him too valuable to lose from one Hen Limited concern, and the best and most profitable way of securing men of ability in your own line is to keep in touch with the graduating classes of the 34 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE various institutions, make personal appointments with as many men as you think, from correspondence, would fit into your work, and from this personal inspection of candidates make your final selection. There are a number of agencies which make a specialty of placing technical graduates and every instructor in a technical institution is glad to express his personal opinion of the men who have worked with him. Your judgment of such a raw recruit need not be based altogether in his standing in theory. For cer- tain lines of work, such as the designing of machinery, the highly trained mathematical mind is most suitable, but for a future shop superintendent or a plant man- ager, the personality of the man counts for much. A candidate's ability to get along with men is not the least of the qualifications which should weigh in his favor. This method of choosing men from technical insti- tutions and training them as specialists in particular lines of manufacture is that adopted by a great many of the large concerns in the country. The three largest electrical manufacturing establishments each year recruit from technical institutions 700 or 800 men groimded in the principles of electrical engineering and large railroad companies are looking for the em- bryo civil engineers for their engineering corps. There is considerable diversity in the method of training such men in the practical side of your business. . . The drafting room offers a convenient gate Practical to the larger field of manufacturing, and Bnamess many concerns start their technical spe- cialists at this end of the business. Here they become intimately acquainted with the general class of manu- F. M. FEIKER S5 faeture in the plant and can then be recruited into various departments as they show special aptitude for one or another of the classes of work. The testing and inspection departments also offer good opportunities for studying your new men. In these departments, really at the end of production farthest from the drafting, they also become thor- oughly acquainted with the machines manufactured and the general practice of the shop. Four or five hundred men are employed in the testing department of one of the largest electrical con- cerns and from this force are drawn sales, construc- tion, designing and operating engineers. If your interests are associated with smaller estab- lishments where one or two technically trained men could apparently be absorbed with profit into your organization, probably the best way to train such raw recruits is to send them through every department in the shop, laying out more or less systematically a cer- tain course — a definite time to be spent in each depart- ment. A moderate sized establishment has found this method of particular advantage and the man in charge of the twenty or thirty men who are "taking the course" said: "We have found this method of training men more advantageous than starting them either in the drafting room or on the testing floor. A man becomes more thoroughly acquainted with shop conditions, runs up against actual shop problems from the employe's stand- point, and, except for his transfer from department to department, is treated exactly as one of our regular employes. "We keep tab on this man through our fore- man and through ray personal observation of each individual. We don't expect to make money on the 36 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE man— in fact, we charge up a certain amount each year to student expense. Our whole executive organi- zation, however, is being gradually built up from this nucleus of technically trained men. We have found that the broad training in fundamentals which these men receive has enabled them to grasp quickly the details of our business and to mold themselves readily into the general organization." The detailed course in this factory is laid out for one year. The shop is divided into eight departments : Lavine Out "^ detail apparatus department, eommuta- Plan of tor department, assembling department. Training punch press department, winding depart- ment, power switchboard department, arc-light depart- ment, testing department. In most of these departments the men spend one month, althojigh this stay is not arbitrary and is fixed more or less by the needs of the several departments. Transfers are made when the 'departments need more men and since each student engineer is treated as an employe his work is counted upon in the department. This shop training of one kind or the other is really a post-graduate course for the student engineer and gives him a practical insight into a special line of man- ufacturing which he is to follow later with profit to him- self and to the concern which employs him. After the men have received this practical training they can be absorbed readily into the general sales, engineering or operating organization of the company. Technical men with selling ability are hard to find and are most valuable to the firm. Men can and do sell goods for a manufacturing establishment without a technical training, but often the lack of knowledgs of manufacturing conditions leads them to make bad p. M. FEIKER 37 mistakes. In his ardor to make a sale the man without technical knowledge often suggests to the customer a scheme for doing his work which has a good many talking and selling points, but which, when the factory comes to make it, is a tough proposition. For this reason a technically trained man may be more valuable as a salesman, even though he makes fewer actual sales. Not only is every sale he makes a practical solution of the customer's problems, but on account of his ability to explain details and fundamentals the customer is more clearly impressed with the value of the sales- man's apparatus. In choosing men for the selling force from your trained source of supply, the best method is that of _ , . , „ oral examination. A good salesman must on the Sales talk, and by getting a prospective man Force upon the carpet before a committee, the man may be judged from many other standpoints be- sides his technical knowledge of the work he has been doing. His general address counts for much and often decides a case when there is a choice in the selection between two applicants, both apparently suited from the technical standpoint for the position. The natural place of a technical man in an organiza- tion would seem to be the engineering departments, but, in addition to the sales organization, other lines of the industry will profit by the addition of a tech- nical man. The advertising manager of one of the largest concerns in the country told me that he got practically all the brain material for his organization from the student force of engineers. "I go through the plant from time to time and size up the men as they work; look up their records and make my selections not only on the basis of their 38 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE technical knowledge, but on their natural aptitude for my line of work. The advertising instinct exists in the engineering mind as well as in the intellect of the man trained in the liberal arts college, and by selecting men judicially I have built up a most effective organization. ' ' Salesmanship and advertising ability on the part cf the man with an engineering training are essentially closely related, but distinctions can be made also in choosing men for technical positions in the engineering branches of your factory. The roll call of designing departments in all kinds of manufacturing establishments brings out one feature Mental Ee- '^^ selection not always recognized. Most quirements in of the names are German or Swiss. Cer- Technicai Work ^.g^j^^ racial characteristics are predomi- nant in every man and in no walk of life ought they to be more thoroughly recognized than in engineering and manufacturing. Designers must have mathematical ability and analy- tical minds. Their work has essentially to do with the principles of machine operation or color mixing and it is not so essential that work be turned o\it quickly as it is that the work be absolutely correct and logical. On the other hand, construction engineers must have the turn of mind generally accredited to the Yankee. Out on the field difficulties are forever being met by construction engineers of an inventive turn of mind. Quick ways of handling material, ability to foresee con- structional difficulties as well as knowledge of men and the detailed construction of machinery, are essential in this part of the organizatioE. CHAPTER VI HIRING FACTORY CLERKS BY F. M. PEIKER Technical Editor Andrew Carnegie's success in the manufacture of steel was due not a little to his accounting system. The story is told that his competitors, powerless to account for his ability to undersell them, sent men to Pittsburg to learn the secret. Mr. Carnegie heard of their presence and invited them to make an inspection of his plant. When they had completed the tour of the buildings he led them into a room lined with clerks at work on documents and figures. "It costs $80,000 a year to run this room," said he, "and it is worth all it costs, for it gives me the inside details of my busi- ness and I know what I am doing. ' ' Much of the success of any accounting system de- pends on the personnel of the force which handles the details. If a cost system is to mean anything it must be carried on by men who have interest in their work— who handle the detail intelligently. James Logan, vice president and general manager of the United States Envelope Company, says that "a cost system is just as truly an invention as an automatic machine, and that it must be cared for by skilled men. ' ' The selection of clerks for a factory is often under- taken with an entirely erroneous idea of the importance of keeping factory records. More and more, however, 39 40 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE is the management guided in its actions by the facts developed in the accounting department. By analysis and comparison of the cost records the manager can obtain an accurate knowledge of the week's output and of working conditions. Some manufacturers refer to their bookkeeping as "unproductive labor." Clerical work in their factories is often rightly so called, for it produces nothing by which to guide them in the conduct of their business. In the broader sense, cost record keeping is the most productive labor in the whole establishment ; it enables the manager to base his knowledge of the cost of the finished product, not on guess work, but on a solid foundation of facts. In many factories, particularly in small plants, the detail work of filling out time cards, material requisi- cierk H t tions and so on is handled by the fore- roremen Should man. This is generally a mistake. The Do Detail Work foreman's time should be given to think- ing out new ways of cheapening the cost of production and looking after the general efficiency of his depart- ment. He should not be burdened with clerical work. In the small plant a single time clerk can take from the foreman all detail and summarize results with a greater saving of time and money than when clerical work is handled by the department heads. In hiring clerks for tracing, routing and time keep- ing, men should be chosen who will mix brains with their work. Bad mistakes are often made by cheap clerks who neglect their routine. Conversation with the production engineer of one of the largest hardware factories in New England brought out very clearly the need for an intelligent class of factory clerks. "Some factory managers," F. M. FEIKER 41 said he, "seem to have the idea that if there is a system in the factory it will run itself. They do not seem to realize that it takes just as good men to run the system as it does to perform mechanical operations. "A ten-doUar-a-week. man is satisfactory, with close supervision by some more capable employe, but if he is left alone he will surely swamp himself and will be pretty apt to souse the company badly in the act. Tak- ing piece work, as an example, an ordinary timekeeper who is obliged to weigh out all material leaving his department and issue transfer slips giving order num- ber, condition and number of pieces. This transfer number merely indentifies material for the workman handling it in the next operation. "K the clerk makes out the time tickets for the man who has just finished! a batch of goods (and more often he lets the man fill out his own time ticket) he usually takes the man's word for the number of pieces finished. "If that workman is dishonest he has a good chance to boost his pay slip, which he does by reporting a fictitious number of pieces completed. The pieces then go to several other departments, where, perhaps, the same thing occurs, and finally are assembled and shipped. "As a check on the first timekeeper, the time tickets and transfers are checked by a low-priced man who does not see 'what is the use of all this weighing up and having so many tickets. ' It is at these points that the factory manager can watch and check leaks. Here should be placed a man of exceptional ability whom you can trust." Moreover, the importance of a responsible man at strategic points in the system serves to tone up the 42 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE work of all the clerks. Particularly is this true if the checking system can be arranged so that mistakes can be readily traced to their origin. That it pays to hire good men as factory clerks is well shown in another instance which came under my „ . observation. An employment agent had Factory Clerks an application from a retail salesman, 24 Valuable years old, who was awake to the limita- tions of his field. To escape his limitations he accepted a place as timekeeper in the factory. Because he was interested in his work he was soon advanced to head timekeeper, but lost his place in one of those illogical hurries which sometimes afflict large organizations. The best position he could find was in another town as department time clerk at $7 per week. His leaning was toward the factory, however, and he soon secured a transfer as timekeeper. Head timekeeper again, he made a capital study of rates and of the men employed in the various departments, laid his discoveries before the superintendent and was ordered to organize, first an employment bureau, then a labor department. As a head of both, he fixed rates until his appointment as assistant superintendent, then turned his attention to factory costs, reorganized that department and is now superintendent and manager of one of the largest plants in the company's possession. As this instance shows, the cost department is not unable to furnish material for executive positions. Several managers, realizing this, have seen in this de- partment a place to start young technical men. In no department of the shop can a young man with^ this training gain so quickly an insight into the responsi- bilities of factory conditions as in the production de- partment as a tracer or routing clerk. R M. FEIKER 43 Factory clerks should be selected, however, with the same care that skilled workmen are chosen for your Care in plant. An employment agent in an agri- Choice of cultural employment plant wanted a " ^ man to take charge of and reorganize a special stock department. He was much impressed, at first sight, by a youngster who applied for the posi- tion r/ith a diploma from a small western college and a year's factory experience to recommend him. Five minutes' talk made these considerations seem of minor importance. He appeared aggressive, intelligent, agreed to take hold and develop himself. He said he wanted to learn the business and that his purpose was to work up through the organization to the highest level he could obtain. His letter from his last employer was a trifle colorless and so he was asked to call again and an inquiry was sent to the head of the department of which he had been a clerk. Before an answer to the letter came he returned and displayed his limitations of intellect and brain power. He had coached up for our vacant place, hav- ing received a tip on just the kind of ability required. As the work in hand needed creative ability he lost hi3 chance, and the letter from his former employer, re- ceived two days later, confirmed the wisdom of the agent's decision. For men who are to fill the permanent routine cler- ical positions in the factory a steady workman is much to be preferred to the man who works fitfully. I have known factory workers who spent their spare moments playing chess, but in a great many establish- ments a pool on the latest sporting event is a more favorite diversion. There is no need for argument 44 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE as to which of these classes of employes make better factory clerks. There was a time when the factory clerk necessarily had to be quick and accurate at figures, but now, with so much of the labor-saving calculating AbiUty Now machinery, more attention can be paid to Demanded ^j^g executive side of the man than to his ability for handling details of this sort. The masses of cost statistics in the factory nowadays are totaled with greater ease and accuracy by adding machines than they could possibly be handled by clerical labor. Office machinery is coming to have as great an effect upon the personnel of a working force as has automatic machinery on the character of the employes in the manufacturing department. In selecting the factory clerical force, even more than in hiring men in other departments, each applicant for work should be studied as an individual. Of all departments, this is the worst in which to try out men who are probably inefficient. Ability to size up a man intuitively is no common gift. Most of us when arriv- ing at the value and fitness of the prospective employe must substitute for inside acquaintance with the quali- ties and the degree of skill which the open position de- mands a knowledge of surface marks, which tell of the health, experience, intelligence, capacity, industry and honesty of the man before us. There is no better way to keep the force keyed up than by promotion. The messenger can become the clerk, the clerk the accountant, the accountant the spe- cialist, and the specialist the department head. The ambitious and interested employe, whether in your fac- tory office force or in your manufacturing departments, is a reservoir of your supply of competent men for higher positions. CHAPTER VII HOW TO SECUKE FACTORY WORKERS BY H. A. WORMAN Former Manager Employment Department, National Casn Register Go. Labor is the chief commodity entering any factory. Outlay for raw material, fuel, supplies, rarely equals the payroll totals by month or year. Usually wages amount to twice the cost of materials; in many fac- tories where the finish and accuracy of parts require elaborate processes, the money spent for men trebles the expenditure for the wood and iron which they fash- ion into finished product. Is this overwhelming importance of labor recog- nized in the methods used in bargaining for it ? Analy- sis shows the contrary to be true. The purchasing agent for materials bulks large in every organization of size. In rank and salary he is the peer of the sales manager. To aid him, all the resources of the organi- zation are marshaled; foremen bow to his decisions. Purchase of labor, on the other hand, is treated as incidental. The selection of workmen is either made a part of the duty of the superintendent, left to the fore- man, or entrusted to a minor official having none of the authority and not more than a third of the pay of the purchasing agent. Yet every consideration prompting that machinery and raw stock shall be bought by a specialist familiar with the market conditions ol the hour, applies with equal force to the purchase of labor. 45 46 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE Men are harder to judge than bars of steel, Urass ingots or bales of fiber. "According to sample" does not hold in dealing with them. Eivery man is a sample of himself, whose fitness can be determined only by patient inquiry, which superintendent and foreman haven't time to conduct. They act on the theory that the simplest way is to try the applicant out. It is sim- ple—also costly beyond reason. To be charged up against the process, there is the time lost by the skilled worker who "breaks in" the new recruit, the materials spoiled, the tools injured during the opera- tion, the fature education of the novice, the decrease in product from the machine or bench involved. It is true that the average man must be broken in. The point to be remembered is that the process pays only when a permanent workman is thereby developed — and that careful, methodical selection of applicants by a trained mind will save more than it cost. The ideal force is that which turns itself only at long intervals. That way lies efficiency of effort, un- Effi i n V ■ derstanding and co-operation with the a Permanent management, reduction of spoiled work Working Force g^^^ broken tools— in one word, economy of manufacture. Trying out inefficients as a substitute for intelligent selection works another evil to the com- pany practicing it by spreading the report of easy dis- charge and the difficulty of holding a job or "making good." Many competent mechanics and office men lack the art of personal salesmanship; long service in a single organization may make embarrassing the very neces- sity of applying for a place elsewhere, and only care- ful handling will bring out their real worth and capa- bilities. On the other hand, the man of many jobs H. A. WORMAN 47 has gone througli the ordeal so aften that he has learned how to present himself in the most favorable light. He may have learned, too, just what positions are open and have planned his approach and his replies accordingly. The "drifter" is glib with excuses for his va- rious changes — ^the desirable man will be as brief as he is frank about his reasons for leaving his last place. If he was discharged, he may be bitter — ^no capable, in- dustrious worker can be blamed for resenting a "pay- off" slip. But if he is sweeping in his condemnation of conditions at his last place, it is safe to reject him unless the agent knows from other sources that the case is much as he describes it. The confirmed "knocker" usually presents his negative credentials by word of mouth, and no degree of skill can counter- balance the effect he will have in the shop or office he is assigned to. In hiring skilled workers of any sort, it is worth while at least to secure a confidential report from the man's last employer. Address your query to the fore- man for whom the applicant worked, securing his name for that purpose; letters to the general manager may fail to bring a response on the very point you wish to emphasize. Usually the answer will be prompt and honest ; employers are coming to understand that their interests in this respect are mutual. Hire a sound body for every job. In a laborer, vigor and muscular development are everywhere recog- *»!. nized as essentials. Less attention, hoAV- Valne of Phy- ' sioal Health ever, is paid to the health and physical in Workers condition of factory and office workers whose work does not require sustained bodily effort. Yet health is quite as important for the mechanic or 48 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE machine tender whose eye must be true and whose hand steady. Not only is the output of the healthy man greater than the weakling's, but its quality is higher, his lost days are fewer and the man himself is less liable to accidents due to fatigue, over-strain and dulled faculties. The place of health and sound limbs in the equip- ment of employees is recognized by the regulation of all the larger and more progressive organizations that a man must pass a physical examination before he signs the payroll. In the smaller factory, the eyes of the employment agent must do the work of the physi- cian's stethoscope. Like reasons command the rejection of any indi- vidual bearing signs of dissipation. Competition has cut profit margins to the minimum where two or three Monday-idle machines in any group make serious in- roads on the department's earnings. Here are the three groups into which workmen range themselves as they face employers : First, unskilled laborers — truckers, janitors, shovel ers, material handlers — men of mighty sinews under poor control, lacking the brain development, ex- perience or training which would fit them for anything but routine, muscular effort. Second, semi-skilled "handy men" — assemblers, operators of drill and punch presses, milling, molding and a hundred other half-automatic machines — possess- ing intelligence, adaptability and some knowledge of tools, but untrained in the exact use of them or the possibilities that lie in them. Third, skilled workmen — mechanics, tool and pat- tern makers, machinists, hand molders, screw-ma- chine operators, cabinet makers. Having served ap- H. A. WORMAN 49 prentieeships, they are credited with all-around knowl- edge of their trades, but in practice they are usually specialists, the factory system directing their skill toward perfection in some circumscribed field. What are the essentials to be kept in mind in hiring individuals in each of these classes? Bodily The Essential strength, of course, is the unskilled man's Points in stock in trade. Add a brain sufficiently Hiring Men awake to grasp the most effective way of performing the routine duties assigned to him or to ] carry out the directions of a gang boss, and you have the minimum measure of a laborer. His hands will tell you whether he is accustomed to toil; his shoulders, legs, arms whether he has the physical force to perform the tasks you would set him at. His manner of moving and standing will indicate alertness oi stupidity, initia- tive or a habit of dependence. Clmnsiness may be in- terpreted as lack of intelligence, sluggish motion as index of slow thinking or dearth of energy. Age is important — eighteen to thirty-five are the years of maximum vigor, though a laborer of forty-five with a particular set of highly developed muscles is an admirable investment if he is healthy and you need a specialist of his stripe. Size is a matter of moment only when the work demands weight, as trucking, handling heavy materials and the like. The well knit man of medium size makes up in quickness, stamina and adaptability for any pounds he may lack. Length of service in his last place should count, especially if the company be known as an employer of good men, and the applicant's reasons for changing will pass mus- ter. If he is married, that is an additional guarantee of steadiness, industry, sobriety — ^his responsibilities will anchor him to the new job. Character, honesty, 50 EMPLOYEE, AND EMPLOYEE self-respect are qualities which the man's face, his ap- pearance, and previous record will indicate. This is the laborer reduced to a common denomina- tor. If you want a trucker who will remain a trucker indefinitely, you need study your applicant no further. Harnessing raw man-power to tread-mill tasks, however, is not the function of the employing agent in most American factories. Fortunately for both em- ployer and employee, manual labor is looked on as the first rung in the ladder which leads up to the succes- sive planes of handy man, mechanic, even foreman. The demand for skilled workers far exceeds the sup- ply and will probably continue so for some years. Tha wise employment man, therefore, hires laborers whose youth, mental equipment and ambition make it possible to develop them either by direct or merely incidental training into machine tenders or mechanics of the spec- ialist type. Indeed, the chance to rise in this way may be used as an added inducement to young men who otherwise could never be secured as truckers and de- partment laborers. Experience, brain power, a;daptabildty are the vital qualities to look for in a semi-skilled worker. In Th M t 1 Jia^ti'v^e mental and physical equipment, he Equipment of must almost be the equal of the skilled Trained Men ^rorker — the latter 's apprenticeship mak- ing the real difference in capacity. Indeed the two classes may almost be treated as one as far as natural qualifications go. It is in the closely related matters of training and experience that the distinction must be emphasized. Experience counts for much, because it has shaped the applicant and given him ineradicable standards of vhat constitute quality and finish. Therefore hire me- H. A. WORMAN 51 chanics and handy men who have been employed in plants using your own types of machines or producing work of approximately equal grade. Too much thought cannot be given to the examina- tion of high grade mechanics and handy men. They Xhe Backbone ^°^™ ^^^ backbone of the factory organi- of a Factory zation, set the pace for the whole machine, Organization jj^i^j ^^^ reputation of the company in their hands. All that has been said about health, free- dom from roving and convivial habits, and general education applies with double force to these skilled men. If an applicant owns or has owned property or a savings account the circumstance is worth noting. A record of frequent changes may add to his value if he be a young man, since three or four factories have contributed to his education, and comparison of shop practice and methods added to his mastery of his trade. If he be past thirty, however, and his stays in successive factories show no lengthening tendency, it may be assumed that he is a rover and not to be counted upon as a permanent workman. In engaging a high grade man, it is worth while to bring him into direct contact with the machine or the work with which he professes himself familiar. If he be incompetent, a brief examination will betray his lack of skill and knowledge. Five minutes spent ia the shop will give the foreman a chance to "size him up" and thereby check the employment man's conclu- sions. Given a glimpse of the shop, too, the man, if he have acid instead of iron in his blood, will scarcely resist the temptation to criticize the equipment, the other workmen, the methods of the product, and thus exhibit the fatal weakness he may before have con- cealed. 52 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE His opinion of former employers is another clue to his disposition. If he be a fault finder or meddler, _ .^ ^, no degree of skill or technical knowledge Wages for New will outweigh his mischievous tongue. The Employees g^^l question is that of wages. It is a mistaken policy, according to my experience, to hire a man for the smallest amount he will accept or to pay him the maximum rate at the beginning. All lines of factory work have a starting point generally recog- nized as equitable, a man requiring some time to "get the hang" of unfamiliar tasks and accustom himself to his new surroundings and having, naturally, less value to his employers during this period. If the company has been paying the accepted rate to others, there is no real profit in beating an applicant down be- cause he needs work badly. He invariably discovers that advantage has been taken of his position to drive a hard bargain. Dissatisfaction follows immediately, he does not give the company his best efforts, he takes the first opportunity to demand an increase or seek another situation. Whatever his action, the trifling saving does not make up for the loss or spoiling of a man who might, if contented, have developed into an admirable workman. Fair treatment, on the contrary, gives him an initial impulse of enthusiasm and an abiding desire to clinch his hold on a permanent place with a company willing to deal so justly with its employees. He will apply himself to speedy mastery of the job assigned to him, and the increase in his output for a single day will sometimes repay the additional wage for a whole week. CHAPTER Vm PROMOTING MEN FROM THE RANKS BY H. A. WORMAN Former Mimager Employment Department NcUvmal Ccuh Register Co. Chief business of an employment agent is to keep Lis office and factory departments supplied with com- petent men secured at reasonable rates. Therefore his first concerns are the sources from which he can draw recruits, the methods of keeping in touch with the vari- ous labor markets and the ways of reaching and secur- ing individuals who would be desirable additions to the force. Three sources of skilled and semi-skilled men for both divisions exist— except in the case of very large industries, the floating supply of laborers wiU prove adequate. For the better classes of workers, the com- pany's own organization is the one to be considered first. The quality of any man on your pay-roll can be easily arrived at by inquiry of his foreman and his fel- low workers— the man from outside is always an un- known quantity, no matter how well he "sizes up," until he is tried in his new berth. If you can find a man to fill the vacant place inside your office or fac- tory, then you save time, effort and considerable cost of "breaking in" a stranger More important than this first obvious reason, how- ever, is the effect on the organization of a policy of "giving your own men the first chance." In every 53 54 EMPLOYEE AND EMPLOYEE large factory, particularly if the year have its dull sea- sons or the product is made to order, some departments find it necessary to "lay off" men at intervals or em- ploy them on tasks less profitable to the house. In most of the departments, also, if the hiring man has been wise, there are individuals who have taken tem- porary jobs below their real capacity in the hope that later on an opening for them will appear in their regular occupation. Likewise, ambitious truckers have been studying machine operations at odd moments and have acquired skill enough to move up a peg to the semi-skilled plane, or "handy men" who in night schools or by correspondence courses have earned the rating of mechanics. In the ofBee division, if the organ- ization is healthy there is the same progression from messenger to clerk, from clerk to accountant or sten- ographer, from specialist to department head. The ambitious or underrated employes form the in- ternal or factory supply. It is the employment man's _ . _ business to keep in touch with every in- Filling Gaps ,. ., , ^, j_ . ^1. xl, in the dividual among them, to give them the Front Banks preference when the better place for which any of them is fitted offers or to transfer the superfluous man, when a department is over-manned, to the place where his services are needed. Permanency of employment and opportunity of ad- vancement are the magnets which draw good men to an organization and hold them faithful in the face of increased pay offered by other companies. They make powerfully, too, for loyalty, efficiency and alertness in individuals, since these are the qualities which win promotion from the ranks. In the same way, a dis- position to "take care of" every worker who has been doing his honest best by transfer when his particular H. A. WORMAN 55 work fails, evokes a corresponding spirit of co-opera- tion, fidelity and solidarity among the men themselves. Not only must the employer buy quality but he must make terms which will prevent deterioration from the initial standard. In this he is sometimes aided, some- times hampered, by the local market conditions, while the purchasing agent has no limit but the country's visible supplies and the freight tariff schedules. Keeping in touch with departmental conditions is a matter of observation and inquiry. As a rule a fore- man or department head cannot be wholly trusted to determine the exact needs of his department. Uncon- sciously he takes the "rush" season as his standard, thus is averse to losing a tried man and fights any reduction of his force so long as he can make a fair showing of activity and output. Pressure must some- times be brought to bear to convince him that the in- terests of the company overshadow the smooth running of his department a month hence, before he will consent to the loan of one or more of his workers to another department where the need is of to-day. For instance, the superintendent of a huge western plant determined recently, after study of the employ- ment reports, that the number of new men put on was out of proportion to the current increase in business. The authority of the employment man had never been defined and he had had no choice, when a requisition was forwarded to him, but to fill it. Facing the super- intendent's decisive order, however, that no more men were to be hired until further orders from the front ofSce, he was thrown back on his office and factory supply to fill his orders. For boys, particularly, there was a great demand, but every foreman fought trans- fers of his messengers and helpers. 56 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE "Will you let me have any boys who are not work- ing this minute?" he was finally driven to ask, after study of various departments had con- Eeip to Meet vinced him that there was a certain .Emergencies amount of loafing among the lads. The foremen consented, of course, but when the employment man rounded up two or three in several departments where a dozen boys were on duty, they objected to the transfer. Finally appeal was made to the superintend- ent. He saw a light, issued a general order giving the employment man jurisdiction over every man under the rank of department head, with authority to trans- fer, and reiterated his order to hire no more new men. For three months, the embargo on outside labor was enforced, and though nearly a hundred names were lost to the pay-roU in that time, the readjustment of the thousands left had been made to such good purpose that the service to customers had not suffered. Besides the saving of thousands of dollars in wages, the trans- fers and promotions had actually increased the efficiency of the organization by putting individuals in the places for which they were best fitted. Occupations the most diverse are sometimes brought together in a single individual. For example, wanting a telegraph operator, I found an entry clerk drawing $10 a week who had had nine years experience in charge of a local office and was delighted at the change and the advance I could give him. I have found truckers in my occupation file who have had all round experience as country blacksmiths, as machine operators of every kind, as painters and wood workers, and handy men by dozens who were easily drafted into places held by skilled workers before them. H. A. WORMAN 57 In shifting men in anticipation of a slump of orders in any department, the best method is to take their Keeping Track ^^^^^ trom the foreman at the earliest of Men in opportunity, get their trades from the ap- Plant plication blanks in the regular "document file" — of which more later— and keep the list on your desk as a sort of emergency market. In placing satis- factory men under such circumstances, I would have no hesitancy in dismissing a mediocre man in another department. When it is known in a factory that promotion from the ranks will be made whenever possible, ambitious men and boys will begin to fit themselves for better places and will make every effort to keep bright their department records for punctuality, application and satisfactory handrling of their work. "Ginger talks" and suggestion prizes have their places in speeding up a factory or office organization, but when workers understand that they are watched, not so much to insure performance of their tasks, as to get at their capacity for better jobs, there is an im- mediate and striking advance in individual efficiency and enthusiasm. The final element in the internal supply is the man laid off because work has slackened in a seasonal in- dustry. Though usually the weakest member of the department, it is well to bear him in mind if there is likely to be need of him within a month or six weeks. Longer than that you are hardly able to command him, since his hunt for work will probably prove successful and he will be loth to give up a steady job to come back to you. Until he has secured employment, however, it is well to keep him on your reinstatement file. In some communities and a few seasonal industries, in- 58 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE deed, the value of a reinstatement file plays an import- ant part in bringing the organization to its full strength again. In employing skilled or unskilled men, attention should be paid to the future development of the em- ployee. Wateb for that jewel among workmen who has had foresight enough to acquire a trade allied to his regular avocation as insurance against idleness in dull seasons. It argues precious gray matter in a tool-maker's skull when he has learned pattemmaking as a second string to his bow of industry, and gives him added value when his skill in the second trade «an be used to supply a sudden need. It is this com- mand of alternate trades or all-round acquaintance with one which makes German or English trained mechanics valuable despite their leisurely ways. This extra capacity is not always advertised by the mechanic possessing it. It is my rule to learn whether an applicant has more than one trade at his command — in order to make emergency transfers from a depart- ment which is running slack to another overburdened with orders. CHAPTER IX BUHiDINQ UP A RETAIL SALES FORCE BY C. M. JONES General Superintendent, The Fair In a retail establishment the superintendent should hire all but the very lowest grade of employees himself. A man who in the course of two hours must interview between one and two hundred applicants, aiid choose from these the twenty he wants, must be a judge of men and women, an observer of human na- ture. This knowledge requires long experience in handling men and detailed information regarding the needs of the store itself, and, therefore, it is the man in the closest touch with the labor situation and needs of the house who can best perform this work. All applicants are required to fill out the usual ap- plication blank — giving their name, address, previous employment and employers, and references. Aided by his observation of an applicant's personal appearance and general make-up, a shrewd observer with long ex- perience in dealing with this class of people can read in these few written facts the whole history of an appli- cant, and must be guided principally by these facts. The references given can only be looked up after the applicant is hired, and are of use chiefly for verifica- tion. I do not believe in asking written answers to e:^- haustive and intimate questions. Such information can 59 60 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE be secured in the course of a short conversation almost without the knowledge of the applicants. Applicants object to answering in writing inquiries regarding their family history, their circumstances, living ex- penses, and so on, because they think an employer has no right to make them. They do not understand why they are asked. I ask them because I want to Enow whether an applicant can live on the competitive wage. We must pay what the labor is worth, not what the laborer is worth. A girl earning six dollars a week may be capable of filling positions which pay ten, but as long as she is filling the six-dollar position her work is worth only six dollars. But, in spite of this, we often do, as must all em- ployers who wish to build up an efficient force, pay jj. .. more than the competitive price, when we the Competi- know that an employee cannot support tive Wage himseU and those dependent upon him on this wage — ^for no employer can afford to have em- ployees so underpaid that they must seek outside sources to eke out their necessary income. For in- stance, only a few days ago, a woman applied for a position with us. I found that she was a widow with two children, and that her expenses required an income of twelve dollars a week. I had nothing higher than seven-dollar positions that morning, but a few days later I found a position which paid twelve doUarSj which I gave her. Had I not asked her detailed per- sonal questions, she would have been put in the seven- dollar position, with bad results to both parties. All this information must be obtained before an applicant is hired, and without letting him know the drift of the inquiries. If we were to discover such facts after employing him and immediately raise his salary, C. M. JONES 61 we would soon find that we had in our employ number- less widows with two children to support and youths with dependent relatives, for the handler of workmen must realize that what he does unto one of his em- ployees will soon be known to all. When a workman is employed, he is first sent to his department head, where is is instructed in his specific duties. If he is a salesman, he studies the stock behind the counter sufficiently to enable him to present it to the customer. The department head and the as- sistant superintendent keep their eyes upon employees, especiallj' the new ones, and are ready to answer any questions regarding the stock, and often give detailed instructions to individual salesmen in regard to the goods, and also in the finer points of salesmanship. One of the most efficacious methods we iise for directly instructing employees is a series of lectures or talks given by different people, generally women, experienced in department store work, both as sales- men and executives. The lectures are delivered infor- mally during the dull hours of the day to as many em- ployees at a time as the lecture room in the store will hold. They usually treat of some phase of salesman- ship, or individual betterment, and the fact that the lecturer is generally a regular employee of the store make them particularly strong, since his regular work enables the lecturer to draw his suggestions and illus- trations from the life of the store itself. The lectures are written along general lines laid down by the super- intendent, who goes over them carefully. The lecturer is admitted into conference between him and depart- ment heads or officials, so that he may understand the lines along which the superintendent is working and grasp the needs of the store. 62 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE The salesmen are kept in touch with the policy and activity of the store management, so far as con- . , _ cerns the sales. For instance, advertise- Sales Force Kept Posted on ments appearing in the papers are passed Advertisements around each morning or afternoon to the heads of all departments, and they pass them on in turn to their salespeople, who carefully study them. If the house is making a special effort on some line of goods, or special sales in some department are inaug- urated, the interested salespeople are notified of this fact. Thus the selling force does not work blindly, but in close harmony with the management. A feature which has brought very good results is the introduction of special salesmen. These are men and women experienced in retail selling, who walk about the paft of the store assigned to them, and when one sees a dissatisfied customer or a salesman in difficulty, he goes to the rescue. Very often he suc- ceeds in making a sale when the customer has left a counter without buying. Accurate records of each salesman's time and his weekly sales are kept. Yet these black and white rec- ords are not, after all, the most important elements in the handling of employees. The impression that the clerk makes personally upon the employer is really most significant. And for this reason the personal touch between the two, the human side of their rela- tionship, should be particularly emphasized and de- veloped. To this end, I encourage all employees to come to me at any time, and I never refuse an audience. I let clerks take care of the records— they are dead, and cannot be stimulated. Give me the personal con- tact and knowledge of an employee— with the records to fall back upon. I spend three hours a day in my C. M. JONES 63 office, six around in the store among the employees. This is the real record book of work done — the eight floors of the store. A man looks very different at ten in the morning, making application for a position with his best clothes on and his best foot forward, than he does at four o'clock in the afternoon, leaning over a counter. There are six floor superintendents in this store, and two assistant superintendents, who spend all their time on the floor. The employee is given every op- portunity and every encouragement to carry any trouble he may have to some one of his superiors. Sometimes particularly able work will bring in- crease in salary from the superintendent. In some in- stances a department head recommends a raise, but usually the employee will ask for it before its neces- sity becomes altogether plain to the former. This is encouraged, not frowned upon. Very often the in- crease is granted, and, if not, I hold that it is well to know what a clerk thinks of his own position — that it is better to be obliged to go to the trouble of con- vincing him that he is receiving what he deserves, as shown by his sales records, than to have him brood into chronic discontent. Sales and other records are valuable in making raises and promotions, but to rely on them exclusively is a mistake. A saleman's attitude, disposition, gen- eral utility may be such as to make him valuable to the house, and still his value may not appear in the records. It is just as unsafe, of course, to determine thesff questions without reference to such records, but I be- lieve the leaning toward reliance on records and sub- Fersion of the personal element is to be avoided. 64 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE A sharp watch is kept on the total sales and ex- penses of each department, and just as an individual's _ sales are supposed not to fall below a cer- of Sales by tain percentage, so a department must Departments ^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^ certain standard. Depart- ment heads must be made to feel that their records are being closely watched and that they must either bring results or tell the reason why. Every morning the superintendent receives from the accounting department a sheet showing the exact condition of the store, by departments, for the preced- ing day and also for the same day the year before. This sheet records the number of the employees, the sales or work done, and the department expenses, on each of these two days. Such a sheet shows ex- actly how a department head is managing his depart- ment and what progress — which in business means in- creased product and decreased expense — he is making. It is a subject of much study and constant reference on the part of the superintendent and of consultation with his managers. Any suggestions as to changes in stock, or in de- tails of management, are invited from salesmen and department heads ; the latter are supposed to make sug- gestions frequently and salesmen are required, when- ever goods are asked for which the store does not carry or has not in stock, to make out a special report, stat- ing this fact. If an employee feels that his side of the question, his opinion, his suggestions, are going to be consid- ered by his employer; if he knows that his relations with an employer are those of one human being toward another, it will do much to make him contented and efficient. CHAPTER X SELECTING AND TRAINING EXECUTIVES BY CLARENCE M. WOOLLBY President, The American Radiator Company The selection and training of executives is a task that should fall to the lot of department heads. In our corporation each head is expected to develop and train his successor, so that when the time comes for promotion, there will be an available man to step into every place left open. It often happens in business houses that an executive fails of promotion because he has not trained someone to step into his place. I have known men who were short-sighted enough to think that they held a tighter grasp on their positions by refusing to teach another how to do the work. Such a policy is sure to keep a man down. In large organ- izations, it is a paramount duty to train successors to present executives, and our company has developed a plan of self-perpetuity. We have never gone outside of our own organization to fill executive positions. The selection of a man to be trained for an execu- tive position is a matter as complex as human nature itself. No formula can be laid down. In our own ex- perience, every young man is regarded in the light of a possible future executive. The heads of the various departments are expected to study the temperaments and put men at the work best adapted to their abilities and tastes. If a man develops traits that indicate 65 66 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE special talent for another department than that in which he works, it is assumed that he will be trans- ferred there. It is an important part of an executive's duty to watch his men carefully and intelligently for executive ability. The qualities that should manifest themselves in a man. in order to make him a candidate for an execu- ftnaiifications *^"^® position, are hard to define. In the for an Exeou- first place, knowledge of the business is tive Position essential, and he must have proved his industry and devotion by a service extending over a series of years. He must have shown effective work in the ranks, a moral temperament reasonably fitted to the tasks assigned to him, and a special adaptability to the particular calling to be taken up. Initiative is a very important quality to be watched for, and a quality which shows itself very early, and in the humblest of positions. We have all seen young men with ideas, and young men without ideas. The man who origi- nates, and puts things forward, and improves on old methods, is the man who is the most apt to be chosen for an executive place. Self-reliance, too, is very nec- eessary. There are certain traits, of course, which all men must possess if they hope to rise in the business world. They must have self-control that enables them to meet emergencies and diflSeulties smoothly; they must have morality; they must be temperate. Together with these homely traits, a man must exhibit a real love for his work. The executive who is watching for a man to train as his successor will select one, other things being equal, who can step out of the ranks, taking with him an unconscious devotion to his calling — not for the pay-check he is to get at the end of the week, but for CLARENCE M. WOOLLEY 67 the love of the work itself. It is the same principle you find in the art world, or in the world of music. The artist paints because he loves to paint. The man who sings a song because he loves the song will sing it bet- ter than the man who sings merely for pay. Having selected a candidate for an executive posi- tion, of course the primary thing is to instruct him in the fixed duties of the place he is to fill, and in business principles in general. He must learn the technical features of his particular calling before he can be en- trusted with great responsibilities. However, training in the secondary stage — that in which the embryo executive assumes responsibilities TrMtinK Ee- ^bove those of a mere clerk — may begin sponsibiiities Very early in his career. It may begin, to Young Men j^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^j^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ j^-^ clerical training commences. A technical training and the art of shouldering responsibilities may go together. Even a very young man may be trusted with small responsi- bilities, and these responsibilities may be enlarged so gradually that he will scarcely know he is going up, step by step, to an executive position. Responsibility is what develops men and makes them broad and strong. It is a great creator of execu- tive ability. When entrusted with it, candidates for promotion will show what is in them. Throw men on their own resources and see what they do. It is the petty cramping of a man that keeps down his abilities. Therefore, when you have faith that a man has suffi- cient knowledge of his business, begin by slipping out from under this or that responsibility, and letting it fall to the pupil. This judgment-developing period is one in which the teacher as well as the student must have judgment. 68 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE Just how far to trust a man, and what important duty to turn over to him, or not to turn over to him, is to be determined by your knowledge of the man in ques- tion. Try him first on something not radically im- portant, or something on which you can reverse him if he goes wrong. If he makes a mistake in judgment, make it clear to him just wherein he erred. Judgment is something that may be guided and developed like any other faculty. Immature judgment IS merely untrained judgment. Therefore, guide the efforts of the man you are training just as much in this direction as in others. Do it by taking a man into your confidence and reasoning the thing out, for judgment, after all, is largely reason. If a man knows that you are following some particular course because of logical reasons for it, he will come to base his own decisions and action on similar grounds. As your faith in your pupil's judgment grows, let go of more responsibilities. The more you trust him, n _■ _ the more he will trust himself. The more uoTenung the Speed of you broaden out his duties, the broader Development jj^ ^j^ become. You can develop him slowly or quickly, other things being equal, according to the sort of training you give him. So, too, the quality of initiative may be developed and trained, provided it exists in latent form. It would be a mistake to curb or discourage the exercise of a quality on which the progress and growth of a business so largely depend. Instead, the executive should bring out the quality, and, by helpful suggestions and a sympathetic attitude, seek to direct it into channels where it will be most valuable. The abilities of a man should be developed in a sort of psychological sequence, rather than by distinct CLARENCE M. WOOLLET 69 steps. An executive trained in this way will be in far better position to serve the interests of his company, and to direct the efforts of other men, than the execu- tive suddenly picked from the clerical ranks. The best executive is the one who is trained into his place by degrees, or who acquires the executive atmosphere by assimiliation, and not by leaps. Our corporation has followed out these principles in selecting and training men to fill executive positions, and it has been getting stronger and stronger all the time, and capable of producing more and better execu- tives. There never has been a time that we have failed to take advantage of natural opportunities for company progress because of the lack of executive ability in our own ranks. It is surprising how a man will blossom like a flower, when given a chance. Executive ability is a quality that develops very rapidly. Not once in a hundred times will a man fail to do better than is expected of him. It is very desirable to take men into employment when they are young. We do not want to take on men who have not within themselves the capability of becoming executives. Our best executives today came in as boys and made the business a part of their nature. We are taking in many young men who want to make their way in the world, and if they can devote them- selves to the tasks before them, they will succeed. The incentive to work is great if a man knows that sure ad- vancement awaits him, and the department executive has great inducement to train an understudy if he knows that by doing so he is not training himself out of employment, but training himself into higher and more remunerative occupation. 70 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE You cannot furnish a man with ability if he hasn't it within him, but you can develop it, and I have seen men accomplish extraordinary things who did not seem to have much ability in the beginning. I have seen men do great things because they knew their sub- ject, not because they were especially brilliant. In these days business is so highly specialized that the man is best equipped to succeed as an executive who can add to other qualifications that of thorough knowl- edge of his subject; and sometimes this knowledge makes up for deficiencies in other directions. An industrial company, to be well rounded, should contain within 'itself every essential element for self- perpetuity, by preparing individuals to assume execu- tive responsibility, from the least important depart- ment head to the directing chief of the organization. CHAPTER XI THE MACHINERY OP HIRING MEN BT H. A. WORMAN Former ilamager Employment Department, NatiomU Oath Register Companj Given efiSeiency, the simpler the machinery of hiring can be kept the greater is the freedom from red tape and the cheaper the service rendered. Like purchas- ing, employment is a fixed charge on the business unless it more than saves its cost by preventing bad bargains in men or by securing necessary workers who can be gathered by no other means. And as certain industries have no purchasing problems, because they control their own raw materials, or are in immediate touch with their primary markets, so there are fac- tories, sometimes considerable in size, where the force has uncommon stability, where possession of automatic machinery reduces the demand for skilled workmen to the minimum, or where fortunate location, either in an industrial center or a small community of home- owners rooted to the soil, affords a supply of ofSce and factory workers in excess of requirements. For companies like these an employment office would be an unnecessary expense, and any records beyond a list of employees, a cross file of men with more than one occupation — unless the organization be so small the capacities of all employees can be carried in the super- 71 72 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE intendent's head— and a filing case for pay-rolls would fail to pay the cost of keeping them. In the plant which turns its force at intervals, however, or by the nature of its produce requires a fluctuating supply of mechanics and "handy men," some sort of an employ- ment system should be maintaiaed and an office or waiting room provided to shelter applicants until the hours fixed for interviews. A good mechanic will not wait in the rain; lack of consideration for applicants is interpreted as a sign of disregard for the health and comfort of employees. The size of the department, the scope of its records and activities depend as much on the nature of the local labor market and the quality of workmen used as on the number of employees and the average terms of service. So important is the part played by the local labor market that many manufacturers deliber- ately surrender the advantages of proximity to their raw materials, cheap factory sites and rural freedom from labor disputes in order to be near a large supply of skilled men, employed but always in the market. I have in mind one such industry, in a western fac- tory town, employing 1,200 men, half of them skilled A 81m 1 A workers, where the factory superintend- Elastio Employ- ent is the employment man and his stenog- ment System j-apher keeps all the employment records. Despite the size of the organization, the labor policy of the house is so satisfactory to the men that changes in personnel are more infrequent than in many fac- tories of half the size, while the local market is ade- quate to supply all the skilled men needed save for a few experts in certain special lines. The employment system is so simple and it has proved so effective that I shall use it here as typical of that best suited to any H. A. WORMAN 73 small industry where the superintendent can find time to interview applicants once or twice a day. Only one form card is used for the entire employ- ment record, supplemented by a cross file for the men with two or more occupations. This card (Form I), DATE NAME AGE PERSON ADDRESS LETTER SINGLE MARRIED REFERS TO PHONE CHECK VOCATION EXTENT OF EXPERIENCE ASSEMBLER PLANER ACCOUNTANT PUNCH PRESS BENCH POLISHER BLACKSMITH PIPEFITTING BOX MAKER PACKER CARPENTER PATTERN MAKER DRILL PAINTER DIE MAKER SHAPER DROP FORGE SHIPPING CLERK DRAUGHTING STOCKKEEPER ELECTRICIAN SAW SMITH ENGINEER TRUCKER FURNACE WORKER TOOL MAKER FIREMAN VISE GEN'L REPAIRS WATERTENDER INSPECTOR WOODWORKER LABORER LATHE MASON y^ "^ MILLING MACHINE \ J \ MILLWRIGHT "| pNATIONALITY HEIGHT WEIGHT | Form II: Applicant's record card, front, filled out by the person interviewing and filed alphabetically or by trades checked shown here in facsimile, bears on its face blank spaces for the date, name, address, telephone number, refer- ences, nationality, age and condition touching mar- riage of the applicant. The lower two-thirds of the stout linen card lists all the trades and machine occu- pations used in the factory. As he talks to the applicant, the superintendent fills out the blanks according to the answers and checks all the jobs the man has held, double checking the place he believes he could best fill in the works and adding a cross to indicate his last employment. Where the ex- perience has been extended enough to give some assur* Getting the Host Ont of Interviews 74 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE ance of skill, the name of the company employing him in that occupation is added, with a suggestion of the superintendent's impression of his fitness for that par- ticular job. Company names, particularly local compa- nies, are abbreviated and in general a system of short- hand intelligible to the superintendent and his stenog- rapher is used. Not once during the examination has the inter- viewer's attention been distracted from the man be- fore him by the necessity of writing when a check mark will carry the information desired. If the im- pression the man makes is marked— and the inquiry is detailed enough to bring out the best in the man as well as his weaknesses— the fact is noted. Dis- missing the applicant, the superintendent tells him frankly what is his probable chance of getting a job. and fixes a day for him to return if there seems to be an opening for him. In all, the interview lasts not more than five minutes for a skilled worker. For a machine hand or laborer the process is even swifter. Turning the cards over to his stenographer, the superintendent suggests the men he wants looked up. If their references are city firms, he may himself tele- phone to the house for a confidential report on the applicant, or if he is busy the stenographer gets the information. Out-of-town references are applied to by letter. The answer in either case dictates what ad- ditional data shall be transferred to the card which has been filed by occupation. If there is no immediate need for the applicant's type of labor, the card is filed as it comes from the superintendent's hands— except in the ease of toolmakers and machinists, whose refer- ences are looked up and the answers noted without delay. If the man seems undesirable for any reason, H. A. WORMAN 75 the card is destroyed, otherwise it remains in the file until the man is hired or it is learned that he has left the city. When a call comes for a man from any department, the superintendent searches his "occupation file" of employes having two or more trades. If he finds no man of promising experience, he turns to his file of applicants and runs through the cards he finds under the occupation demanded, or asks the stenographer to pick out of all the cards those indicating men of the trade desired. The most likely man is chosen and his references addressed by telephone or letter, if that has not already been done. If the answers are satisfactory the man is summoned by telephone or let- ter, and in a final interview the superintendent makes up his mind whether the man will do for the vacant place. Putting a man on, his card is withdrawn from the file and his name, address and telephone number are ,„ , transferred to the reverse side (Form II). Fermanent Card Eecordof Blanks are left for two changes of ad- Each Employee (jpggg^ gjjjgg tjjg card is to be his record for as many years as he remains in the em- ploy of the house. In other blanks provided are filled in the date of his assignment, the department receiving him, his kind of work, the time of starting work and his starting rate. Two lines are left for changes in rates and employment, with the names of the foremen authorizing the advances or transfers. Should the man leave, the date and reason are in- serted in spaces reserved for them. Routine causes— "discharged," "no reason," "no notice," "wanted raise," "better job," "left city," "lazy," "incom- petent"— are merely checked as they appear on the 76 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE card. Should the man be re-employed later, the fact is checked and the card is withdrawn from the "dead file" and restored to the "live file," unless all the blanks have been filled, when a new card is started, with a cross reference to the old one in the "dead file." The cards are on thin, tough stock, will stand an unlimited amount of handling and occupy very little space in the filing cabinet. NAME 1 ADDRESS PHONE. 1 NEW ADDRESS ne^Af ADDRESS DATE ASSIGNED TO DERT., STARTED WORK RATE RATE CHANGED DATE. BY RATE CHANGED DATE BY 1 tErr ^'" REASON _J 1 NO REASON NO Drs- NOTICE CHARGED WANTED RAISE BfeTTEH LEFT aOB CITY 1 RECORD LAZY NO GOOD E«A&-VED "" 1 nCMARHS /^-^ -' LAST EMPLOYED s? Form II. Applicant's record card, back. This side is filed forward after tlie appti- has been employed A similar card, adapted to office occupations could easily be used, however, in conjunction with an ap- . ,. ^. . plication blank (Form III) , the office man- Application for ^ ' ' Form Needed for ager's stenographer transferring the data Office Employes gjyen to the proper blank space on the card before it is filed. In hiring office men, the office manager or some responsible official of the company should interview all applicants, as a keener eye for quality and fiber is required in judging clerks, sten- ographers and accountants than in sizing up mechanics. H. A. WORMAN 77 The application blank, indeed, marks the beginning of evolution to a more elaborate or specialized em- ployment system. The very nature of the information it seeks to elicit suggests a different conception of the qualities and circumstances which contribute to the making of a profitable employee— an impression strengthened by the close likeness of the forms and questions which appear on the blanks of all large companies which centralize employment in a single man or department. Where a number of applicants are interviewed every day, the application blank needs no further excuse than its utility as a time-saving device. It is always filled out, except in the case of foreign laborers, by the candidate for a job in his own handwriting. No intelligence of value in determining the equip- ment and character of the man is overlooked by the inquiries on the forms. Name, address, age, height, weight, nationality, birthplace and place of last resi- dence are the preliminary queries. Then the kind of employment desired, the class which would be ac- cepted and the wages or salary expected, lead up to the more searching questions as to general education and special preparation or training for the position desired, the positions held in the past, the names, ad- dresses and business of each employing company, the name of the foreman or department head under whom the applicant served, and the reasons why each change was made. The applicant's present cimployTnent— if he is em- ployed—is made subject of special inquiry, the class of wark he is doing, his remuneration, his motive for leaving, his length of service, the date when he could 78 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE take another position, follow. Then the questions, "Have you ever been employed by this company? In what capacity? In what department?" uncover any source of information which may be in the company's ( KAMC O' COMPANY ) APPLICATION FOa EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION EXPIRCt IN THREE MONTHS NAME in FULL BTHEET ft NO- MARRIED OR SINGLE VMA^V DO VOU SW>POHTj_ WATIONALITY' SPEAK What LANflUAGE AHtJfOU HgALTMY7 ANY P.HY3tpAL DEFECTS r WHERE RECEIVED . TECHNICAL KINO OF WORK.WANTEP POSITIONS YOU ARE QUALIFIED TO FrLL _ EJtPERIENCe jIF 9T E_lH q. STfiTE SPEED) SALARY AT LAST EMPLOYMENT SALARY EXPECTED EVER PHEVIOUaLYgMP L OYEpBY (NAME OF CO.! WHAT DEPT. WHY PIP YOU LEAVE HERE NAME Of PRESENT EMPLOYER PRESENT EMPLOYER'S BUSINESS »i QWLONO HAVE VOU BEEN EMPLOYED THERE? AT tfJHAT CLASS OF WORK REASONS FOR MAKING CHANGE IN THE SPACES BELOWGIVETHE NAMES OF THE FIRMS VOU HAVE WORKED FOR IN THE PAST NAME OF FIRM BUStWESS YOUR WORK IN THE SPACEQ BC).OWOIVE REFERENCES INO RELATH/ESi rOH YOUR CHARACTER. HABIT9,jeTC. NAMEOFREFgRENCe ADPRESS OCCUPATION OR BUStNE33 GENERAL REMAPf.S BY APPLICANT SPACES BELOW ARE NOT TO BE FILLED BY APPLICANT INTERVIEWED BY REMARKS Form in: Applioatlon blaak suitable for adaptation to any kind of workmen, bi oSot or factory. It may be simpli.ied by umitting questionn H. A. WORMAN 79 records. In recent years, since foreign immigration has given a new character to factory workers in the large cities, another question has been appearing in the blanks of the companies employing these aliens— "What language do you speak?" since the value of a potential foreman or gang boss would be increased by ability to handle foreigners without an interpreter. Health is another matter emphasized and the de- mands of the application blank are backed up by a Examining Ap- P^^sical examination by a company phy- piicantB for sician, or detail inquiry by the employ- Physical Befeots j^^ent man if no physician is on the factory staff. Defects in sight, hearing, speech or limb are piti- lessly catalogued, since a sound body means more effi- cient service and greater insurance against accidents. Then a man's social status and probable stability are determined by questions as to whether he is married, single or a widower, the number of members in his fam- ily, or, if he is single, those who are dependent on him for support. In nearly every case, company policy dictates the employment of married men in preference to bachelors, the single exception being an office man of moderate ability who is handicapped by a large family to sup- port. The same idea prompts the question, "Will you give all your time to the service of this company or have you any outside occupation or business?" Blanks are also provided for at least three refer- ences, besides former employers, as to the character, habits and mental ability of the applicant. Also for the rating put by the interviewer on the man's ability, experience and personality after the interview is finished, and such remarks as are necessary to com- plete his impression of the applicant's desirability. 80 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE In the case of boys or young men, spaces are left for the names and occupations of parents or guardians. Elaborate as this application form may seem at first sight, there is no item which hasn't some bearing on the quality, character or ability of the ap- cation Form plicant. From the answers alone, if the Saves Time man's honesty and industry are vouched for by responsible firms and individuals, a very trust- worthy conception can be gathered of his fitness for the work he wants. As a substitute for a time-consuming examination covering only half or third of the points specified above, the application blank is worth adoption. With the man's own account of himself before him, the employment agent can swiftly verify the main items, clear up the doubtful points, gauge the appli- cant's general intelligence by the manner in which he answers or explains his answers, and decide whether he is worth further inquiry in a very few minutes. Assuming that he looks promising, the application blank, is filed by trade or occupation, after proper in- quiry blanks have been filled out and forwarded to the references the man gives, both former employers for his experience, industry and character as a worker, and private individuals for his quality as a man. This letter— imitation typewritten on a form which includes below all the questions to which answers are desired, with, blanks for answer or for checking "yes" or "no"— is headed, "Confidential Report to the Employ- ment Department of the Blank Company," and state- ment is explicitly made that the information will be treated as confidential. Different forms, of course, are necessary in addressing the character references and former employers. When the reports come back, ftey either oonfirm or modify the impression made on H. A. WORMAN 81 the emplojonent man. If the decision is favorable, he writes it in the standard place on the application blank and this is re-filed with the correspondence at- tached. If unfavorable, the application goes into the waste basket. Whatever the employment system, it should be an outgrowth of the conditions and environment in the industry itself, the situation in the local labor market, and the aims of the house. Red tape should be avoided, the community of interest between the house and its employees recognized and guarded against in- dividual eccentricities of temper or viewpoint and a definite purpose demanded of every innovation or ad- dition to a system which has proved itself inadequate. Records which are merely interesting— and the temp- tation to multiply reports is tremendous if the em- ployment agent has an analytical mind or an inquiring spirit— should be vigorously tabooed. The one test to apply to every record and report is that applied to every factory process or office operation — Is it necessary? Does it pay? CHAPTER XII HANDLING APPLICATION AND HISTORY RECORDS BY O. N. MANNERS The reserve force of a business organization should always include a human element as well as reserve capital and reserve material. When some part of a machine breaks or wears out, the machinist has access to his list of duplicate parts in order to replace it at once. When supplies are needed, the purchasing agent consults his file of quotations from various firms. But when a man leaves the establishment, it is often the ease that the force is disorganized and work is delayed, while a search is being made for someone to fill the vacancy. It is obviously impossible as well as imprac- ticable and unnecessary to make any endeavor to keep in the employ of the company a man capable of step- ping into the place of each employee. How shall a house guard itself against vacancies in its working force, so that whenever a man leaves or is promoted his successor may be readily secured 1 Many establishments, in their efforts to solve this problem, have collected lists of available employees, giving the name and address, qualifications and present employment of each man who has at any time made application for employment or has been recommended to officers of the company. These records are more specialized than can be obtained from an employment 82 0. N. MANNERS 83 agency, by the methods described in the preceding chapter. The first step in the process of compiling the list is to secure the necessary information regarding the Blanks for Data experience and personal history of appli- Kegarding cants. For this purpose an application pp cants blank is provided, having spaces for more or less complete data as the nature of the service makes advisable. Day laborers are often hired without inquiry into their past record, and without even verifying the name and address which they claim. When employees are to do responsible work or represent the company in its relations with the public, a more careful inquiry is made. The application form explained here is that of a railway or street ear company and is typical of the blanks provided for applicants for responsible positions in any industry. Stringent mental and physical standards are required of applicants. The applicant for a position in a train or car service must on most lines be within certain age limits. He must be neat, fairly intelligent, sound in body and mind, not less than five feet four inches tall if he would be a motor- man or a brakeman; and, finally, he must be able to read and write English and do simple arithmetic. The man who meets these general requirements fills out an application blank (Form I) on which, in addition to his age, place of birth, condition of health and habits as regards the use of liquors, he states his willingness to obey the company's rules and regula- tions, to do all in his power to further the company's interests and to conduct himself obediently and re- spectfully toward his superior officers and courteously toward the patrons of the road. If he has been pre- 84 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE viously employed, he must state where, when and by whom. In addition he must give several references, and then he must swear to the truthfulness of his state- ments before a justice of the peace. The data re- corded on these blanks will vary with the line of busi- ness, but this form is the most satisfactory. From these application blanks giving whatever information the employing concern requires, the ofiSce Cross-indexed ^®<'°^''Js of available employees are made Cards Kept out. They are composed chiefly of cross- in ce indexed card files, one set being arranged alphabetically by names, and the other by trades or lines of work. For the alphabetical file, a white card is used (Form II), with spaces for the necessary personal notes relating to the man whose name heads the card. When application is first made, the three top lines of the white card are used ; they designate the name, address and qualifications. At the time this card is made out the first two lines of a card for the cross-file (Form III) , are also filled in. This card names the position first and the man second, and naturally is the important card when a man is wanted for certain work, as no names have to be kept in mind. The cross-file cards, which are buflf colored, bear only two other records besides the ones referred to. These records are filled in after the applicant becomes an employee. One line is for the occupation and name, and the next two lines are for the change in wages, the first of these lines giving the date of change and the second the rate. In addition to these records, the white card gives the date the man entered the employ of the company, the rate at which he started, the time he quit and the reason, and other remarks. O. N. MANNERS 85 INTCRBOROUGH RAPID TRANSIT QQMVANV MANHATTAN NAIUWAV WnStOfl APPUCATION PO« «iin HP^-ICANTS MUST rUU. NAME or APPLICANT _ FOn WHAT POSITION. PMCBtNT AOORCes WHERCeOHN _TOWN COUNTY \ AND STATE _ _ _ _ / WHAT FAMILV NAVE VOU OR WHAT PCRSdNS ARC OCPCNOINO UPON VOUron SUPPORT _ nicDonaiNCLt _ ICNCCINNCWTORH. nULINTMCF PAST FIVE VEAR9 »RS. OIVINQ OATt O YOUR EMPLOYMENT AN NAMES OF YOUR CMPLOYf NS OURINO TNS FROM TO CMPLOVeO AS AT AOORCSa INBERWICIOF MO VEAH MO. YEAR (OlVe NAME or EMPLOYER OB COBPORATIOnJ WERE YOU EVER EMPLOYED ON ANY 3TCAM ROAD, CLEWATCO, SUBWAY OR CITY PASSCNCCR RAILWAY! IF SO. t WHCN AND WHCRC. ANO IN WHAT CAPACITY YOU WERE SO rMP.,nvrn OIVC NAME ANO ADDRESS OF FOUR PERSONS WHO CAN TESTIFY TO YOUn CHARACTER _ APPLtCANT-S SiQNATURC _ P. O. AOORCSS STRICT AND WO . CCNERAl. HANAGCH Form I: Application blank which is filled out by persons seeking employment with a street railway company, typical of the blanks used in all cases where extended information is desired. This provides blanks for entry of the appli- cant's age, birthplace, family, present and past addresses, record of previous employment covering a period of five years and the names of persons referred to for testimonials regarding character 86 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE O 2 *- )- E n u o boO rt ft ■M-n Q U ID U U z S « 3 X b. U O a ha & O. N. MANNERS 87 From the fact that the buff card contains none of these closing records, it might seem that a discharged employee could return at some fature time and secure a position. But as soon as his name is found on the buff card, the fact that he has been either on the wait- ing list or a former employee is apparent, and refer- ence is at once made to the white card, where all the details are found. Such lists of available labor are often of service in cases where men are needed for temporary work. Mercantile houses especially find extra employees a necessity in their rush seasons. To meet the unusual demands for salesmen during the holiday seasons, the retail stores keep a list of K ■ L' ts fori^^r and prospective employees on of Saieamen for which they call as occasion demands. The Sash Seasons number of supplementary employees en- gaged during the Christmas and Easter seasons, in the large department stores, sometimes runs into hundreds and thousands. Recourse is sometimes made to the advertising columns of the daily papers, but the better quality of such service is usually secured through the agencies of these lists. One of the large department stores has a list made up of former employees who have for personal reasons left the store, but who will come back at rush times; persons who have been "laid off"; such applicants as have not been accepted, but whose records are marked acceptable; besides the names of such as have ex- pressed a willingness to do this temporary work. All these names, with full addresses and complete descrip- tions, are filed on cards in an emergency list. Often such supplementary lists of employees are called upon regularly at short intervals. In stores 88 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE lit z. bl 0) o 20- p 5z< 6 «l U o u < E < E II a u. a o < Q o o 111 : c O c s ? & 10 z z u a: u o c id E ^ z < Id 1- S « X < 111 JK o u a E O. N. MANNERS 89 whose Saturday afternoons and evenings exceed the sales of the three or four days preceding, a supple- mentary force of employees is maintained, some of whom are clerks with free Saturday afternoons and evenings. Their names are entered on the payroll. Great as is the interest in a man's history when he is an applicant for work, the importance of know- How to Becord ^^^ ^^^ recording his efficiency after he Employees' enters the employ of the company is Conduct g^gjj greater. For by such records the officials of the company who do not come into per- sonal contact with him may judge of his eligibility for promotion or of the desirability of discharging him. Personal records of employees have been more highly developed by public service corporations than by other business organizations, as they have two sources for obtaining reports on a man's ability and conduct : the public in general, and their own officials in particular. "Discipline by record" is practically a bookkeep- ing account between the employer and the employee. On one side of the sheet is a credit account, on which are recorded his credit marks. On the other side is the debit account, on which are recorded his demerits. The balance shows in figures the stability of the em- ployee's position with the company. Every employee is assumed to be fallible and sub- ject to human frailties. He is also assumed to be pos- sessed of initiative and judgment. By this code of discipline, his merits and deficiencies are recorded in parallel columns, and one is made to balance the other. When each man enters the employ of the company, he is assumed to be efficient until he proves himself ptherwise and an arbitrary number of merit marks. 90 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE generally one hundred, are placed to his credit. Upon these he may draw just as he draws upon money de- posited in the bank. As infringements of discipline occur, this number is decreased in proportion to the seriousness of the offense. Li the same way, good con- duet, judgment and loyalty are rewarded by marks of merit which counteract the debit marks. The em- ployee's account is kept up ready for reference just as his bank account is kept, and if he overdraws his account in either case, the result is the same — ^his con- nection with that institution is severed. The immediate superior of an employee determines the number of demerit marks which he considers the accused should receive. In case the matter is of im- portance, he may in turn refer his decision to his im- mediate superior. When this number is fixed, the official notifies the employee by letter that he has been subjected to discipline and gives him the opportunity to defend himself by personal explanations and by witnesses who are familiar with the case before the record is made permanent. When the penalty is in- flicted, the employee is notified of his record to date. No employee, however, is allowed to see the record of any other employee without written permission. These personal records of the employees are kept in loose leaf volumes (Form IV), with pages ap- proximately 11 by 15 inches, closely ruled. A page is reserved for each man. The first entry is that of the name, address, record number, date and place of birth, date of appointment, and the capacity in which he serves. Notations are then made in chronological order of any facts which are reported regarding this em- ployee's fidelity: the violations of which he may be guilty; his regularity and punctuality; and complaints 0. N. MANNERS 91 and commendations made by the officials of the com- pany or received from outside sources. There are also recorded whatever disciplinary measures are adopted, the date of his promotion, or the reverse, and any information which throws light, either directly or indirectly, upon the man's habits, personal conduct and efficiency. On the principle that occasional brilliant service should not be the only basis for wirming marks of merit, and that faithful but undistinguished service is worth reward, the following system of cancellation of demerit marks has been adopted : A clear record for one year cancels six demerits. A clear record for two consecutive years cancels eighteen demerits. A clear record for three consecutive years cancels forty demerits. A clear record for four consecutive years cancels seventy-five demerits. A clear record for five consecutive years equals a clear record; that is, all demerit marks are canceled. It is from eligible men as shown by this record that the higher positions are filled, in preference to choos- ing outsiders for such vacancies. , Whenever vacancies occur, the fact is made public on the bulletin board so that candidates may have an opportunity to file their applications. In determining their fitness for the posi- tion involved, their records are carefully examined. CHAPTER XIII TIMEKEEPING AND PAYROLL SYSTEMS BY JAMBS GERMAIN The problem of keeping the time of employees and making out their payroll is difficult in proportion to the size of the working force. A part of the regular duties of the accouating department in small establish- ments, it becomes a task requiring the attention of a special corps of clerks in large factories and great re- tail stores. In many mercantile houses the problem is simplified by paying every two weeks. Factory workers, however, usually receive their wages every week, and the task of computing the amounts is compli- cated by the elements of overtime and piece work. In large establishments, the offices of timekeeper and paymaster are distinct. Under such a system, the duties of the timekeeper include: first, obtaining data of employees' time-, second, recording the data; third, making up a time-roll for the paymaster. Besides this, he should maintain an alphabetical index of em- ployees, record entries, releases, and transfers between departments, and control tardiness and absence. The time data required depends on the use to which it will be put. In some cases, especially in fac- tories, it is necessary to know what the employee has done in the time he has worked, and his time is charged accordingly. Timekeeping, in this sense, is more prop- erly involved in costkeeping. In the majority of cases, 92 JAMES GERMAIN 93 and in this group offices and mercantile houses are included, the total number of hours or of days worked from one pay day to the next is all that is essential; and this is determined by recording daily the time of arrival and departure. For obtaining such data, the systems best suited for use in a large establishment are the check and the clock systems. In the former, brass cheeks or cards are given to the employees. The metal checks are found more KeepinffTime satisfactory than cards in manufacturing by Individual plants, as they are not liable to be dam- ^"^^ aged or soiled. The checks are numbered consecutively and hang on a board in the timekeeper's office. Each workman on entering the building is given the check which bears his number. Reference to the unclaimed checks will therefore show the absentees or the tardy workmen. On leaving the building at noon or at night the employee turns in his check, the time is noted by the timekeeper on a daily report, and the check is hung in place until the beginning of the next day's work. The principal objection to this system is that it is not automatic, and clerical errors may creep in. The permanent record is made by the timekeeper, and be- yond his entry there is no record to fall back on. The individual card system is used in many offices and stores. Under this system, each employee is given a time card (Form I), bearing his name and depart- ment, which he carries with him, and which contains blanks for six days' records. His ticket is punched in the morning when he comes to work, at noon when he goes to and returns from lunch, and at night when he leaves. In some establishments the rules make it unnecessary to punch the card when he leaves at noon, 94 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE since each employee is assigned a certain time as his lunch hour and cannot leave until his time. If a clerk is compelled to work over the hour, he receives an extension slip from his department head indicat- ing his overtime, and he is allowed an equal time be- yond his regular hour. If employees are late, they have a large square hole— very conspicuous— punched in their tickets, in- ' 1 - NOON IB -xvs •'" -StiOHJ. •03M s^nx -NOW xna X o NAME ADORE POSIT — E qs i I £ 6 M 9 d u 3 -1 z c Kt-V SALAR V 3 z RECEIVED PArnAEniTtN FULL FOR SERVICES TO DAT£ AS AOOVE INDICATED Form I: Time ticket, renewed each week, on wtiich the employee's pnnctuality or tardiness is shown by punches in the squares representing each day stead of the usual small hole. Two of these square punches in a card means that it will be taken up and sent to the manager's office, where the tardy employee must call for it. The very fact that he must show him- self to the manager and reach over his desk for the ticket, even though no word is said, makes a strong deterrent, and it also keeps the manager in touch with the weak members of the force. JAMES GERMAIN 95 Employees must report to their department head on coming to work morning and noon. He keeps his own time sheet for all in - his department. This he sends in to the auditor at the end of the week, and from it the payroll is made up. The employees' tickets are also taken up weekly and new ones issued, and these two time records are checked against each other. The other method of recording time, the clock system, furnishes a permanent record, which, being The Clock automatic, is practically free from error. System of Time The employee's number appears at the ex- Eecording treme left of a recording roll inserted each day in the clock, and this number is followed consecu- tively by his morning entrance, noon departure, noon entrance and evening departure. There is space at the right for an entrance and a departure in case an employee returns to work in the evening. Prom this record the actual hours worked can be readily seen. The tapes are dated and filed in consecutive order, thus forming a permanent record by which any disputed question may be decided. To insure against dishonest registration the clocks must be under the eye of some trustworthy person. If located at a common entrance for all employees, the timekeeper or his assistant may watch them. Night watchmen or any other all-night employees register "in" in the fourth column, because the clock is set for those leaving at that time, and the "out" registration in the morning will be in the first column on the next day's tape for the same reason. If clocks are used, the data, although permanent, will hardly be in a concise shape for reference. Assum- ing that each employee has worked a full day, it is only necessary to record lost time and overtime to secure 96 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE . NAME. JPH^I,-^^:^:^... DEPT...§>*^ JAN. 1-15 1- JANUARY 1 FCBRUABV 1 MARCH 1 1*16 U 1ft-fl« 1 JAN. 16-31 u" ' ""■" 1'4 @ 2.0 10k FEB. „5- 1-lS 70 "-Is lOt MAR. ,,. 1-15 /lb ir^s< /'/d ?-■;?• /Jiii h AP 16 (!) RIL 1 MAY i,4e II aA.oa 1 JUNE. 1 APR. ,,». 16-30 /i» 3 <'fZ IS MAY ,.»- 1-16 /^» MAY ,.-. 16-31 //r JUNE 1-15 //7 JUNE ,^^ 16-30 //i JULY ,f. 1- '"r.... i AUGUST SEPTEMBER 1 JULY ^ 16-31 /aT ?.c, TO AUG. ,^ 1-is /O fz AUG. 16-31 SEPT. 1-15 SEPT. 1(-30 OCT. 1-15 1 OCT 15' >BER 16-31 NOVEMBER OECE MBER 1 OCT. 16-31 NOV. 1-15 NOV. 16-30 DEC. 1-15 DEC. 16-31 REMARK S Form II: An individual time card covering one yesr, showing overtime and absences by dates in each payroll period of one-half month JAMBS GEEMAIN 97 NAMC L^^^ a/yu'/i ALLOW DEDUCT JUNE f^f / y^ Xfi ALLOW DEDUCT ^9 i iS. V DEDUCT JULY ^■? ALLOW DEDUCT .« ALLOW DEDUCT AUG. 31 i 3 /oYi ALLOW DEDUCT }9 ALLOW DEDUCT SEPT v; t DEDUCT y.?. ALLOW DEDUCT OCT v,^ «■ i^'^i ALLOW DEDUCT yr ^ T DEDUCT NOV, ,« ALLOW DEDUCT ^7 ,? ''/i i xz ALLOW DEDUCT DEC. 7-? i /o ALLOW i. DEDUCT a^O-u^i^t: ■?!' 1 23 ALLOW DEDUCT f/ 13 y y n JiS Form III: Report submitted to executive ofiScers regarding an individual's time, in order to secure action on allowance and deduction of lost time 98 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE this result. A card which may be used for this purpose is shown in Form II. It serves to record the data regarding the time of one individual for one year. In this case the payroll is made up semi-monthly. The spaces for each half month are divided so that morn- ing records are separated from afternoon. Absence and tardiness are noted in the left hand column to indi- cate the morning, and in the right hand to indicate the afternoon. An entire day's absence requires notation in both columns. Tardiness or early departure is noted in ink, giving date, hour, and "1" for late, or "d" for departure. Overtime is recorded on the same card, the figures being circled to indicate credit. While the timekeeper can vouch for the accuracy of records obtained during regular working hours, overtime registration may be inaccurate. For this reason each department head is required to report at the end of each week or half month the number of hours, together with the dates of overtime for each individual in his section. These are totaled and the individual totals are noted on each card. At the end of each period the total deductions are subtracted from the full time for the period and any overtime added. The result is noted in the space in the left hand column. The time cards are best filed according to check or clock numbers, and at the same time by depart- „ ^ ,. ., , ments, as there is a given sequence of How Individual ' j; , i Becord Knm- check or clock numbers tor each depart- bers are Kept j]jent_ j^ has been found advisable to use clocks of 100 capacity in most cases, all numbered 1-100, instead of in series, as the former method ob- iriates the necessity of the employee remembering a large number. To prevent confusion between similar JAMBS GERMAIN 99 numbers on the several clocks, each, department has a distinctive number, which is coupled with the indi- vidual 's number. Thus an employee in Department 14, whose clock number is 27, has the record number 1427, There are certain employees who are, by virtue of long service or of position, entitled to vacations and Provision Made *° emergency allowance in cases of siek- for AUowance ness. It becomes necessary to submit to of Time ^j^^ executive officials a statement of the employee's standing, so that allowance may be made with due regard for individual records. Form III il- lustrates a form of card used for this purpose. It presents a summary of the time of each individual, by weeks or half months, and is filled out by the time- keeper and submitted to the proper executive, who indicates whether allowance or deduction is in order. In the first column at the left overtime is noted. Then follows the number of times tardy, total amount of tardiness, late arrival, early departure and total lost time. Each month the totals for the period are added to the previous totals, so that figures for any month comprise the total from January 1 to that date. Absence is recorded for each month separately and also by totals with small red figures to denote the amount allowed and deducted from January 1 to date, thus enabling the timekeeper to tell how much time has been allowed or deducted since January 1. With complete and accurate timekeeping systems in operation, the paymaster's work becomes a problem of disbursement: how to distribute the wages in the easiest, quickest and safest manner. The essentials of a paying system are a paymaster's list showing the amount due each employee, and a receipt to be signed by the man when he receives his envelope. 100 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 3 z < u > o m < hi z I- Q U > w c u s (0 z a z o ui u u £ >• s> 10 UI z o u u z h Z' o c X « u (9 4 K o u. O z I I I u s z 3 Ik z 3 < s > u a c o p H ii. 0. E 3 O > E > b. U X O H z H • ? h Ill U hi IE W u n: OC n o u (fl »- -) o E at 3 t- > z -> > o S ml u 1- < < o u 1- >■ u S z o E M hi E H O z a 4 E . " •: a M t 3 (0 = o -! E !± 1 3 w III > e I- & JAMES GERMAIN 101 The payroll system of a well organized factory may be used as a typical example of the method used in establishments where a large number of men must be paid simultaneously. When the payroll has been calculated, each em- ployee's pay is placed in a small envelope, on whose a.Eecei t ^^^^ ^® recorded his name, check number, taken from and the amount of payment. These en- Each Employee velopes pass through the hands of three inspectors, each of whom counts the money to see that it corresponds to the amount indicated on the envelope, and if correct, places his 0. K. under the figures. At five o'clock on the last working afternoon of the week the whistle of the plant is blown three times. This is the signal for every employee in the entire plant to stand at his working place. The foremen distribute the envelopes, as their acquaintance with the workmen expedites the distribu- tion and prevents errors. They pass through the rooms in pairs; one distributes the envelopes from a satchel, comparing the identification cheek number which each employee carries with the number on the envelope; the other carries a box in which the em- ployees deposit their receipts. These receipts (Form IV) have been previously distributed among the employees, filled out with the amount which the time records show to be due. If the employee accepts these figures as correct, he signs the receipt and gives it to the foreman in exchange for his envelope. If he believes a mistake has been made in figuring his wages, he takes the matter up with the foreman in order to have it corrected before th« money is counted out. CHAPTER XIV PAYING LABOR FOR THE BEST RESULTS BY HUGO DIEMBR Shop Systematizer, The Goodman Manufactwring Company Labor is the big variable item in the manu- facturer 's expenses. How he may get more work out of his men is the constant endeavor of the manager — for it is the straightest route to larger profits. The method of paying workmen has an appre- ciable influence on their output. Different methods get the best results under different conditions. The man- ager who figures out the method best fitted to his condi- tions shows the best results. Of the three possible methods of compensation — day work, piece work, and gain sharing method— the two latter will be the chief topics of consideration in this chapter. The day wage system as applied to man- ufacturing plants is of restricted use, being superior only in small shops or in establishments where the human labor element is controlled by the output of certain machines, the operator having no opportunity for initiative in making his services of greater value. A widespread impression prevails that the day wage is the only practicable one in work which re- quires great care, which cannot be hurried, which can- not be slighted. This assumes that if only given suffi- cient time the workman will be conscientious enough to do it thoroughly, and that the piece system or merit 102 HUGO DIBMEK 103 system produces careless work. Over against this it should be pointed out that, when a considerable num- ber of men are employed on work in which quality or accuracy is vital, an iaspection system must go hand in hand with any system of remuneration based on quantity of output. If the piece work or merit system is carried on with proper inspection with reference to quality, they will have no more and perhaps less trouble on account of quality than they used to have under the day wage system, since the men know that they dare not slight quality if they hope to gain the benefits of the merit wage. The principal danger in day wage lies in the ten- dency toward establishing a low dead level of pro- duction. It is possible to remunerate in a day pay system the best workingman at a higher hourly rate than the average, but day pay does not furnish the stimulus for development of initiative or creative abil- ity which is presented by the gain sharing methods. The second class of remuneration — piece rate- will always be found most satisfactory where muscular Where Piece ^^^^^ predominates or where a low grade of Work Bate intellect is used. There has been a tendency Can be Used j^^ m^uy ghops to make use of piece rate with a guaranteed day rate. Under these conditions it might just as well not be used at all, because its very efficacy lies in the penalty to idlers of a low amount of day's earnings for a poor day's work. This is the only remedy for automatically taking care of the time- killer and inefficient workman. Piece rate is by far the best method of compensat- ing such labor as molding, foundry work, shoveling coal or dirt, unloading or wheeling pig iron, ore, bricks and similar lines. In work of this nature there is no 104 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE a o > S HUGO DIEMEE 105 danger of the overhead operating expense being unduly increased as the men's productive work in- creases. Moreover, the man is responsible by the exer- cise of his own muscle and ingenuity for any increase in his output. Hence it is eminently fair that the laborer should be paid an increasing piece rate as his output, and consequently his value, increases. This method of piece work compensation has been designated as the differential piece rate and has been found very satisfactory. As an example of its opera- tion: a piece rate of twenty cents may be fixed on a certain product, provided the day's output is ten or less; for a day's output of from ten to fifteen pieces the rate may be made twenty-two and a half cents per piece; for more than fifteen pieces the rate would be twenty-five cents per piece. At first sight it would appear that the employer would lose money by paying ahigher rate as aman's output increased. This would be the case in classes of work where general operating expense increases with increase of output. Where the mechanical operating expense does not so increase it must be remembered that as a man's product per day increases he reduces the ratio between the general overhead of taxes, insurance, officers' salaries, and so on, to productive labor cost, and it may be very profit- able to use the "differential" piece rate in such cases. The third general division is that of gain sharing, which is distinct from a system of dividing indiscrimi- _ ^ . nately among all employees a part of the Forms of Gain net profits. The simplest gain sharing Sharing system is one in which a standard of out- put is established for certain departments and an amount of money is distributed proportionately to each man's wages among all employees in that department 106 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE for any bettering of the standard. This method is ap- plicable to certain kinds of work where a number of men work jointly in accomplishing a given result and where it is difficult to draw the line as to any par- ticular employee 's accomplishment. An immediate modi- fication of this is the fixing of a standard day's output for a workman and a reward for him if he exceeds it. The best known and most widely used gain shar- ing system is the one usually called the "premium system." Its chief features are the allowing of a definite number of hours to do a certain job. Of any time the workman saves over that, he gets one-half the benefit. The majority of manufacturers use the fifty per cent gain sharing basis in all eases. Modifications of the premium system have been devised which provide for a bonus or premium wage for small time reductions and a smaller increase of wages for large time reductions. One of these systems pays ten per cent increase of wages for a ten per cent reduction in time, twenty per cent increase of wages for twenty per cent reduction in time of performing the process, and so on. The danger of workmen's doing the work in too low a time is not the most prevalent difficulty in con- nection with the merit wage systems. The more fre- quent condition is one of general apathy or indiffer- ence to avail themselves of the advantages offered and to have the time linger within the ten and twenty per cent reduction area. A knowledge of the average time of doing work which is the custom in any particular shop is far more prevalent among workingmen than is generally supposed. In some shops unless a very strong inducement is made it will be very hard to secure the decided time reductions which are necessary to keep HUGO DIEMER 107 up with the times. In such cases it has been foimd advisable to offer an increase in wages of a certain per cent for all work done within a new time standard. "While engaged in a shop using this method of com- pensation I found that the method was good to only a - . . . certain limit. It did result in a consider- Combining Bonus with In- able proportion of the men doing the work creased Wage -^yitJiin the new time standards. However, there were not time reductions below the standard even on jobs that covered a period of weeks. This was natural, as no further inducement was offered for re- duction of time below the new standard, hence I com- bined with this twenty per cent bonus scheme the fifty per cent premium method. For instance, if a man employed at twenty cents an hour brings out success- fully in ten hours a job on which the standard time was fixed at twelve hours, he receives fifty per cent of the saving or twenty cents extra pay in addition to receiv- ing an increased wage rate of twenty-four cents an hour for all work successfully done. Some shops have preferred to fix a money price for the accomplishment of certain work rather than a time value. Their reason for this is to prevent cer- tain classes of work costing them too much money when this work is undertaken by a high priced man. For instance, if under the premium system a time limit of ten hours were put on a job and a thirty cent man did the job in six hours, the cost of the work to the company would be six hours at thirty cents plus four hours at fifteen cents or $2.40. On the other hand, if a twenty-five cents an hour man had accomplished the work in the same time, the cost of the job would have been six hours at twenty-five cents plus four hours at twelve and a half cents or $2.00. Now the company 108 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE C I •-p St- 2 H £l SI ST c^ c< 3- g( tl I/) u ^ n n u S P (3 J O < s O HUGO DIEMER 109 l: i •t 0) S u "T a 5 .8 ^ u n s u S 1 X E Q Q u £ Q a E 1 < s u T 4 ' ■ ' ■■ ■ Q B z E U » ^ DC T d o Z c; n b 1 u u ui c z s z i2u. uz s Jp a : I 01 m 0) u UI y i $ ? (J ^ n ■« E iJ -1 -1 ? g ■MM*** ■M ■mf U-J —J - U*-l '^^ ■ ^" ■■-i 110 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE J. + r 1^ C 3 5^\ ^ s t-s. ?\ SI 8 1 b^ ^ I V HUGO DIEMER 111 might find that it could not afford to have the piece of work cost in flat labor more than $2.25. The gain shar- ing would be one of money saved the company. This is really a more equitable basis than the hourly plan, inasmuch as the high priced man has his higher hourly rate which guarantees his day pay and he should neces- sarily have to exert himself more by the use of either his ingenuity or muscles if he expects to get a higher bonus or premium than his fellow craftsman working at a lower rate. The system required for keeping track of a piece work payroll will involve registering by means of a time clock, and a record of pieces of work units ac- complished (Form I), kept by workers or clerks, all involving statistical methods practically the same as for timekeeping in connection with day work methods. For a premium or gain sharing wage scheme these same methods are used and in addition to the regular payroll, there will have to be a system of postings for the premium or bonus payroll. The cost accounting system must also be modified to permit of proper allot- ment of the bonus money so as to show true cost. From the weekly sheet (Form II), after compari- son of the figures with the accepted standard, the time is assembled to a card (Form III), on which is also fig- ured the premium payroll in a case where payment is made once every four weeks. The same data can be also collected to a weekly slip (Form IV) . The weekly slip is written oat in duplicate, one copy going to the man with his envelope of premium money, the other being filed in a loose leaf binder under the man's name. With either of the above forms, a separate slip (Form V) may serve as a notification and record for the workman which he uses in checking his pay. BOOK II THE EMPLOYEE CHAPTER XV CHOOSING AN EMPLOYEE BY H. A. WOKMAN Vormer Manager Employment Department, Natiotml Cash Regis- ter Company Every worker is in business for himself— his brain, his capacity for work is the thing he has to sell. There- fore he should take it to the best market. But like every other producer or merchant, he courts failure if he relies wholly on a temporary market for his services. He must look ahead— and plan for his middle age, when his adaptability to strange conditions will have vanished and his lack of special skill in some calling will be a handicap no employer will overlook. Choose your employer with thrice the care he shows in selecting the men who work for him. Control of raw materials, automatic machinery, patents or the market for his product may insure him profits even though he neglect that vital element in his business — the quality and efficiency of his force. But the em- ployee, when he takes a position in office or factory, puts everything he is and has into the venture. He gives his time, his service, his experience, in return for a fixed wage. He gives more, however. He surrenders his individuality, his reputation, his capacity for growth — in one word, his business future— into the keeping of the organization he joins. If the work and associations are such as to thwart his development ; if the policy and methods of the house 115 116 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE are slipshod, unprogressive or widely at variance with the accepted usages of successful concerns; if perma- nency of employment depends on the whim or preju- dices of the "men higher up"; if the chances of ad- vancement, as exhibited by the experience of men already employed, do not seem good — the intelligent, capable, ambitious man will do well to ignore any tem- porary advantage in the way of increased compensa- tion and cast about for the field he is fitted for, the field where he will be able to turn his individual equip- ment to the best account. As it is business suicide for a manufacturer to sacrifice quality of his goods to immediate profits, the employee who takes a job which cramps or cripples his development or trains him to unsound methods is driv- ing straight toward personal bankruptcy in the years after thirty-five. If he fiinds it necessary to take a bread-and-butter place, his first concern must be to "make good" in it, that he may use it as footing for a leap to something affording wider scope to his powers and therefore better compensation— either inside the organization which has given him refuge or in another house where congenial work or opportunity for ad- vancement is offered. All employees fall into two classes— the job-hunter and the man who has a definite, marketable service to J b-H t ®^^^ °^ ^^ explicit purpose in seeking the and Trained place he desires. In this day of trade schools Workers ^^^ business colleges, of good technical courses tsught by mail or in night classes in every com- mercial and industrial center, there is little excuse for a man or boy of average mentality remaining long in the first category. If he does, his mediocrity and lack of ambition are patent and the blame is all his own. II. A. WORMAN 117 Yet the untrained or half -trained worker, the man who is willing to do anything in any factory or office, forms an overwhelming majority of the legions which drift into and out of the large industrial organizations year after year. The boy who hasn't decided that he wants to "learn a trade" before he is twenty-one, seldom proves profitable as an apprentice. His dearth of intelligence or concentration is proved by his failure to discover and solve his personal problem sooner. It needs tenacity of purpose, also, for a man to stick to apprentice tasks at boys' wages until he is twenty-four or twenty-five. Therefore in most factories, where apprenticeships are limited in number, they are assigned to lads under nine- teen, and the grown man has little chance of securing one. For the same reason, the office man of twenty- five, who has no special skill or service to offer, fixes his status as a clerk at hiring and gets little encour- agement or aid in his effort to master one of the office trades. Don't be a job-hunter, therefore. Whether you have had training or not, study yourself before you seek employment. Sum up your qualifi- Definite Line cations for business, your experience, your of Work tastes or natural bent. Then select the class of work which appeals to you as promising the best future, determine the type of business or factory in which your natural or acquired equipment will carry your furthest, and choose the firm or group of firms which will give you, as nearly as you can learn, the congenial work and surroundings, besides opportunity to grow and advance. Take stock of the firm you have finally settled on as minutely as you inventoried your personal qualifica- 118 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE tions. These last are the goods you take to market, so make sure that a market exists for them and plan your campaign as a salesman plans his approach to a customer. Talk to men in the employ of the company ; find out whether they are satisfied or discontented with its methods, its wages, their work, their chances of promotion and working conditions. Talk to members of the department or division you want to enter ; get a line on the methods used, the personality of the foremen or heads, their willingness to encourage and help the men under them. The company, when you make application for a place, is going to look you up from every possible view- point, cross-examine you, catechise your references, weigh your manner of speech, your clothes, your habits, as well as the knowledge and capacity you offer them. Take a page from their book of tactics, therefore. They will spend a half hour, perhaps more, in an effort to size you up in relation to their organization. But the connection means so much more to you, the new job is going to promote or stunt your growth and the repu- tation of the concern is so certain to reflect credit or discredit on your own record, that it is worth your while to devote a couple of days to learning what kind of company it is, how it is regarded by its own employees and other houses, and what your personal chance in the organization will amount to. This advice is intended primarily for men old enough to know their own minds, to estimate their own abilities, to examine the conditions which will make for their success or failure in the organization they propose to enter. For the boy, such deliberate choice is not always possible, nor is it so important, save that the company's standing be above par and H. A. WORMAN 119 that its methods are the approved methods of modern business. The boy with the greater education— the high school graduate, for instance— inclines naturally toward office work, while the lad who has only finished grammar school is limited, unless of unusual ability, to the factory division. In the end, however, the mental make-up of the youth should dictate the line he is to follow. The boy who likes details, who does not find routine tasks hum- drum and irksome, who experiences physical discomfort in the dirt and grime of the shop or lacks the bodily strength to satisfy the requirements in the factory, is marked for the office division, just as certainly as the robust youngster with a motor temperament, who likes to make things with his hands and yawns over endless repetition of the same clerical process, will find his final vocation in the manufacturing end of the business. Whichever your type or inclination, you will prob- ably begin as a messenger. You may ask for a place as apprentice, but apprenticeships are re- of Shop Ap- garded as prizes in most factories, and you prentioeshipB ^^y jjjj^g j^ altogether getting only the opportunity to master some of the simpler machines and so get your first advance to the plane of "handy man." Or you may, as you grow familiar with labor in the concrete, discover that office work appeals more to you and ultimately range yourself in that division, while the office messenger in the course of his trips through the making departments is given the impulse toward mechanical employment. Taking whatever is offered you, it is your business to discover the work which appeals to you or promises advancement, and then fit yourself during work hours or outside to take the better place. The same rule 120 EMPLOYEE AND EMPLOYEE holds, indeed, for any employee who has ambitions be- yond the service he renders day by day. Take the job that is available or for which you are equipped— then deliberately study the opportunities in other lines, in- side or outside the organization, and fit yourself to per- form its functions before you ask for it. What are the considerations, then, which coimt in seeking a job ? First, the general reputation and methods of the house. Will you grow by reason of your connection with it and find your services in demand by other con- cerns ? Or will you fall into careless ways of perform- ing your duties, grow accustomed to extravagances of time or money, and discover later that your experience in the establishment has not added to your value in other employers' eyes? By the average mentality of the whole organiza- tion, also, the individual employee is judged, while the congeniality of his work and surroundings will be indi- cated by the skill and personal qualities of the mem- bers of his own office or factory craft. Consider also the treatment of employees by the house; the average length of service for men in your line, since this indicates the probable duration of your own employment. It may be "hard to hold a job" or the nature of the work, the pace required of men, or the company's attitude toward its workers may drive men of skill and sensitiveness away. The complement of these conditions is the liberality or niggardliness of the house in the matter of salaries or wages. Size up the work and decide whether you can earn a fair wage, whether the service demanded for a given salary will tax your strength or employ too many of your evenings in unpaid overtime. H. A. WORMAN 121 The repute and personality of the man who will be your boss are also important factors. He represents stud ofth *^° company; his methods must be your Personality methods— his willingness to let men ad- of Employer vance, to help them to learn the business, to transfer them to other departments when the chance of promotion comes, will be all-powerful in determining whether you are to remain stationary or make personal progress. His knowledge of the business and of your particular specialty are vital, since the more he knows, the broader his gauge and the greater his readiness to help you up a step by giving you responsibilities as well as instruction. His temper, habits, spirit of help- fulness, regard for the men under him, will go far toward defining your limit of development and ad- vancement. ■ Keep out of the companies— if you have any large ambitions — where the higher executives owe their places to family ties. Not only do they block advance- ment for men from the ranks, but their methods of doing business are frequently unsound and the com- panies themselves are on the down grade. Having been "taken care of" themselves, they are likely to carry the same principles into effect by giving prefer- ence to their relatives or personal friends when de- sirable places become vacant. Look out for the concerns which "squeeze the orange," hiring men of admitted capacity in some special field with the idea of having them perfect an organization in some weak department, recast the com- pany's methods or train men from the ranks. Then, their first enthusiasm gone, the machine running smoothly, or assistants ready to take charge, the im- ported specialist is given choice between a lowered 122 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE salary or dismissal. Houses of the first rank rarely resort to such unfair and dishonest tactics, but the point is worth remembering for the reason that examples could be quoted of this indefensible practice. In determining these points, try to get at the inside conditions in the organization, not only of the general factory or ofiSce machine, but especially of the situation in the department to which you wish to be assigned. Steady employment, fair compensation and reason- able working conditions are the things every employee should receive. To make sure of them, you should determine whether they exist in the house you would hire yourself to before presenting yourself to the em- ployment agent. If you rush blindly into an organi- zation, only to discover that you cannot be content with the place you have taken or the opportunities within reach, the wisest course you can pursue is to look for another position immediately, and restrain meanwhile any temptation to reform the company's methods or to "knock." "Get out or get in line" sums up a volume »i wisdom for the employee in a single phrase. CHAPTER XVI THE ESSENTIALS OF PERSONAL SALESMAN- SHIP BY H. A. WORMAN Former Manager Employment Department, National Cash Regis- ter Company To the employee, every effort a manufacturer or merchant makes to advertise his want of men affords an extra chance of securing the place best fitted to him. Read the "help wanted" advertisements in the daily papers, therefore, and study those which appear in the trade weeklies. Don't despise the "blind adver- tisement" which bears no signature; the firm which pays out money on the chance of receiving applications from skilled workers means business, and there is a good reason for its aversion' to public announcement of a shortage of men. In reading these advertisements, study the speci- fications, learn exactly what the employer wants and offer it to him in your application, remembering that unless you impress him immediately, your only chance is lost. If you consult the trade papers, consult them on the first day they are published— a hundred other men may be looking for just the sort of berth you covet, If you can't play this waiting game, and decide to advertise on your own account, choose the newspaper which carries the greatest number of advertisements for men in lines allied to your o^vn. Usually there is one organ which is strongest on office men, another on 123 124 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE factory workers. If you get no results from three or four insertions, a dozen will probably do you no more good. Certain cities have newspapers which have estab- lished "want ad" markets— in other towns your ex- How to Ad- penditure will bring no results, for em- vertise for ployers must have the habit of referring a Position ^ ^.j^g columns your advertisement ap- pears in or it will never catch their eyes. Make your advertisement as clear, snappy, interesting as the facts will allow, using care to offer no qualities or experience which you can not actually supply. Take your adver- tisement to the newspaper office and get one of the clerks to help you frame up a display which will dif- ferentiate it from similar advertisements — the clerk or mechanic who suggests individuality in an advertise- ment is certain to strike an employer as worth culti- vating, because of his intelligence. Another, and a neglected means of getting in touch with employers is by means of the news columns of daily and trade papers. Read the latter carefully for en- largement of existing plants or establishment of new ones, unusual sales or items touching overtime work. These are indications of conditions demanding new workers. Write immediately to the superintendent or employment man— he may need just your type of worker. If you are a skilled man, either in office or factory, your first application will probably be by letter. The majority of houses prefer to weed out their applicants- save common laborers — in this fashion, and thus re- duce the demands on the employment agent's time. If, however, application by letter is not specified, and you are confident that you can make a better impression by H. A. WORMAN 125 a personal interview, take the easiest or most familiar method of approach. When you write a letter, make it clear, specific and ?js brief as you can without omitting any vital detail. Writins '^^^^ what kind of work you want, give the Lett6ra of details of your education, training and pp ea on experience, your age, whether married or single, the reason why you want a change of employ- ment or why you have no place at present. Give your- self full face value, but don't pretend to knowledge or skill you do not possess. Every firm worth work- ing for will give a new man time to learn the ways of the house and to make good in his new place, but pre- tense of any sort will be quickly detected and punished. If the lowest figure for which a man will work is demanded, it may be necessary to name your minimum, though this is poor salesmanship if it can possibly be avoided. Ask for a personal interview as though that were your right, as indeed it is. Dodge the question of salary until you are face to face with the employer and he has had time to take stock of your fitness for his vacancy. An introduction of the right sort will help you if you can manage it. Be sure, however, that it is made by a person in whom the employer has confidence. It may be a letter from a personal friend of your own or, better, from a friend of the man who will hire you. Read it before you present it ; if it does not say some- thing positive and specific about your ability or char- acter, keep it in your pocket — a poor letter is of less value to you than none at all. If you can conunand a man who knows you and the employer, a telephone introduction will sometimes do more than a bundle of letters, because it catches the employer in the right 126 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE mood and allows him to make an appointment for an hour when he is at liberty. Even stronger, of course, is a personal introduction by a friend of the employer— though this is harder to arrange in business hours. Either of these two methods, of approach may secure you a hearing from the em- ployer which could be attained in no other way— a matter of supreme importance if your aim is an execu- tive position, but a questionable privilege if you are looking for a place in the ranks and the house has a regular employment agent. If you believe you can interest your man sufficiently, the opportimity to im- press him is worth the risk attached. An introduction from an employee of the firm will help or hinder you in the same measure as he is re- garded by the employer as a "live wire" or a common- place person. "Whatever his class, his vouching for you puts you in the same category— be sure, therefore, that he is in high favor before soliciting or accepting his good offices. Above all, make your application individually and alone. Nothing is ever gained by presenting yourself in company with another man, and very often both lose the place which either might have secured had he stood on his own feet ana shouldered only his own handicap. You have studied the house as preliminary of your application, or at least assured yourself by correspond- The Int rvi w ^^^^ ^^ personal inquiry that in the broad with the Em- essentials it will prove satisfactory. Now ployment Man g^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ hiring, hiS methods, peculiarities, prejudices, the qualities he seems to value most highly in a worker of your type, the things he weighs against a man. Then studj'^ your- self from his point of view ; make an inventory of your H. A. WORMAN 127 qualifications and capacities and deliberately plan your approach. Eliminate from your story of your preparation for the place everything which he will find uninteresting or offensive, suppress insignificant de- tails, determine that you will not talk too much or allow yourself to digress from the main topic— the reasons why you are the best man for his vacancy. This may seem an elaborate method of asking a man for a job. In reality it is simple compared with the study and thought which a good specialty sales- man lavishes on his approach to a new prospective customer. For him, one sale is involved, yet he is willing to spend a half a day or even longer in famil- iarizing himself with every significant detail about the man whose order he hopes to land. How much more diligent, then, should be the inquiry of the appli- cant for a place— to whom the prize is not merely a sum of money, but the opportunity whose capture means a definite start on the highway of success. First impressions count for much- almost too much, indeed— with the general run of employers. What has been called the pre-approaeh, the five or ten seconds' interval when you come directly under the employer's eye, before you have had time to say a word, may influence his decision for or against you. Appearance and personality are the first things he considers, and if your dress or manner are not within certain limits which he has fixed for himself as proper for a worker of your type, your showing of training and experience may not succeed in overcoming his in- itial prejudice. Extravagance of any sort will con- demn you. Whether he has formulated his ideas or not, every employer is looking for a business man when he engages 128 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE a tool-maker, a machinist, a stenographer or a mes- senger. Vivid clothing, florid shirts or neckties are almost as bad as neglect of your person, for the em- ployer figures that the man who squanders his re- sources on things of this sort will not be economical of the time he is trying to sell, the raw material or sup- plies he will have to use. It hardly need be said that a clean shave, spotless linen and a general air of neat- ness will impress an employer. When you approach the employment man, there- fore, be a business man every moment you are in his Personal presence. Composure means self-confi- Appearance at dence — otherwise faith in the commodity an nterview y^^ ^^^ offering him. Leave nervousness and too great an appearance of eagerness outside his office. Be earnest, however, and make it plain to him that you are serious in your desire to hire yourself to him. Don't lounge in the chair he offers you; don't twirl your hat or twiddle your thumbs; don't cross and recross your legs or shift your position as though examination of your record made you uncomfortable. Remember that he is sizing you up by the way you answer his questions as much as by the matter of your answers. He wants to know what your education amounted to and where it was received— what special training or preparation you have had— what your ex- perience has been— the firms you have worked for — how they impressed you and you them. Be frank and straightforward, clear and concise in your answers, for your manner is giving him a line on your method of working and meeting your associates and on your character as a man and employee. Look him in the eye, therefore, when you answer; but don't H. A. WORMAN 129 stare. Aaswer every question he asks you truthfully, but elaborate or cut short your replies according to the standards of the company as you have been able to determine them in your preliminary inquiry. Don't ask him about methods in the departments, or shop conditions— these things you should have looked up be- fore presenting yourself, and your acquaintance with them will give him a better impression of your intelli- gence and mastery of your trade or occupation. He is looking for loyalty as well as character and ability — don't speak slightingly of former employers, especially as your own standing in your specialty de- pends largely on the grade of shops or offices in which you have worked; and in depreciating them you cheapen yourself. He values honesty ; therefore guard yourself against over-statements or invented details which you may modify a little later if his cross-exam- ination is keen. It is likely, too, if he appreciates the things which count in employing men, that he knows enough about general conditions in your last shop or office, the nature of your former employers, to check any information you proffer. He demands bodily health as part of his purchase —it is your cue, then, to radiate cheerfulness and ex- ■^ ,.v J hibit energy under control. Smile when Health and ■, ■ Optimism as you catch his eye, but don t grin or TelUng Factors ]aug]i or be unduly familiar even if he gives you an opening. You are conducting the most serious negotiations you can tackle— let him see that you appreciate their seriousness, but do not allow them to oppress you. A man who can't give a good, clear, truthful and optimistic account of the business with which he is most intimate— his own affairs — can hardly expect an employer to take fire at the chance to 130 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE add him to his organization. Diffidence, self-doubt, a low opinion of yeur own abilities and capacity to mas- ter new duties never expedite the sale of those abilities or promote a better bargain if the sale is made. Of your sincerity in desiring work, your industry and your intelligence, the employment man is taking stock as he talks. Your earnestness and willingness to work he may desire to test by offering you a position much lower in the scale than your skill and experience should command. Don't jump at such an offer ; neither scorn it. Make him analyze the place and the oppor- tunities it provides ; show him that you will make any reasonable temporary sacrifice if it will lead to a per- manent connection and opportunity to exercise your best abilities. Employers are always on the lookout for such men — just as the offer of a minor position may be only a means of determining that you are not simply looking for experience in the line you follow, weighing only the weekly pay check or, if you are a young man, seeking a "vacation job." If you profess to have had training and experience, half a dozen questions will give him a shrewd conception of your intelligence or a definite idea of your lack of truthfulness and industry. References he will ask for— as to training and experience if you have been employed before, as to _. ^. character and habits whether you are a of Eeferences beginner or an adept in the business game. to Provide Your former employers furnish him the first class; for the second give him no relatives' names, but the best men of your acquaintance in the communi- ties in which you have lived and worked. Furnish the names of men who will know most about you from the employer's viewpoint — and unless you are intimate H. A. WORMAN 131 with them and can trust them to state your case favor- ably, write letters to them immediately explaining your action in offering their names and bespeaking their kindness in aiding you to secure the place you desire. Ministers and teachers, by reason of their con- sistent optimism and wide circles of acquaintances, are not considered the best references by men who have made a study of employment questions. Instead, use the names of business men. Summed up, your business is to determine exactly what you have to sell in the way of trained or untrained brains and hands; to decide which market will afford you the best return, remembering that a salary is not the only pay you may secure, but that a chance to learn, to develop, to advance, should weigh more heavily in your decision; then to evolve the best manner of pre- senting your commodity in the chosen market and the most eflfective method of completing the sale. Every employer, every business has an individuality — your task is to choose that one whose demands you can mos* nearly match with the corresponding capacities for vvork, modifying the latter in non-essentials if neces- sary, and then convince the employer that you can de- liver the goods he seeks. Nothjng more is involved in personal salesmanship. CHAPTER XVII APPLYING FOR A POSITION AS OFFICE CLERK BY S. ROLAND HALL Of the International Oorrespondenoe 8cft«oI« The plan one should follow in trying to get a position as office clerk is fundamentally the plan that should be followed by all seeking employment in the business world. For instance, the good letter of appli- cation and the tactful interview are always strong factors. Much in this chapter, therefore, applies to all applicants for business positions; and these funda- mental principles will not be repeated in the chapters dealing with special classes. The term "office clerk" includes everything in the clerical line from the low salaried beginner, whose position is not much above that of an oiifice boy's, to the judicious man or woman responsible for things in the office of the president of a great railroad company, and whose important duties may bring a salary of $150 or $200 a month. A clerkship is not necessarily a posi- tion affording low earnings or little opportunity for advancement. In fact, in spite of the demand for the specialist, there is a broad field for the man of superior general ability; there are many positions of high re- sponsibility and reward toward which he gravitates as his good qualities become recognized. While not finding employment so readily or getting so good an initial salary as those trained for some 132 S. ROLAND HALL 133 special aerrice, the capable oflSee clerk, when once he is employed with a good concern, usually has ample opportunity to work up to a first class executive posi- tion. Not being held down to the monotony of one kind of work, his general qualities have more chance to shine and to be developed. What are general qualities? Loyalty, good judg- ment, ability to act quickly and work accurately under Ihe General stress, an industrious, willing, courteous fttmiities of Spirit, a good knowledge of English, abil- Offlce Clerks j^y ^^ -^^^rite a plain, rapid hand; enough "horse sense" to know when to speak and when to say nothing. Who will say that the business world has too many men of this mold or can ever have too many of them? The high salaried secretaries of men like the Presi- dent of the United States and the heads of great in- terests are not paid their high salaries for their ability to write letters. A stenographer competent to write good letters may be had for $15 or $18 a week. The all-around fitness and the rarely erring judgment of the high salaried secretary is what shoves up the salary figure for him. When an employer wants a stenographer, steno- graphic ability is his first concern; the personality of the applicant is a minor consideration. But in the ease of the office clerk applicant, attention centers on the personality. Having no specialty, if he expects to do well from the start, his general qualities must be more than ordinarily attractive; if they are not, the chances are against him, and he would do well to fit himself for some specialty. If you are already employed, are you sure you should change? Of course, if you are tied down to 134 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE low waged, futureless work, you ought to change ; and in such a case, have the courage and faith to make any necessary sacrifice or to take any reasonable risk in changing. It takes grit to give up a $20 a week posi- tion, where you have reached your limit, to get a foot- hold in another business that, while offering a good future, brings you an immediate salary of only $10 a week, but the temporary sacrifice should not hinder; look to the future. Remember, though, that a rule about boarding houses applies equally well to positions; don't change Wh th r t ^^ ^°^ ^^® fairly well satisfied where you Seek a Change are. You know your present employer's of Work eccentricities and the peculiar features of the work. Some things don't suit you, of course, but if you set out to find Utopia in the working world, your search will be vain. To change may be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. What you have learned in one business may be of no service in another. High salaried specialists become specialists and become high salaried by sticking to one thing. See whether you cannot increase your useful- ness where you are. Your employer will not appreciate it? Well, try it anyhow; it will be good training. We admire the man who hitches his wagon to a star, but it is unfortunate that some do not know when they are doing well. An acquaintance who for years held a congenial position paying him a good salary made a change without good reason, there being plenty of opportunity for further advancement. Now he has a hard time holding any position that will pay him two- thirds of his old salary. I can look back over my early business career and see where several of the changes I made were unneces- S. ROLAND HALL 135 sary— that if I had been more patient, more steadfast, more determined to make the most of the opportunities before me, I should have done well to remain. There- fore, look well before you leap, or you may rue the day you made the change. If an applicant can say truthfully, "I was with my last employers six years," he scores a good point. It shows that he has stability, which is often just as important as ability. Even if you are certain that you ought to make change, don't— if possible— give up the old position The Handicap ^^^^ y°" S«* *^^ ^^^ ^'^^^ '^^^'^^ ^""^ of the TJnem- some exceptions to this rule, of course, ployed Man ^ young man out on a farm can hardly expect to have a place provided for him in the city before he leaves the farm ; but the rule is a good gen- eral one to follow, for several reasons. You may not be successful in getting the new place and may be glad to stay in the old one. Even if you are finally success- ful, the interval of waiting may be longer than you are prepared to remain idle. Most important of all reasons, employers do not readily believe that a valuable man will be out of employment, and the burden will be on such a one to show why he is unemployed. The em- ployed applicant usually has a much better chance than the unemployed one. So if it is at all practicable, hold on to the old job until you make the new engagement. If you have gained experience in the old work that is of value, and that kind of employment is con- genial, try to get where your experience will count. This plan will not only make it easier to get a new position, but it will save the necessity of learning an entirely new business— starting at the foot of the ladder once more. If, for instance, you have had experience in an insurance office, undoubtedly you can, if you like 136 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE the insurance business, get ahead faster in another in- surance office than you could in a bank or in the office of an electric company. At any rate, in deciding what to try next, have more regard for the future possibilities than for the immediate salary. There are various ways by which you may market your services: through employment agencies, by ad- vertising for a position, by writing unsolicited letters of application, by answering advertisements, by apply- ing in person. The office clerk applicant should not depend on employment agencies, though by enrolling with the What an Em- ^®®*' ^* ^® possible that he may get in ployment touch with a desirable vacancy. But be- Agency Can Do ^^^^ paying an advance fee, be sure that the agency is patronized by responsible business con- cerns and is prepared to render a service. Some agencies can be of real assistance : many exist mainly on the advance fees that they collect from those for whom they can do nothing. Some of the Young Men's Christian Associations are doing good work in their employment departments. Don't enrol with an agency and then rest on your oars ; keep hustling. Employers are more likely to look through the "Situations Wanted" columns of the newspapers when in need of helpers of general qualifications than when searching for those with special qualifications. The best newspapers are worth trying with an advertise- ment. State your qualifications and exi)erience— if any— as definitely as possible. Business acquaintances — particlarly former em- ployers—can render valuable assistance, if your efforts have made a favorable impression on them. Tell them S. ROLAND HALL 137 govvBber 28. I90r. HP. to«i8 Vltigaie* Caller. PEOPLES; BAUI* Dear etri- Vlll you ploaee etaaldap aa th« f Irat tAne tbers Ifi a vacancy la your force? I am ab present eaployed vlth tlijs Kelaey . Bollefr Haaufacturlng Company as. general office cleric Aad asaiataAt paynastsr. I have been, hisre tvo years; and as I aeen to nave reached my llnilt« I vant to gtt Where I «111 hava a ^tter opportunity. T cane with the«KelBey Company tnmedlatoly oftar tielag graduat«d from the High School. I feel partloulai^jr attracted to the lianklng buslnesa* ana I tMnlc ny gen^r^l aitperlsttce here coupled wlth-ny particular esqierlence in aaklng up payrolls and paying employeea vllX enable lAa.to loake ayself useful froBi the flr$t. t am good at rigaree^ ond the sheet thai t an sending you with thla letter Till tihav that I write a good huBlnesa hand* Wy age Is twenty-one, and I am single. I am satisfied that ifi*. Colfaxj the genericl aanagap of this company^ will tell yon that I have done my utaoat to give satisfactory service here. I should he glad to havA you write to him* and also to Mr. Thomas. Keefe^ manager of the Keefe Hardware Company of this clty^ Hho le familiar •noagh. vlth ny aerrlce to give you a correct estimate Cf oy.ablllty.and reliability* Could yon offer ue a chance now? - X ahoold ta pXeaaad, to case in to 8e&.you at any time yfsn can -talk with bs. YonKB tnaay^ 402 R. -Charles Gtreecr* Baltimore. Uarylaitff^ A good unsolicited letter of application, giving the essential facts of the candidate's pieparation, his present employment and bis reasons for wishing to change 138 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE what you are trying to get, and ask for support. Once in my experience, a busy man left his office and called on a publisher of a newspaper to support an application I had made, merely because I wrote him about my ap- plication and said I should be grateful for anything he could do to help me. Nowadays most employers prefer to have an ap- plicant give references. They then write and ask for confidential information from the persons whose names and addresses he gave. Still, a concise, pointed letter of recommendation may prove of considerable value. The accompanying is an example of a good recom- mendation. Note that this letter suggests why the young man is leaving and that it outlines his particular experi- \? u M nt ^iice. Well meaning friends usually Praise That praise too much and deal too little with Does not Count ^j^g^j particulars. It is a good idea, when asking for a recommendation, to say something like this: "I have heard you speak well of that work I did Please cover that in your let- ter." The good letter of recommendation will always mention for what particular duties a person is fitted, if any. Endorsements from employers are the best. If you have never been employed, try business acquaintances and teachers rather than relatives. A recommendation from an employer that closes with: "He is worth a great deal more than we can afford to pay, and he leaves with our regrets and best wishes," will be an "open sesame" to many doors. The plan of writing unsolicited letters of applica- tion direct to employers is good and is especially rec- ommended where you are fitted for the work that such S. ROLAND HALL 139 employers control. In large offices there is constant demand for the right kind of new timber. Should there be no vacancies at the time your letter is received, it will be filed— provided you appear to be a desirable applicant. Great strongholds are taken only after long be- sieging. To get with the leading bank, newspaper, manufacturer, or railroad, may require a year of studied effort; but if you are tactful while being per- sistent, an opening will probably come some day. The mistake that most applicants make is that of becoming weary in well doing. I have known a man to write a hundred letters of direct application before he ob- tained what he wanted, but the hundred letters cost him only a few dollars and a little time. What was that compared with getting the position he wanted? An example of a good unsolicited letter of appli- cation appears on another page. Note that this letter did not ask what the hours of the bank were— that it did not state what salary the applicant wanted, or inquire what the cashier would agree to give him at the end of the first six months. Mention of these matters was properly omitted. What this applicant wanted was a chance at a position in a good bank, and he would probably never have had the chance had he brought up the questions of hours and salary at this stage of the negotiations. So many employees are nowadays engaged through the advertising columns of newspapers and trade pub- lications that it is very important, indeed, the Key to a to know how to write a good letter of ap- Sitnation plication. While it is true that the posi- tion usually hinges on the interview, the interview, in turn, depends on the letter. The letter, therefore, is 140 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE aamtrt 20, IflOf. fO mOH IT UAV CWCEItHi Ur. Sugena Fowers'nras »lth ne for i»o yupt, asslsttng la the geaeral worli of this office. During iqr taaaty ye»r»' service as clerk of eoiiris I have liad a niUDber of assistants, but no one lAiose service ■as unlfomly nore Eatlefactory than that Mr. Po«srB has rendered. He leaves of hlfl own accord and not because I would have hln do so; I realise that the opportunity here is not one that would Justify hla In. renalning with me many years. Ke la certainly a aeslrable young man for anyone needing an office clerK of superior ability. He has proven himself punc» tual, accurate and Uioroughly reliable. His eSiperlenea l)«re vlll Bake his particularly valuable In any office where there Is recording to be done or other vork or the particular nature found in such offices ao tS^Q* 3oalah Flynt, Cleric of Courts, Wayne County, Otilo. k letter of recoaiinendatlon which tells specifically the qualifications of the can- didate and explains his previous relations with the writer of the letter the key to the situation in most cases, and if it isn't just right, it is swallowed by the yawning waste bas- ket. There is a wide difference between replying to an advertisement and answering it. An employer in a large city, advertising for a clerk, will receive a great Many replies but few answers. As a rule, only one S. ROLAND HALL 141 letter in about every twelve is impressive enough to win an interview. Pay close attention to the wording of the advertise- ment. The advertiser knows what he wants. Meet the points squarely; if he asks age, experience, and salary expected, give the information. Don't tell him that you will be pleased to give these details in tHe interview. Why do you suppose he asked his question? Answer them and wait until the interview to ask yours. Be prompt in replying. Early letters are likely to make strong impressions. I recall an instance where an employer gave a young woman a position because her letter came by special delivery; the business was one that required quick thought and action. Write an original letter; don't copy a form. The letter should be faultless in its mechanical appearance, grammatical in construction and punctuation, and folded and addressed properly. If you make a mis- take, do not erase the words ; write the letter over. The typewritten letter is preferred on account of its greater legibility ; but if the position is one in which pen work is required, send the letter in your own handwriting, or send a typewritten letter and submit a specimen of your penmanship on a separate sheet. Use simple language, and do not be flippant. "I believe I could fill the position and should like to have you give me a trial" is probably, in substance, „ ,■ im. * what four out of five applicants write. KepliBB That , . , , ^^ ^ Are not Specific That is a reply, but not an answer. You Answers must have something in your letter that will put you among those who will be asked to call. Avoid being tiresome, but write a complete letter. How can a prospective employer know what you can do. or what you believe you can do, unless you tell him? 142 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE If the advertiser specifies work that you can do, make that your strong point; give your training and experience. If an advertisement is indefinite, tell, if possible, about some special ability or experience. Be enthusiastic and earnest. If duties are specified in which you are inexperienced, be frank enough to admit your inexperience, but show the advertiser that you have confidence in your ability to perform those duties. It is well to give the details of your education, especially if the position is one where the matter of education is likely to have unusual weight. You should give a concise list of your past connec- tions, the length of time in each, reasons for changing, What to Tell *°*^ ^° °°" ^^ ^^^ '^^^ show that you in a Letter of advanced gradually in salary and ability, AppUoation ^jj gQ Lg^ ^jjg record be complete ; gaps are likely to arouse suspicion. Do not try to make a strong point of the many positions you have filled. The fact that you have filled several responsible posi- tions successfully bespeaks good experience, but the mention of many changes will score against you. Ordinarily, it is better not to lay stress on the subject of salary — certainly not in the letter at any rate. Show first that you are the one for the place; if you can do that, most employers will sooner or later pay what you are worth. If possible, refer to former employers ; at any rate, give the names and addresses of some people who can speak a good word for you. If you send an original letter of endorsement, en close a stamped and addressed envelope for its return. Otherwise, do not enclose a stamp. Usually it is better to send copies of endorsements, preservmg originals. S. ROLAND HALL 143 Try to get an interview. If you are some distance from the advertiser, offer to go half way, or all the way, for a talk with him. If you have the advertiser's permanent address, it is sometimes well to send a second letter in ease the first brings no response. Positions are not always filled quickly, and the second letter may impress the employer with your conviction of your fitness. Most business men admire the hustler. Most employers prefer to have the applicant write a letter before coming for an interview, for a letter is, as a rule, fairly representative of an ofiiee man's gen- eral ability. However, there are times when it is ex- pedient to call at once without waiting to write a let- ter; and often it is a good plan to do both, write the letter and call at about the time the letter is delivered or immediately afterward, lettiag the letter serve as an introduction. Where you learn incidentally of a place that is open, it will do no harm to call at once, writing a letter afterward if the advertiser wishes you to do so. When you are asked to call for an interview, the battle is only half won. Tour personal appearance and your conversation must be such that the favorable im- pression will continue. You will be observed critically. Don't go with the smell of liquor on your breath or with cigarette-stained fingers. Have your hands and finger nails clean, your face well shaven, your shoes polished. Let your collar, shirt and cuffs be spotless, your hat and coat brushed. If you haven't already learned the fine art of courtesy, it is high time to begin. Politeness is a valuable business asset. When an appli- cant closes the door carefully and immediately takes off his hat, showing well brushed hair, he has made a good 144 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE start. Little things count. A capable man once lost his chance at a good position because he nibbled his finger nails while awaiting his turn to talk. It is not easy to advise how one should talk and con- duct himself during an interview, for much depends on circumstances; but if you prepare yourself, keep cool, think quickly and avoid side issues, you will do yourself justice. The matter of compensation is, of course, an im- portant point to settle. Usually it is the final consider- ation. If you are inexperienced or unemployed, it is bet- ter to let the employer say what he is willing to pay, The ftneBtion ^^^ *^ start in at that and prove your- of Salary self worth more. Many will do well to Comes Last f^Up^ ^j^^ example of an energetic fellow who said to a prospective employer : ' ' Never mind about the salary now; just let me come in and work for a week ; then we can talk about the salary. ' ' But in the case of men of good experience, the naming of a low salary or the instant acceptance of a low one offered by an employer may not be tactful. An employer looking for a $150 a month man is not likely to select an applicant who seems eager to take the place at $10 a week. The applicant 's low valuation of his service is likely to be accepted, and the em- ployer may conclude that he needs a more valuable man. Unfortunately, some selfishly-shrewd employers take advantage of the universal willingness of am- bitious applicants "to start in at anything." Such employers describe glorious futures, get desirable peo- ple in at bare living wages, refuse to increase their salaries, and later let them go, engaging others by the S. ROLAND HALL 145 same unfair tactics. Employers of this kind do not exist in great numbers, but they are not extinct ; where you are sure you are dealing with one of them, you do not hurt yourself by standing firmly for a fair com- pensation at the outset. In ninety-nine out of a hundred cases, however, the man or woman of real ability can afford to go into an office at a moderate salary without fear that merit will in due time fail to bring its full reward. The law of compensation, which ordains that we shall, sooner or later, receive what we truly earn, prevails generally. Last but not least, when the employer says, "You may report for duty Monday morning," be on the alert — not only during the first week, but for all time— to live up to the high mark you have set for yourself. CHAPTER XVIII HOW TO APPLY FOR A POSITION AS BOOK- KEEPER BY S. ROLAND HALL Of the International Correspondence Schools The applicant for a bookkeeping position should follow, in general, the plans laid down in Chapter XVII. But like the stenographer and others with training for some special work, the bookkeeper, to be sueessful, must meet certain special requirements. As long as business is carried on, accounts and records must be kept, the billing and general financial end of affairs must be looked after carefully, and there will be a good opportunity for the capable, reliable, progressive bookkeeper. The successful bookkeeper of today is not the sad-eyed little man of a generation ago who sat on the high stool in the corner under the cobwebs, but an in- telligent, cool-headed, ambitious fellow, controlling the entire accounting end of the concern he serves, with all the details of the ofSce thoroughly systematized and at his fingers' ends. The opportunity for the bookkeeper of superior qualifications is better today than it was a dozen years ago. The consolidation of interests and the increas- ing number of large corporations have created more positions of high salary and responsibility. There has been a great awakening in business life; better office 146 S. ROLAND HALL 147 equipment and systems have been devised, and the ten- dency of the times is strongly toward improvement in office practice; toward systematizing, economizing and safeguarding ; it is properly the ofSce of the bookkeeper to create and carry out these improvements. This broadened field for the bookkeeper has, as a natural consequence, brought a demand for a more wide-awake man than the average bookkeeper of a dozen years ago. The young bookkeeper of today who is satisfied with what he has learned at a business school has no future. Do you write a plain, rapid hand ? Are you quick and accurate at calculating? Have you sueh a knowl- ftnaiiflcaiions ^^^^ »*' ^^^ ^'""^^ °^ bookkeeping that you That Help an could, with a little study of the situation, Applicant ^^]jg charge of almost any set of books or records? Have you any knowledge of business law? Can you write a good collecting letter or a gentlemanly letter of explanation that will soothe an irate cus- tomer? Have you ever had to do with printing and can you read proof on a simple job ? If you have any of these qualifications, or any others of like weight, bring out the facts briefly in your letter of application. Remember that reliability and courtesy are two im- portant considerations; have your references as to re- liability as strong as possible. Your letter should be faultlessly typewritten. Show your penmanship in a postscript devoted to that purpose, or by enclosing an extra sheet. Don't write a heavily shaded, flourished style; dispense with all superfluous twirls. Recently these came to my notice an incident of a young man who after applying for a position in a bank and making a favorable impression lost his chance by carelessness. He was asked to submit a let- 148 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE ter of application. Making a slight mistake, he drew kis pen through one or two words and went on. There being, in banks, great need for accuracy, the cashier preferred to employ someone who could write correctly the first time or who at least would know better than to leave an error corrected in that way. Originality in his work commends a bookkeeper to an employer. Send a copy of anything of the nature of a good bill head or a carbon duplicate sheet that you may have devised. It is worth while mentioning anything good in a checking or recording scheme that you have ever worked out. While being careful not to create the impression that you are continually changing methods, remember that you are selling your ability and that you must give employers real reasons why they should engage you. Therefore, search your record for selling points. Trustworthiness is a prime consideration; so you should be careful to give reasons for making any change that you may have made. If you are punctual and energetic and do not use intoxicating liquors or cigarettes, these items are well worth including in your letters. If you have hsd experience, you stand your best chance in the line or lines in which you have been _ employed. A bookkeeper who has served Belated Lutes a shoe manufacturer will find that the of Work knowledge he has gained of that particu- lar class of bookkeeping, together with the general in- formation that he has absorbed, will make him of con- siderably more value to another shoe manufacturer than he would be to a retail hardware dealer. Special experience constitutes a strong claim; therefore, make it a feature of your applications when you can. S. ROLAND HALL 149 You will do well to mafee and maintain acquaint ances among business people, for these personal rela- tions often lead to the first choice of desirable places. As the bookkeeper's position is one that is most likely of all clerical positions to be permanent and one in which good qualities cannot fail to come to the notice of the employer, the applicant, unless he is a man of valuable experience, can well afford to take a new position at a salary that represents less than he is really worth. To get with the right con- cern is of infinitely more importance than the imme- diate comi)ensation, unless the bookkeeper has a family to support, and even then the chance may more than justify sacrifice for a year or so. But he should be sure that the business is of such magnitude and char- acter that its proprietors can afford to pay a good salary when he has proven his efSciency. CHAPTER XIX HOW TO APPLY FOR A POSITION AS STENOG- RAPHER BY S. ROLAND HALL Of the International Correspondence Schools Some special considerations make the method of applying for a position different in the ease of the stenographer than in the case of the ofiSee clerk. Don't try for a position until you can take let- ter-dictation at fair speed and can transcribe your notes accurately. It is better to devote an extra month to faithful practicing than to go unprepared into a busy office and make a discouraging failure. Have someone dictate all kinds of matter to you, and when pos^bie, transcribe much of it on the typewriter. This transcribing practice is extremely important. Above all, be proficient in typewriting. Read everything you can find that gives any points about good form and style. Employers will overlook some lack of shorthand speed if the typewriting is rapid and faultless. The employment bureau of a typewriter company that places thousands of stenographers in positions eveiy year reports that four-fifths of those seeking its aid fail to attain satisfactory marks on the typewriting tests. The moral is plain. As final preparation before starting out, have a business acquaintanee dictate a dozen letters to you, and beg him to be ansparing in his criticism of every- 150 S. ROLAND HALL 151 thing from the misplaced comma and the wrongly capi- talized word to the improper balancing of the type- writing on the sheet. It is much better for you to get these hard knocks before you get into real work, and rarely are they given in a schoolroom. The construction and appearance of the letter of application are always important, but in the case of the stenographer they are more than usually vital, for the stenographer's business is to write good letters. A salesman might write a poor letter and still be able to convince an employer that he was a desirable man, but how can a stenographer expect to convince a busi- ness man that he can turn out first class letters when his own letter contains mistakes? Typewrite your letters of application and be most careful about every detail from the date line to the Attention t signature. Don't begin too near the top Details of of the sheet. Leave ample blank mar- tetter Writing gjjjg ^^ ^jjg gj^gg_ jf ^jjg ig^^^j. jg written single-spaced, be sure to leave a blank space between paragraphs. Don't do any reasonless abbreviating— a most common fault among stenographers. Don't try to correct errors by striking one letter on top of another. When obliged to make an erasure, make it neatly, so that no smudge is left. If you are not sure that you have spelled correctly, that you have divided a word properly at the end of a line, or that you have compounded when you should have done so, consult the dictionary. The dictionary is your best friend. Sign your letters with a pen. Women should write "Miss" or "Mrs." in brackets before their names. Stenographic ability is the prime consideration. Therefore, tell what you can do. If you are a gradu- 152 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE ate of a business school that has a good reputation among business men, refer to it; but you need not ex- pect a diploma from a mediocre school to be of any service. If you have had any experience or done any private work, give the details. There is really no How Beginnera ^'^ason why any beginner may not get a Can Got little experience. If he will go around *^®"*'"'® among business acquaintances and offer to do typewriting or stenographic work free of charge, he is more than likely to be accommodated; and such work will not only afford good practice but will earn a recommendation and a reference, if it is done faith- fully and well. If you are particularly good at some kind of type- writing, as the copying of law papers or tabular re- ports, send a sheet of such work, being careful not to send out anything in the way of confidential papers that may have been entrusted to you. If you have ability in composing letters and can take care of routine correspondence without dicta- tion after you learn the details of the business, it is a strong point in your favor and should always be mentioned. So many employers were once stenographers that if you write a symmetrical style of shorthand, it is not a bad idea to send a page of your notes; fre- quently someone in the office is able to tell from the notes that you are an accurate writer, and this rather novel feature of your application may attract favor- able attention. Tell what machine you can operate. K you are a good speller and punctuator, emphasize that fact; such stenographers are rare. S. ROLAND HALL 153 An employment bureau able to help anyone should be able to help the stenographer. The best bureaus for stenographers, however, are those at the various branch ofiBces of the larger typewriter com- panies, and these give assistance free of charge to operators of their machines. Business men patronize these bureaus regularly. Watch closely the "Help "Wanted" columns of the leading daily papers. The fact that there are a num- ber of applicants for almost every position makes no difference; most of the applicants are woefully in- competent and their letters command no attention. Rarely can a position as stenographer be closed by correspondence. It is useless to apply to a dis- tant advertiser unless you are willing to go for an in- terview. Some time ago, when advertising for a sten- ographer, I had a young woman give an excellent demonstration of the wrong way of applying. She lived in another city, a little more than an hour's ride away. She first wrote, saying essentially that she had heard of the vacancy and would like to have the position— giving no particulars about her ability. Then she asked her brother-in-law, who happened to be in my city, to see me and, I suppose, to get the position for her. He knew practically nothing about her ability, and could not have obtained the position for her if he had known. If the young woman was in earnest, she should have either come down at once or written a letter of full details and expressed her will- ingness to come for an interview. When you take your test, be sure that the car- riage of the machine does not "stick" and that the types are clean before you begin to transcribe. Ask the dictator if he prefers 5-spaee indention or 10-space 154 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE indention for the paragraphs. Find out whether he likes double-spacing or single-spacing for his letters, and if he wishes a carbon copy. Such evident desire to please will not fail to have its effect. If you were very nervous during the first test and failed to do yourself justice, confess it frankly and ask the dictator if he will not be good enough to give you a second chance. Not long ago a bright girl with a splendid training as stenographer and typewriter operator was telling ...... me how timid she felt in applying for Abihty as a ft-jo Substitute for positions, because she had no experience. Experience Employers stipulate experience only be- cause it usually means superior ability. If you have the ability, don't let the experience bugbear frighten you. I have seen bright beginners who did much better than others with several years of practical ex- perience. Don't quibble about hours if you want the posi- tion, and don't intimate that while you will accept, you would rather be where you can come and go as you please, read novels and entertain friends. If you are a woman, remember that true dignity and refraining from flippant talk always count in your favor. The well bred, serious minded youns woman has a great advantage over the gum-chewing, loudly dressed, loosely talking type so often seen. The same principle applies to young men. The careless, "sporty" boy with the cigarette habit and the noisy manner is handicapped hopelessly when he comes into competition with a youth careful of his dress, manner and speech, and wide-awake to the great opportunity in the business world that his ability as a stenographer opens to him. CHAPTER XX HOW TO APPLY FOR A POSITION AS EETAIL CLERK BY S. ROLAND HALL Of the International Correspondence Schools Most of Chapter XVII applies with full force to applicants for positions as retail clerks. In many re- spects, the retail clerk position is like that of the office clerk, but there are some differences, and re- gard must be had for these differences. The retail clerk does business with individual customers, and personality plays an important part in his work. In order to be able to build up a good sales record, he must have the selling instinct— it is immaterial T*hether he has it naturally or acquires it— and this ne- sssitates good address; good address, in turn, mebii s the fine arts of courtesy and tactful speech. The retail clerk field is a sort of dumping ground for all the people who do not want or do not try to get into other lines. The result is a great many of clerks, most of whom possess inadequate qualifica- tions. How often we see the young man who either knows better than you do what you ought to have or waits on you disgruntledly; how seldom we see one who waits on a customer as if he were his brother, who advises honestly when he can advise, who seems to have pleasure in giving what is wanted, no matter 155 156 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE how long the search or how exacting the require- ments. What a host there is of frowzy girls and flip- pant girls who don't know where anything is and don't think it is essential to know; and how few of the intelligent, business-minded young women who make you feel as though you were the most valued customer of the store. The value of courtesy to one seeking a position as retail clerk is well illustrated by an experience of a new salesman in the store of Marshall Field & Com- pany. He was at the cravat counter, and the elderly gentleman on whom he was waiting was very hard to please. He insisted on seeing almost everything at the counter, and he tossed the cravats around impa- tiently, taking a long time to select the few that he wanted. But the new clerk stood the test well and was no less pleased than astonished when the man asked to have the amount charged, and gave the name "Marshall Field." The far-seeing merchant knows that the best ad- vertisement is a pleased customer, and is likely to give more than usual consideration to a clerk who shows he believes in that principle. If, in a former position, you had customers deal with you by prefer- ence year after year, refer to it. How should the applicant go about it? In gen- eral, the five methods of obtaining employment out Applications ^^^^ ™ Chapter XVII may be followed. Covering a One who thinks he has ability as a sales- Wide Field ^^^ ought to be able to sell his own ser- vices. Take the bull by the horns. Write the best unsolicited letters you can compose and send them to all the proprietors and employing superintendents of the various stores in which you would like employ- S. ROLAND HALL 13' ment. Don't confine yourself to your own town air- less it is impracticable for you to go elsewhere; u man must usually go to his work rather than try 1o have his work come to him. Call on the employing superintendents; dou't wait for their advertisements to appear. If you make a favorable impression, you will be put on the wait- ing list. No one knows better than proprietors of large stores how few really first class clerks there are to be had. Calls are recommended because of the part that personality plays in retail store work. The establishment of new stores does not always present opportunities that justify employed salesmen in making changes, but it does present good oppor- tunities for the unemployed clerk. Watch the papers for announcement of the opening of new stores. Be aggressive in your interviews, but don't be too forward or familiar. Don't point your finger in argument at the prospective employer. The successful salesman does not slap his customer on the back, par- ticularly when he expects the customer to buy his services. Neatness of person and good taste in dress are even more important to retail clerks than to most other classes of applicants. Where the position is with a department, clothing, or men 's furnishing store, the clerk does well to follow prevailing styles. Tell in your letters and interviews about your sales records in former positions. Remember that the The Traits merchant is not looking for someone to a Merchant is ornament his store, but for the man <*r Looking for ^Yxe woman who can turn his or her good qualities into the weekly total of sales. If you have trade that you can turn toward the store, say so. 158 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE Even if the patronage you can influence does not amount to a great deal, it will show the prospective employer that you have an eye to business— that your only consideration is not "six o'clock and six dol- lars." In some lines, clothing, for instance, the pat' ronage that a popular salesman can bring with him is an important consideration, and is a factor in de- ciding what the compensation shall be. In such case, it may be advisable to ask for a part-salary, part- commission arrangement. If you are orderly i.nd systematic and have the knack of knowing the store without interfering with other clerks, bring out that point. Save you any ability in trimming windows, in decorating counters, or in making price cards? Such attainments, even if they are not marked, will in- crease your value in the eyes of an employer. Show that you know how to find the good selling points of an article and that you recognize the im- portance of being familiar with what the store ad- vertises. Good recommendations from former employers or from business acquaintances are of value. If you can get these from someone whom the prospective em- ployer knows personally or by reputation, so much the better. Other things being equal, employers prefer men with experience in their particular lines. If your ex- perience has been in the selling of carpets and rugs, better stick to that line unless there is some very good reason for changing. Your knowledge of such goode win prove invaluable to you, not only in getting a position but in forging ahead after you get it. CHAPTER XXI HOW TO APPLY FOR A POSITION AS ADVER- TISING MAN BY S. ROLAND HALL Of the International Correspondence Schools Positions in the advertising world may be divided into four classes: advertisement writers-, advertising solicitors; advertising managers, and advertising agency men. A position as advertisement writer is the easiest of all to get, that of advertising solicitor the next, and so on. With a nose for discovering the selling points of an article or service, a little knowledge of types and printing house methods and the ability to write plain, direct English, a young man or young woman will not find it difficult to secure the patronage of several small advertisers or to get a position at a regular salary with an advertiser who can aiford to employ a writer of fair ability for his work alone. Hundreds of publishers can find a position for the energetic man who cannot only help advertisers with plans and copy, but also has ability in soliciting and can drum up steady advertising patronage. In order to get a position as advertising mana- ger of a large concern, however, it will be necessary to show superior ability and experience. The agency position is not always the hardest to get, but it is by all odds the hardest to hold. It re- 159 160 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE quires unusual versatility, a more general knowledge of the entire advertising field, and the stamina to turn out advertising matter of a high order while working under pressure. The diversified experience that will be gained in an advertising agency, if one can hold the sition. Thus armed, he will have more than mere advertising manager. Every experienced advertising man should be equipped with a complete exhibit of all the creditable work he has done when he starts out to hunt a po- sition. Thus armed, he will have more than mere claims to support his applications. Make it a rule to keep copies of all your best advertisements, to- gether with data regarding the results, and to save file copies of effective folders, booklets and catalogs that you prepare. It is the best plan, though, not to send a mass of material along with an unsolicited letter of appli- cation or with even an answer to an advertisement, unless the advertiser asks for complete samples. The danger, where there is so much, is that the best things may be overlooked. Send only the best and offer to submit a great variety. The idea is first to create interest. A single effective advertisement or booklet which can go with the letter, will attract an employer's attention, and he will then be more inclined to ex- amine much of your work. The inexperienced man— he whose knowledge has been acquired perhaps from a course of study and the HowtoUtirz I'egular reading of the advertising jour- Sampies of nals— cannot show real work, but he can Good Work ^(j ^Yie next best thing ; he can write a first class advertisement and have it set attractively at his own expense, taking proofs enough to have a copy S. ROLAND HALL 161 for each of his letters of application. There is noth- ing else so convincing as the proof of a set advertise- ment. The best copy will look somewhat tame in writing. Some of the shrewdest copy writers make a practice, when dealing with prospective clients, not to show their work until they can give proofs taken on book paper. This involves a little trouble; but the prizes of today go to the people who take trouble to do things a little better than most other people do them. The applicant may make his claims still stronger by sending, in addition to proofs of some of his best work, a carefully laid out advertisement for the pros- pective employer's business. The ability to sketch an advertisement neatly, lettering in display lines and borders as they will appear in print, or to get up a dummy for a booklet, showing the general scheme in colors and the paper to be used, is not only a great aid to the independent writer looking for patronage, but will command favorable consideration from employers wanting salaried men. Any paper dealer will furnish sheets for a booklet dummy, and illustrations giving a general idea can be cut out of other printed matter. Do not write your advertisement for the adver- tiser's business until you have made a most careful study of the business and the goods, for to send in an advertisement that is mediocre, or that abounds in boastful generalities rather than real sales argu- ment, or that is along a line that the advertiser has found is a losing one, would hurt your cause rather than help it. If there is not time to prepare a fii-st class advertisement, better not send any. As one who serves a large concern, I am in a position to know that most of the copy sent by people who 162 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE think they are submitting first class ideas is very poor ; usually the ideas are commonplace, or those that have been overworked, or others that have been abandoned because of proven inefficiency. Have respect for the accumulated experience of the large advertiser to whom you apply for a posi- tion. You could not more quickly lower yourself in his estimation than by telling him in your letter or your interview that you know all about his business and how to promote it, that everything he is doing is all wrong or only half right. Of course if you have had a long experience in his particular line, you can be more confident in your claims and more positive in your recommendations; but do not forget that advertising is not yet an exact science by any means— that every experienced advertiser, in the years he has been spend- ing his money and watching what came from it, has learned some things that you do not know. It IS both sensible and tactful, if during an in- terview a hard question or problem is presented, to say, "That is a matter about which I should prefer to think; I should like to look into your experience and study the business a little before saying what I would do." The wary advertiser is likely to set a trap for the cock-sure applicant. Once in my own experience an u« * ™ J advertiser handed me a letter and asked Efforts Made to Catch an me to get up, as a test of my ability, a Applicant gg^^gg letter for his own business along the general plan of the letter he had handed me. I prepared the letter, but in doing so I became con- vinced that the scheme was altogether wrong, and though I turned in my copy, I told the advertiser frankly that I could not agree with him in thinking S. ROLAND HALL 163 the scheme was a good one— that, in my opinion, it would be a mistake to use such a letter. Weeks after I had been given that position, I found that the ad- vertiser had shared my view all the time but had made his request as a test of both my judgment and my candor. Superficial treatment of the subject will not do when you are trying for a high salaried position. You can get something from a study of the advertiser's catalogs perhaps, but go further : talk to the men that make the article, if you can, or to the salesmen; and study the article itself. Show that you have confidence in your advertis- ing ability; ask to be put to the test, either in the writing of advertisements or in managing the position for a short time on trial. The good advertising man is a sales promoter, and his position and his salary depend almost entirely on his ability in this direction. He needs more faith in himself than most applicants require. He will not always be able to secure a contract for a term of years; his work must make his position permanent. The general principles already laid down about seeking" employment in a business in which you are experienced apply just as strongly to advertising men as they do to others. Life is not long enough for a man to become an expert advertiser of everything. Running the publicity end of a department store is different in many ways from running a specialty mail order business, and there are different people to study when you change from baked beans to buggies. The migratory habits of advertising men have been a sub- ject of discussion lately. Better specialize. CHAPTER XXII HOW TO APPLY FOR A POSITION AS TECHNI CAL MAN BY S. ROLAND HALL Of the International Correspondence Schools The technical man, whether he be a graduate just out of a good school or an experienced special- ist, should find it easy to market his services, particu- larly if, in addition to a thorough technical training, he has the usual fundamental qualities of the success- ful man. There are two large fields open to technical men, the constructive and the administrative. The latter field can rarely be entered until a man has proven his efficiency in constructive work and has developed organizing and managing ability. The presidents of a number of large railway systems were civil engi- neers before stepping into the more responsible posi- tions, and it is said that about sixty per cent of the higher executive officials in the steel industry are men with engineering educations. Everywhere it is being recognized that if a man has the ability to organize and direct, he is the type of man needed to manage industrial corporations in the line in which he has technical training. His advantages over other men who have equal general ability, but only that, are ap- parent; the search today is for the man who fits the place best rather than for the barely competent man. 164 S. KOLAND HALL 165 It is therefore an erroneous idea to suppose that the service of the technical man necessarily comes to an end when construction is completed, for often this is the point where he comes into the best position of his life; what he has constructed must be superin- tended or forwarded, and usually he is the man best fitted for the work. In this day of great engineering undertakings and industrial combinations, the future for the capable technical man is bright. Even at the outset, he has a great advantage over graduates in some of the older professions, who, as a rule, find themselves barely able to meet expenses for a year or so : there is something wrong with the engineering graduate who cannot sup- port himself from the very beginning of his career. This is the day of the specialist. Employers know that one possessing a thorough technical edu- cation will quickly absorb the necessary practical ex- perience and become a valuable man. The graduating classes of the best schools are watched closely, and it is not unusual for a graduate to receive several offers by the time he is ready to step out. A good plan followed by many technical graduates is that of taking a first position as a draftsman, tester, or rodman, as the case may be, with a large company. This gives the man fresh from school the chance to gain invaluable experience, and the prestige that he earns by reason of his connection with such concerns is a mighty factor in obtaining other posi- tions. When it comes to permanent employment, there is something to be said in favor of both large con- cerns and small concerns. For the man of superior ability, opportunities are largest with large concerns; 166 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE but the man of average ability is likely to do better with a small concern where there is not so much com- petition. But at the outset, a year or more with a large concern, particularly if one has opportunity to work in various departments, adds greatly to a tech- nical man's qualifications. Positions with representative large concerns can, as a rule, be obtained best by writing direct letters of application. You need not wait for an advertisement to appear. If you are a young chemist, get a list of POSITION WANTED Am graduate of Manual-Training High School, with good record in machine-shop prac- tice, and want position with electrical company where I will have a chance to learn more. Have done practical work outside of school and am considered good draftsman. Willing tc go any- where and to be generally useful. Hard worker; don't mind long hours. Age 22. Give me in- terview or let me send specimens of work. F. K. F., S74 Pacific Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. An advertisement for a technical position which could be used to good advantage in trade papers manufacturing chemists and address a letter to all that you would care to take a position with. Watch closely the trade papers of your profes- sion. First class opportunities are often advertised. If you have difficulty in getting a comprehensive list of the concerns with which you desire employ- ment, insert an advertisement in the "Situations Wanted" columns of the trade paper that reaches the largest number of prospective employers. The ad- vertisement shown here is a good style to follow. S. ROLAND HALL 167 Try to give employers a demonstration of your ability. If, for instance, you are a draftsman, . p make a good drawing and send with each Demonstration letter a blueprint from this drawing, of Ability rpjj-g jg practical and will distinguish your application. It is worth while to make a special drawing relating to the business of the manufac- turer to whom the application is made, if you can do that to even a limited extent. A manufacturer of automobiles and launches will naturally be more in- terested in a good drawing of part of a modem gas engine or a propellor than he would be in the draw- ing of a piece of farm machinery. Do you read the technical journals that relate to your chosen work? Do you realize that your edu- cation did not end when you received your diploma and do you continue to study the best new text- books? Tell the employer that you do. Have you ever worked out any better manufac- turing methods, improved office practice, or made economies of any kind? Mention them. Have you had any office experience? Are you a good organizer? Can you get out work on time? Can you manage other people and get their best ser- vice? These are all-important considerations, and if you excel in all or any of them, don't leave it to the employer to guess that you do; it's a case of "speak for yourself, John." The young graduate should use judgment in his letter of application and in his interviews about em- phasizing the matter of his education. The larger concerns are likely to regard graduation from a tech- nical school of good repute as prima facie evidence of competency so far as a good foundation is concerned; 168 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE but not all of the practical details of engineering are taught in technical schools, nor half of them; and the young man whose head has been turned by his school training — ^who feels it beneath his dignity to start at the bottom of a ladder that he may climb quickly— is in danger of being turned down hard. Don't, by reason of over-confidence or over- valu- ation of your technical training, neglect the careful preparation for the interview that other applicants make. Too often the technical man is positively slov- enly in appearance, and this carelessness in dress may prove to be a serious handicap. He is not expected to be dressed in the careful style of the clothing salesman, but he has everything to gain and nothing to lose by appearing before prospective employers in well fitting clothes and clean linen. Technical men are obliged to spend so much time in acquiring their technical training that their knowl- edge of English suffers. Employers say that there are few good letter writers among technical appli- cants. It is an excellent idea to have an acquaintance read your letter and criticize it; but if you caiwot fio this, at least have the letter typewritten neatlf, CHAPTER XXIII HOW TO WORK UP THROUGH THE RANKS BY H. A. WORMAN Former Manager Employment Department, National Cash Register Co. The vital study for the employee is to learn everything touching his position quickly and thor- oughly, to adapt himself as nearly as lies in his power to the demands made on him, to catch the pace of the workers about him, be it fast or slow, and to ac- commodate himself in every thought and action to the standards of the department as he finds it. Teamwork of the sort expected of a football substitute should be his first objective. Criticism of methods, suggestions for the improvement of his own immediate process, ambition and curiosity about other features or functions of the organization must v.ait until he has satisfied the department requirements and fitted himself without jar into the machine. The more readily and easily he does this, the better will be the impression he makes on the head and on his fel- low employees — the latter immensely important fea- tures in realizing any ambitions he may indulge. If his work be complicated or out of the ordinary, the intelligence and alertness he exhibits in laying hold of it will count heavily in his favor— but the crucial consideration is his ability to adjust himself readily to his place and eliminate speedily the friction bound to show when a new man is broken in. 169 170 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE One thing to fear and forestall is the assumption that duties seemingly beneath your usual plane of performance are unworthy of study and careful at- tention. Your employer did not hire you for your minimum or mechanical capacity, but for the quali- ties he saw in you. Give him your best, therefore, not merely because he expects it and may dismiss you unless you deliver it, but because there is no other way of dodging mental dry-rot or of making good your claim to more interesting work and wider op- portunities. Look at yourself, accordingly, from his viewpoint— in this case the viewpoint of the man im- mediately over you— size up your work with his eyes, find the flaws in your performance and eliminate them in the future. Remember that what you do is only a little more important than how you do it. Ex- amine yourself for faults of manner, lack of self-con- trol, self-confidence, self-knowledge in meeting emer- gencies. After you have acquired perfect knowledge of the things expected of you and proved your capacity Oottine Knowl- *° accomplish them according to the edge of Com- company's methods, it is time to study pany Methods ^^em with the idea of improvement. Company methods, in all but the most unprogressive houses, are generally the result of much experiment, and the very scheme which you evolve may have been discarded as faulty six months or a year before. Clear understanding of the method you propose to change is necessary, then, not only in itself, but in its relation to all other attendant or complementary pro- cesses before an intelligent suggestion can be offered. This understanding is the fruit of study and obser- vation, and department heads and foremen are H. A. WOKMAN 171 likely to resent a new man's meddling with things they feel he cannot grasp as they do. Frequently the new man is right; bringing a fresh mind and an unprejudiced view to analysis of the process in ques- tion, he may have hit on its essential weakness. But since his opinion is bound to be discredited, common prudence dictates that he shall suppress it until he shall have established himself in the department, gained the confidence of the head, and the men about him have ceased thinking of him as a stranger. Then his proposal will get a fair hearing, perhaps be adopted, and if the "boss" is the sort who gives credit where credit is due, the new man may win his first promo- tion by what would have been a source of irritation a month before. Mastering your own specialty, then, turn to the other places open to you in the department. Be - . . honest with yourself in estimating your Changing to abilities and guard against underrating other Wor ^j^^ brain power, education and training demanded by the positions which seem attractive to you. If necessary, ask some man you trust, perhaps your foreman or department head, to give you his advice as to the qualities you possess and the field in which you can make greatest progress. The grass in the other fellow's pasture always seems greener and more succulent, but caution is a virtue when it comes to changing jobs, except in the natural line of promotion. Experience always commands a larger price than theoretical knowledge; and in jumping abruptly from one occupation to another you risk your own career, for a house loses confidence in a man who fails in a more responsible position, and us- ually refuses to transfer him back to the work he 172 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE abandoned. For every failure, like every discharge, is a black mark which depreciates your market value. Excess of conservatism is just as serious an error in a man of ability. Don't hesitate to take pro- motion when it is thrown in your way, even though the new duties loom formidable in the light of what you have done in the past and your own idea of your capacities. If the department head who offers it to you has the reputation of choosing his subordinates wisely, if his record is not spotted with conspicuous instances of faulty judgment, accept his valuation as that of a disinterested outside mind and, after can- vassing the demands which will be made on you, take the place and bend all your energies to mastering it and administering it efficiently. Prepare for the lightning before it strikes, how- ever. When you have "made good" in your first po- sition, begin a serious study of the company's his- tory, its policies, its methods, its machinery and prod- uct. For, whether you are a factory or an office worker, you cannot know too much about the busi- ness, if you are careful not to let your interest in its larger aspects eclipse your attention to your every- day duties. Take your own department, section by section, learn the systems by which the work of each is carried on, the meaning of every record, the pur- pose of every function. So far as you can, without appearing a busybody, find out what every man in the department does. Most of them will be glad to talk about their duties during the noon hour or even- ings. Compare their activities with your own; an- alyze the equipment which each brings to his place; try to find out for yourself what training each man has had, what qualities the department generally or H. A. "WORMAN 173 the "boss" values in him. When you have finished your survey of the department, you should be able to decide whether the better position you are looking for exists inside the department, or whether you will have to go outside to find it. If some one place appeals to you, measure your- self as to your fitness to take it. If you find you haven 't How to Secur« *^® education or the training essential to Training for securing it, set soberly to work in the ew Lines evenings to acquire the knowledge or skill which you lack. Your quest may carry you into the night classes of some trade school— if you are for- tunate enough to find employment in one of the few centers boasting trade schools— into a business col- lege, or into the excellent technical and business courses offered by Y. M. C. A. schools in many cities or by the reputable correspondence schools. Many companies— the most progressive in the country— provide night classes at the factory which furnish instruction in the specialties for which there is greatest demand and least supply in the organi- zation. These classes range from stenography and typewriting to salesmanship and virtual apprentice- ships in some of the simpler trades and machine operations used in the factory. They open the path of advancement to truckers and handy men in the factory, to messengers and clerks in the office di- visions—and give to men in both ends of the business an opportunity to fit themselves for more congenial work than at the moment they are doing. After the departmental survey — according to its size, it may take months or even years to familiarize yourself with all its functions— turn to the associated departments and study the relations they bear to your 174 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE own, the system of transfers and communications, the part which each bears in the whole scheme of mak- ing and selling the company's product, in keeping track of orders and output. Remember that the more you know about the company's methods and prod- ucts, the more likely you are to receive promotion; the more closely you are in touch with conditio'Js in your own department and those connected with it, the larger the number of opportunities which come to youi to better yourself. Both in factory and office, two lines of promotion are open to the unskilled or semi-skilled man of in- ^ ,^ _. telligence. He can either set himself The Two lines "= . , , , , of Advance to master a specialty — the handy man That Are Open concentrating on the training needful to a mechanic or tool-maker, the clerk taking up short- hand or accounting — or he can acquire such knowl- edge of one process or group of processes in his shop or office that his selection as job foreman or head clerk, assistant foreman or assistant department head, becomes a foregone conclusion. Cultivate the habit of work. There is no other way to force your progress upward, to fit your- self for advancement when a vacancy higher up pre- sents itself as someone's opportunity. The man who applies himself willingly, cheerfully, intelligently to the task in hand is continuing the processes of his ed- ucation day by day and is turning what otherwise might be deadly, mind-dwarfing routine into a means of mental discipline. Education differs from train- ing—in trade and industry— in that it means general broadening, strengthening and schooling of the mind to take on the unpleasant with the pleasant as part of the day's work, to accept responsibilities as in- H. A. WORMAN 175 separable from personal progress; wHle training suggests the development of skill and dexterity in execution. In business, most of us are plodders and we have a hearty respect and admiration for the fellow who _. . will set his iaw and master each job as DiBcovering "* A Man's it comes to him, whether it seem un- Eehabihty worthy or be merely difficult. Indeed, the companies which have realized the necessity of developing executives as part of the house policy, instead of trusting to the haphazard operation of natural selection, frequently make test of an em- ployee's mettle and industry by putting him in a place which either affords nothing to interest him or makes unusual demands on his capacity to as- similate new matter, co-ordinate its elements and or- ganize a system for handling the operations involved. What they seek to discover is his dependability, and since the employee never knows when his trial is on, his only safety lies in performing every undertaking or piece of drudgery loaded upon him as though it were the one important thing in the world. Indeed, for any man of character, it is the one serious thing in life. He has, in reality, two em- ployers—the man on whose payroll he figures and himself. He may deceive his "boss," but, unless his ease is hopeless, he can't fool the inward mentor that asks or ought to ask, "Have I done an honest day's work today?" Four employees in iive never hear this question, for they conceive labor only as the means by which they earn bread, plus a scanty al- lowance of cake. They are the real "wage slaves," and their bondage will endure until they wake up to the twin facts that work is the only means of ^owth 176 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE open to men, and that it fulfills the scriptural curse or becomes worth while— in itself and in its rewards —when they bring their best thoughts, their fullest energies, their finest intelligence to its execution. Gaining the confidence of the house is an es- sential to promotion. All executive positions involve - ., confidential relations with the firm, from oecnnng tne . ' Confidence of job foremen and assistant heads on up mp oyers ^j^^ scale, but there are many places in both ofSee and factory where trade or business secrets are in the keeping of men distinguished only by their skill. Stenographers, accountants, experimental work- ers and the men who work behind the closed doors of the departments, where secret processes are carried on, must all have proved their loyalty and discre- tion before they are given these positions of trust. How may the confidence of the firm be gained? First be a company man. Make the company's busi- ness your personal business. Learn all you can with- out seeming unduly prying or curious. Begin by es- tablishing your reputation for punctuality — in the ad- ministration of a large organization this one quality is always insisted upon, since a few m- utes' tardi- ness of any one man may delay the start - I a whole section, and minutes easily multiply into hours. Adaptability is another virtue to cultivate, par- ticularly if you have no special skill to offer. The all-around "company man" who tackles any job which is thrust on him, and makes a fair average of success in each, has opened up a path straight to the front office. Ability and adaptability are almost sjmonymous terms. The talent or knowledge which cannot be harnessed directly to the business strikes the general manager in search of a superintendent or H. A. WORMAN 177 department head as of little value, almost as a fault in the man he wants to promote. Having charge of the whole business, he has not time himself to devote to side issues, civic or social activities, and he is likely to resent such a draft on the brain power of his subordinates. Loyalty and integrity need hardly be cataloged as qualities of character essential to the winning of the employer's confidence. The worker who cannot give himself whole-heartedly to the services of the company employing him, is misplaced, and will never attain his fullest source of usefulness and personal efficiency until he finds the place with which he is in thorough sympathy. At the same time, the employer's aims and meth- ods may be misunderstood, or the man's personal standards may all be wrong. He should take seri- ous thought before he leaves a firm, and try to de- termine whether it is he or the house that is to blame. If he remains, he owes it to his employer to give him honest service— to do the work for which he is hired to the best of his ability— to be a company man as long as he accepts the company's pay checks. Nor should he leave his loyalty at the ofBce or factory, if he expects loyalty and fair treatment from the com- pany in return. Gossip about the house's affairs, criticism of its policies, silence when its methods or the sincerity of its aims are questioned, are all looked on as breaches of faith by the employee who is looking for promotion. Summed up, the "square deal" in all his rela- tions with the house must be the fixed rule of con- duct of the employee who wants to climb— and climb- ing is the only exercise worth while in business. CHAPTER XXIV SELF-TRAINING FOR A HEAD BOOKKEEPER'S POSITION BY CHARLES A. SWEBTLAND 0on8uUi»g Accountant, Author of the Science of Loose-Leaf Bookkeeping and Accounting There was a time, not many years ago, when the head bookkeeper of an establishment was merely a senior clerk, doing practically the same work as the other bookkeepers and distinguished only by his length of service or his gray hair. The direction of the accoimts and the inauguration of improve- ments were in the hands of his employers. That time has passed away. Now the head bookkeeper is a real executive, the organizer of his own department, the harmonizer of methods, and the adviser of the offi- cers of the company. This change has come about with the transition of accounting from a mere record- function to a vital part of the governing proc- esses of business. The bookkeeper who wishes to remain an automaton, copying figures from reports into a book, is not a part of this new regime. If he secures and holds a position in some accounting office he is passed by the progressive men, the students of modem methods, the men with executive ability. For only with these qualifications can a bookkeeper hope to fit himself for the position of head account- ant. 178 CHARLES A. SWEETLAND 179 If you are employed in an up-to-date office, no matter what particular books may be put in your charge, your chance for promotion to the manage- ment of the office will depend on three things: your willingness to work, your keenness to grasp new branches of the work, and your constant study of improved methods. These traits are very closely dependent on each other. Willingness to work is, of course, the first requisite for promotion in any line, but with book- keeping it has a deeper significance. The beginners in an accounting department are generally restricted to one or two books, to which they must transfer totals from the reports and communications turned over to them. They have little opportunity to get a large view of the workings of their department, to know how their particular books fit into the work done by other men and to analyze the whole process of accounting. If you are willing to help other men without expecting overtime allowances for every minute ex- pended, you will find frequent opportunities to lend a hand at times when your associates or superiors are crowded with work. Thus you will not only impress the management as a man who can be relied upon, and a valuable man to have in the office, but you will secure many opportunities for study of methods em- ployed throughout the office, broadening your knowl- edge and experience in the books of this particular es- tablishment. You will also come in contact with the men who are doing the responsible work of your department, who have themselves progressed through the use of modern methods and the exercise of initiative. 180 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE Without a keen and acute mind, trained to grasp the meaning of unfamiliar entries and quick to per- _. j^ ceive opportunities for simplifying ae- ment of Mental counts, you cannot use to good advan- AoutenesB ^g^gg ^hese opportunities for study. How can you develop this trait? It depends a good deal, of course, on the man. You can't put a brain into a turnip. But if you have reasonable aptness for ac- counting you can cultivate your ability just as the musician can improve his ear for harmony, or the cashier can develop his ability to detect counterfeit money. Study and practice are the ways of training yourself along this line, and both of these require work. Attendance at baseball games may give you keenness in detecting an inshoot or an error, but it will never make a head bookkeeper of you. Spend your leisure time in working out difiScult problems of accounting. You can develop your mind so that in a short time these things will come to you easily. Facility in bookkeeping is like ease in speaking a foreign language— it comes through practice. I was talking with a brother expert accountant the other day, who illustrated a point in his conversation by making several imaginary ledger entries on a sheet of paper. Then he carefully footed the three columns. His example would have answered the purpose exactly as well if he had set down a hap- hazard total, but his mind was so trained to accurate work and responded so quickly to the mathematical impulse that he never thought of putting down any figures but the correct sum. He had trained himself through long practice, outside of working hours at his desk, to respect mathematical relations. CHARLES A. SWEETLAND 181 Your knowledge of modem methods may be gained from outside study, as well as from talking and working with the progressive men in your office. Keep abreast of the times by reading the literature of your profession: magazine articles and books. Attend the conventions, where new ideas are brought forward and discussed. Take a good correspondence course in accounting, not to learn the rudiments of bookkeeping, but to get descriptions of modern appli- cations of those principles. The presidents of three well established business colleges are, to my knowl- edge, following such courses because they know that they must have every improvement in methods which can be learned. The bookkeeper who can reorganize his depart- ment so that the work can be done with one man less, or who can reduce the time of taking a trial balance, is the employee who is most eligible for pro- motion. Ninety per cent of the bookkeepers through- out this country are clinging to old methods. The small minority who progress are the men whose work and ideas you should study. These suggestions have presupposed that you are employed as a subordinate clerk in some large , - „ and well organized office; for there the Large or Small . . ^ ' . Offices SB TraiA- position of chief accountant will be the ing Schools j^og^ desirable. Yot your training if begun in such an office, will be of a very specialized nature: you will be set to work on one or two books instead of having a share in all the transactions of the office, as you would in a small establishment. You must choose between the two alternatives. Po'- a man without training, a few years' experience in general work would be of advantage in grounding 182 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE you in all the accounting processes. Then when you have learned all that such a position can teach, you would do well to seek a position in the office of a large concern, to work up again through the ranks, specializing more in the various processes, studying details which have hitherto been outside of your ex- perience, and learning how to handle complicated accounts. The best candidate for head bookkeeper is a man who has studied the whole field of account- ing and then has turned his attention to learning details in each branch. CHAPTER XXV THE MAKING OP A CREDIT MANAGER BY G. WILLIAM BARNUM The making of credits is the conservative force which governs all the selling operations of a house. It restrains the sales department from taking orders haphazard from all who will buy and in any amount. It transforms a reckless ambition to get rid of the goods of the house into an orderly effort to secure responsible patrons for the firm and nourish their buy- ing ability. This has led to a traditional attitude of hostility on the part of salesmen toward the credit manager, for is not he the man who cuts down their large orders, and lops off the new customers from their list? Such a feeling is founded on a misunderstanding of the relations between the credit and sales departments, for in no two branches of a business can more profitable co-operation be secured, and no man in the employ of a house has a better opportunity to work up to the credit manager's position than a traveling salesman. If you are a salesman and wish to secure a posi- tion in the credit department, with a view of be- coming later the credit manager of your house, the best chances which you can find anywhere to show your ability and to gain valuable experience will be in connection with your daily work, and without in- terruption of your regular duties. 183 184 EMPLOYEE AND EMPLOYEE You are the only representative of your hcxise who comes directly in contact with the customer. Per- _ „ , , haps you are the only one who has ever The Salesman's . "' '' Opportimities Visited that town. You are therefore toLearnDetaiis ^gt^-gj. ^ijjg ^^^n anyone else to give the credit manager information regarding the customer's location, his seeming prosperity, the business con- ditions of the town, and all the other factors which should be considered in making credits. No man is more willing to recognize this advantage than the credit manager, and any information that you vol- unteer will be given careful consideration. "When you take your first order from a man, ask him if he is willing to tell you the firms he buys from. This is a eustomary proceeding, and he will give three or four names without hesitation; yet you wiU notice on his shelves several other lines of goods, the names of which he does not mention. The chances are that the firms he mentions are those which he pays promptly, and which will therefore give him the best references. Write these names down as "references offered." Then add the names of the other firms whose lines you notice, under the heading "other lines carried." The credit man- ager will pay more attention to these last names than to the first, and will give you credit for your discerning judgment. Such information as this you can gain on every trip. If Smith's trade seems to be increasing, write the credit manager a note about it in connection with your larger order for goods. If Jones is giving up part of his floor space, or Brown is involved in an unsavory case at law, or Green is moving to a side street, mention the fact in your next letter. G. WILLIAM BARNUM 185 Some salesmen in every house practically make their own credits, although they do not know it. The information they send in shows they know the prin- ciples of credit making, and their judgment of a man's standing and ability is so often correct that the credit manager comes to accept their opinions for lack of better data. Do not imagine that a man who tells his honest opinion of his customers, even when it must be unfavorable, is thereby the means of cutting down his own sales. On the contrary, when a credit manager finds that he can depend on a salesman's information, he will accept ten per cent more of that man's sales than he could if he thought the orders were taken without the use of good judg- ment. Beginning to secure the attention of the credit manager in this way, you will soon be asked to look M kin c 1- up an overdue collection in your terri- lections on a tory. Here will come the opportunity Eegniar Trip ^^ exercise tact and judgment. A sales- man of my acquaintance who wanted to leave the road, made just such a request from the house his entering wedge for admission to the credit depart- ment. He made the collection and wrote the credit manager that he would be glad to handle any similar accounts in his territory. On his next trip he paid all his expenses from the proceeds of old accounts that had long before been charged to profit and loss. Soon he was made a traveling adjuster, with discretionary power to settle for what he could get in difficult cases; and he was relieved of all his sell- ing duties except to call on a few of his best cus- tomers. Before long his work in and out of the office required so much of his time that he was obliged 186 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE to give up all his customers, and was henceforth used wholly in the credit department. That man could not be kept out of the credit department. He was a good salesman, but he had also the rarer qualifications which fitted him for a credit man. He used his opportunities as they came 10 him, and made others, and his work after he de- termined to get an office position was a direct line of progress toward the credit department. With such a start as this, a man should use every opportunity to compare his judgment on credits with that of more experienced men. Seek an opportunity to review the information gathered regarding a cus- tomer and pass your own judgment before the matter comes to the eyes of the credit manager. Then you can observe what conditions influence him more than they influence you, and can correct your judgment at the next opportunity, for you must realize that the successful credit manager has reasons for his deci- sion, even if they are not apparent at once. If you can talk convincingly and tactfully, you should be able to write in the same strain, but in How to Develop '^^^^^ *° develop your correspondence Ability in ability, secure from some credit man- Correspondence j^ggj.^ y^^p ^^^ Qj. another firm's, a set of letters that he would ordinarily write asking for a financial statement, setting a credit limit, or re- ducing an order. Study these letters until they be- come a part of yourself— until you can write as tact- ful letters as your credit manager, or better. These qualifications are a gradual outgrowth from a salesman's equipment. Starting with his ability to handle men and situations, his knowledge of geographical conditions and of the personnel of G. WILLIAM BARNUM 187 the customers, add a knowledge of the essential points in making credits, sound judgment, and a feeling of responsibility, and he may hope to become eligible to the credit manager's position. The other side of the shield is presented by the qualifications of the office man who has ambitions to enter the credit department. The same knowledge and training are necessary in each case, but the of- fice man starts with a different foundation. He must learn the things that the salesman knew; and many of the lessons that are hardest for the sales- man to learn are the easiest for him. In the well organized office, every member of the force is an assistant to the credit manager. Prom entry clerk to head bookkeeper, all contribute some- thing to the work of making credits. Every order, before it reaches the desk of the credit man, is sum- marized, the customer's terms and ratings are noted upon it, a comparison of this order with his pur- chases of last year and the present condition of his account are looked up. This is the work of entry clerks, order clerks, bookkeepers and file clerks. Each man, as the document passes through his hands, not only adds to it his own data, but has an oppor- tunity to learn the facts already noted, and can fa- miliarize himself with the whole process. Every re- port from a commercial agency is read and the im- portant points cheeked before it reaches the manager. If your work is to perform some of these routine duties, do not let the mechanical operation blind you to the significance of the process. Two accounts are not treated alike. Why not? Study out the reason why you must write "30 days net, collect sharp" on Brovsm's order, and "6 months" on Cook's. 188 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE Tour study of accounting methods should be thorough, in addition to accumulating this outside in- formation, for the whole work of the credit man hinges upon accounts: they are the vital point in his relations with the customer, and one of his sources of information regarding the customer's condition. To understand a financial statement from a customer, you must understand its terms and be able to detect any effort at deception. While you are gaining this experience in ac- counting methods, do not forget that by itself it Wh t th ^^^^ ^^ inadequate preparation for credit Accountant work. It does not show you how to get Must Learn credit information first hand; it does not train you to flexibility of temperament in dealing with customers. These things you must learn in addition. In fact, if you specialize too far in ac- counting, your mathematical instinct is likely to be overdeveloped. The bookkeeper knows that the sum of five and three is eight. The answer must come at once, without question. The credit man- ager, on the other hand, must realize that five plus three may sometimes equal seven plus one — ^the one now and the seven later. In other words, you must learn to handle successfully the human element in your accounts, to lead instead of drive, to win by tact rather than to attempt blunt demands. You should secure a transfer to the collection department after you have spent three or four years Collecting as ^^ accounting. This work will enable a Means of you to meet people and to study the raining methods of approach necessary in dif- ferent cases. It will give you a wide knowledge of the territory your goods cover and the business con- G. WILLIAM BARNUM 189 ditions to be met in various localities: the points which the salesman learned before his period of office training began. Study models of correspondence in the same way as the salesman. Train your judgment in mak- ing credits by experimenting on the accounts that come in. The qualifications necessary for credit work are the same, whether you start as salesman or as office man. Learn the things that come in the regular course of your work, grow into larger responsibilities and make yourself indispensable in credit work; you will thereby compel promotion in your own house or command recommendation to an opening else- where. CHAPTER XXVI PREPARATION FOR THE WORK OF A PUR- CHASING AGENT BY F. LANCASTER Former Purchasing Agent, Goodman Manufacturing Compang How to become a purchasing agent i« a mucli more complicated problem than merely to gain prac- tice in beating down the salesman a fraction of a cent from his original prices. Many people think that the buyer's sole qualification is ability to se- cure discounts and cut rates, but in reality he re- quires as much special training as the most spe- cialized expert in the establishment. The faculty for securing good prices is, of course, a very important qualification, but it is the final point in a buyer's equipment, and is the result of a long period of training and the development of good judgment. A purchasing agent who gains his position because he is able to invest money with the company, but who has no previous training in buy- ing and no knowledge of the materials which he has to purchase, is likely to spend half a day getting some salesman to lower his price and then think he has made an excellent bargain. But in reality his clerk, who is never heard in a buying transaction, would make a much better purchasing agent than himself, because the clerk has gained knowledge of the elementary principles of buying through keep- 190 p. LANCASTER 191 ing the records of the department and receiving from the shop superintendent the estimate of ma- terial wanted. It is the preliminary training that connts. One who has grown up in the department or has been transferred from some other branch of the business because of his knowledge of materials and processes, is the best candidate for the purchasing agent's posi- tion. There are several channels through which this information may be secured. You may be a cost the Positions ^^®^^' °^ ^ ^*^*^^ °^^^^' °^ ^^^ occupy that Train some position which brings you in eon- tor Buying gtant communication with the purchasing department, such as voucher clerk or assistant audi- tor. In these various lines your chances to learn the essentials of buying are equally favorable. In the cost department, you receive from the shops detailed information regarding costs of manu- facturing. Materials are as important factors in these figures as is the cost of labor. The amount of bar steel, and of brass castings, and of any other materials, and the costs of each are recorded. Do more than merely copy these figures on a cost card. Study the quality, the size and the prices of every part as you record it. Find out why and where it is used and how much of it is consumed. This same information, to a great extent, you can secure if you are a clerk in the stock department. You can become familiar with every kind of material and every completed part which is used by your house. You should notice, in addition, how large a stock is kept on hand — ^what are the minimum and maximum limits, and how much is used periodically. 192 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE You can examine the materials closely, studying their quality until you can tell whether a new lot con- tains substitutions or is of inferior grade. As a clerk in the accounting department your duties in handling invoices and accounts will give yoix famil- iarity with materials and prices, if you use your opportimities. Every bill for goods passes through your hands. Notice the sources of material, the pre- vailing market prices at different seasons, the amounts bought and the usual terms of purchase. Through any of these branches, therefore, you can secure the elementary information which the purchasing agent needs. But the most needed quali- fication of all, knowledge of the uses of materials and the processes of manufacture, you must secure by study of the shops. At every opportunity get close to the producing end of the business. When you run across the name of an unfamiliar material, trace it down, see what it is used for and what is its superiority over other materials. This equipment of knowledge and experience, coupled with a known ambition for working in the purchasing department, should result in securing your transfer to that office as an assistant, where you will be able to keep in closer touch with the orders and study their relations with each other, and where you can observe the methods used. You have now secured half of the training you need in knowledge of materials— you know how they Knowledge of ^^^ used. The other half is to know the Sources how they are made, what firms have the of Supply ^jgg^ facilities for manufacturing them and what firms are most likely to be able and anxious to fill your orders quickly. This knowledge you can F. LANCASTER 193 gain to a great extent through acquaintance with the salesmen who come into the office. If you es- tablish friendly relations with them, you can secure many a profitable conversation, and often may ob- tain invitations to visit their plants. Soon you will add to your previous store of information what the salesman knows about his own goods. Moreover you will be able to gain knowledge not only of his line, but of the lines of his competi- tors. Knowing the uses of the material and the wants of your own plant, you can study the comparative facilities of the competing houses for furnishing what you need. The next and last requirement is the possession of tact, and a knowledge of human nature. The successful buyer is successful not only because of his knowledge of goods, of processes and of prevailing prices, but because he can command the respect and good will of the men with whom he does business. Such relations will result in low prices and special favors for your firm; will insure prompt shipments and strict adherence to specifications. Cultivate these relations as you come in contact with salesmen through your work in the purchasing agent's office, and thus equip yourself to fill a vacancy or to take a position as purchasing agent for another house. CHAPTER XXVII TRAINING FOR SALESMANSHIP BY W. A. WATERBURY Bales Manager, The A. B. Dick Company The fundamental qualifications a young man must have who expects to become a salesman are ambition and a level head. There has been a great deal of talk about salesmen being bom. It isn't the salesmanship that is born in a man, it is the natural ability which develops into salesmanship. The place to start your training for salesman- ship is the place you are filling at the present time. You must, of course, have a fair education to begin with— enough to enable you to talk with intelligence on a variety of subjects, and enough to make you quick at understanding a situation. With this foun- dation, and the qualities of ambition and common sense which have already been mentioned, you can work up to a salesman's position through any work in which you happen to be engaged. Probably the two most favorable channels, however, are experi- ence as a correspondent and stenographer, or as a clerk in the stock room. The every day work of the correspondent or stenographer is practical experience in selling goods, because almost every sale that is made, even through a salesman, must at some time or other find its way into the correspondence of the house. Stenography 194 "W. A. WATERBURY 195 is the natural stepping stone to a higher position, and especially to the position of salesman. By writ- ing about all the business transactions of the house you naturally gain a broad knowledge of the policy of the business, and should become familiar not only with the products but also with the methods by which they are placed upon the market. If you hold some clerical position and see no chance of working up through another department, you should study stenography. A knowledge of the art of writing shorthand can be easily acquired, as it has been many times, by studying at odd moments. There are hundreds of salesmen on the road today, who began as office boys and worked up to their present positions, by first becoming stenographers: As they handled the correspondence, they also studied the product and everything connected with the par- ticular business of their house. Even with the knowledge' of the products of the house gained as a stenographer, you must spend some time in the stock room, and as a house sales- man, before you are eligible to attempt to fill a posi- tion on the road. Many men who have never had office experience go direct from the stock room training into the work of a salesman. A successful salesman is usually a man who understands every detail of work in his house, by practical experience. Besides possessing a thorough and wide knowl- edge of the product or article he has to sell, a man y preparing for work as a salesman the Salesman's should study the art of conversation. You Great Seed jnvLst have a good command of the Eng- lish language. In fact, you must learn to frame your sentences so that every word you utter will 196 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE count for something. Your grammar must be cor- rect, your pronunciation clear and distinct and your manner of speech inspiring. There is only one method of winning the confidence of a customer, and that is by the way you talk. No sales were ever made where the salesman failed to win the pro- spective customer's confidence. Every word must ring true and explain a man's meaning clearly. Be- sides a knowledge of grammar, words, and how to handle them correctly, a young man about to go on the road must study his competitor's products. Not to talk against them— for attacking a competitor's goods never made a sale— but in order to make clear and forcible his own arguments, a salesman must un- derstand what arguments his competitors would pre- sent. If a customer brings up a competitor's line, the salesman must understand the weak points in the other goods so that he can bring out the strong points in his own line. The best possible training for any young man who aspires to become a salesman is to mix freely and thoroughly with men who are his superiors in knowledge and wisdom. You should every day strive to cultivate some new acquaintance. Make friends who will help you and advertise you and your busi- ness. You should always seek the society of older men in business circles, because their experience is their most valuable asset, and you can undoubtedly learn many things without having to go through trying and disheartening experiences. Men who have had experience in selling know the best methods so thoroughly that it is worth any young man's time to learn from them the things he should and should not do. These are the men who understand sales- W. A. WATERBURT 197 manship, not as a theory, but as it really is. And from them you can learn valuable lessons, always worth remembering and heeding. One of the first things you should strive to ac- quire is self-confidence. You must study your par- c nfidence ticular line so well that you will have and Honesty as the utmost confidence in your ability at ftnaiifications ^j^^ ^^^^^ you should be master of your- self on all occasions if you expect to hold your own in competition with unfair methods. You must be fair and truthful in all things. To misrepresent your product in any respect makes your life as a salesman short and unsatisfactory. Study your proposition so well that you will never risk being judged unfair, as a result of unintentionally misrepresenting things. Any young man who expects to make a good salesman must have good habits, correct manners, al- ways be polite and courteous, and have a foundation of good sound principles. When you have learned to take the knocks and jolts of the world you have learned how to enter any commercial battlefield and come out victor. You must learn to smile at the in- sults of ill-natured people, because you will meet men who are naturally of a mean disposition, and their shortcomings must be overlooked by the man out to sell something. A salesman's approach is a matter that depends on his personal appearance as well as his opening speech. It has been said that appearances are de- ceiving, but it is much better to have your dress make an impression in your favor, rather than against you. The first impression is always the most lasting, and at the start it is what any salesman must de- fend upon entirely. The matter of personal appear- 198 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE ance could be dwelt upon to a great length, but in brief it is merely a common sense idea of keeping clean and dressing modestly and neatly. The sales- man who is too conspicuous in his dress, the one who goes to extremes in styles, does not appeal to the average business man. , There is a great deal in knowing how to dress correctly. You must cultivate tact in the matter of personal appearance. You must learn what particu- lar color or style of clothing becomes you most. When you are beginning to sell goods you must never neglect your dress or appearance; these fac- tors count for everything on your initial trip. Your customers will always remember you as you first ap- peared before them. The whole secret of the means by which a young man may become eligible to a position as traveling salesman is to start at the bottom and work his own way up by conscientious work, learning the goods he is to sell, studying the customers he is to deal with and the methods by which he may favorably impress them. CHAPTER XXVIII HOW TO BECOME A CORRESPONDENT BY CHARLES R. WIBRS Chief Correspondent, Larkin Soap Company In modern commercial life the correspondent oc- Bupies a powerful position; his field of usefulness Is so distinct that we may easily define him as the most potent factor in promoting and sustaining trade relations. A letter is expected to show the character of a firm; to mirror its policy and its attitude. A man must be well trained in the ways of the house to write such a letter; he must be educated so that he can state a matter clearly and maintain a position strongly; and he must be a many sided man to com- pose a letter that will fit every case like a glove. Experience with the house, general education and versatility are therefore the three requisites for a competent correspondent. The first of these requirements makes the posi- tion of correspondent an especially promising goal for a man already in the employ of the firm. Through your regular duties, you can learn the policy of the house, whether you are connected with the office force, the sales department, or any other branch of the business. The position of correspondent is one to grow into. Most large firms prefer to promote one of their office clerks to the place after testing 199 200 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE his ability and his knowledge of the business in a minor position, rather than to employ an outsider, however successful he may have been as a corre- spondent for other firms. The young man who aspires to become a cor- respondent for his house has therefore an excellent opportunity to develop so that he will be eligible for the position. You must be thoroughly familiar with the product and the policy of the house and thoroughly in sympathy with its methods. These are the first steps in preparation. The means for taking these steps may be summarized as follows: First, become a keen observer, constantly on the alert to improve your knowledge of business meth- ods in general and increase your familiarity with all matters that have a direct bearing on your work. Second, cultivate a pleasant disposition, domi- nated by a willingness to assist others, for thereby many opportunities for learniug will come to you. Third, you should develop self-confidence. A man who does not believe in himself cannot hope to make others believe in him or in what he stands for. Fourth, moreover, it is necessary not only to be- lieve in yourself but also in your employers and in the goods they produce or the services they render. No man can write enthusiastically and convincingly unless he is himself enthusiastic and convinced. These are the points in which you have especial opportunity to develop yourself by reason of your Traits Th t connection with the house. The other Must be requirements of education and versatility Acquired y.^^ j^^^y. acquire at the same time if you do not already possess them. For although a college education will prove helpful to a man by broadening CHARLES R. WIERS 201 his knowledge and his conception of affairs, it is not absolutely necessary. School or college education, at its best, will never make a finished correspondent or an acute business man. An important part of education is the study of human nature. Before any letter can be properly answered, it must be dissected until you can read be- tween the lines, and discern the attitude, the motive and the caliber of the writer. Ability to judge of these things not only serves as a guide in answering letters diplomatically, but may often a^ist in reading them, for many men make a miserable failure of trying to say what they mean and their message can only be interpreted through a comprehension of their char- acter. Every person with whom correspondence is car- ried on should receive individual treatment. The attitude that will apply to one man might not apply to another even though the cases are identically the same. When reading a letter the correspondent should try to gather^ therefrom a mental picture of the writer and his peculiarities. Such knowledge will reveal a line of action by which he may present his proposition with a greater degree of intelligence. Tact and diplomacy are other traits which the aspiring correspondent should cultivate, for they are necessary in all kind of letters, to all kinds of men. It is poor policy to write a letter today that will require another a week hence to explain it. It is not always required to reveal motives for taking a cer- tain stand. You should learn to give a logical rea- son for a certain action, providing such will help satisfy a customer. Give him the benefit of the doubt 202 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE and keep him in the light, not in the dark. Say whatever you consistently can to please the customer. Avoid a dictatorial attitude. The customer usually knows what he wants; if his letters indicate that he does not, he should be assisted. In addition to these traits, a most essential qualification is strict honesty. No man can ever strict H n tv ®^P^°* ^^ succeed who tries to deceive Essential in his customers, either directly or indi- Correspondence meetly. Permanent success is the result of practicing honor and strict integrity. All letters should adhere rigidly to a truthful presentation of the facts. Letters are positive evidence — they can be produced at any time. You should cultivate the art of writing clearly and forcefully. All of an employee's knowledge and experience will be of no value to him as a corre- spondent if he cannot express his ideas in writing. Much difficulty is experienced in correspondence work by the obscurity of the meaning intended to be conveyed. A phrase or an assertion may be very plain to the correspondent and entirely beyond the comprehension of the person addressed. If the writer's conception of a matter is clear, he should study how he may word his meaning so as to make it very plain to his real or prospective customer. The customer is the one who should be conspicuous when composing a letter, and to whom the writer should eater with scrupulous care. The only feasible way to accomplish this is to learn to grasp a situation quickly, read between the lines of the letter to be answered, and try to imagine the circumstances un- der which it was written. The writer should forget self and devote his best efforts to the other person CHARLES R. WIERS 203 by using methods and expressions that will accord with his temperament and win his favor. Simple words carry with them weight and meaning. Brevity, according to its use, may be made either a constructive or a destructive feature. Busi- ness men have preached it so carelessly that it is somewhat detrimental. Of course, brevity is desired, but how, when and where is another story. The average correspondent, in trying to be brief, clothes his meaning in obscurity. Positive proof of this may be readily secured by examining the letters of some of our best and largest concerns. Brevity is of two classes: courteous and discourteous. Of the former the world needs a great deal more, of the latter it has had enough. No answer is complete until the matter in hand has been covered thoroughly in every detail, but even such a letter would not make a good impression if the presentation was curt and suggestive of haste. A writer should present his case in the fewest and choicest words at his disposal. He should study to convince the recipient in no uncertain way that he deserves and will appreciate his trade. Preparation for the duties of a correspondent in- volves a mastery of these qualifications, but they are not difficult to master if one has energy and a reasonable education as the basis; and they lead to progress and opportunity. CHAPTER XXIX HOW TO BECOME AN ADVERTISING MAN BY WILLIAM D. McJUNKIN Advertising Agent The most glaring defect in most of the adver- tising matter now appearing in newspapers and magazines is the advertisement writer's lack of familiarity with the goods he is advertising. This fact gives men who are today connected with an ad- vertised business exceptionai opportunity to become successful advertising men, through their knowledge of the firm's products or services. Clerks in great wholesale or retail houses have the best possible opportunity for training themselves for the advertising field; and there is no doubt in my mind that, other things equal, the youth who has had actual knowledge of merchandise is far bet- ter fitted to advertise it than one who comes from the outside. In a department store, a youth of the right metal can educate himself for department store advertising in a manner that would dispense with all other training. An employee who hopes to fit himself for ad- vertising work must start with a basis of good gen- eral education. It is not necessary that you should be college bred. A high school education or its equivalent will give you the training you need if you rightly develop the power of concentrating your 204 WILLIAM D. McJUNKIN 205 thoughts, the power of expressing them, the ability to note things accurately, and the factilty for ab- sorbing fresh knowledge. "With this foundation you may learn through your work as a salesman or office man the things that are necessary for an advertising career. Learn all that you possibly can about the goods that come under your hands; procure change from department to department until you have the whole field under review; in the meantime study the advertisements of the store you are connected with and of other similar establishments, with a steady view to entering the advertising office of the firm; and you will have little difficulty in proving to your employers that you will be invaluable there. A closer view of the qualifications of the adver- tising man and an insight into methods of self- The Duties of training may be obtained by examining the Adver- the duties that he will have to perform tisingMan ^^^ ^^^ conditions he will meet. The advertising writer must be quick to appreciate the telling points of the article he is exploiting, and to do that he must be able to imagine the viewpoint of the people he is addressing. As a matter of course, you must be able to write pure, clear and vigorous English, and possess sufficient versatility to adapt your style to the requirements of your readers. You must eschew all attempts to be witty or funny or "literary." When people go to a store counter to buy goods, they do not want expert sallies of wit or brilliant conversation from the salesman. They would probably be annoyed if the salesman indulged in them. Similarly, an advertisement or a circular is read for the information it contains, not for the amusement it is likely to afford. 206 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE This is the kind of style which you must culti- vate in order to make your advertisements readable and forceful. There is a call for originality, both in thought and expression — constant need for a new ■way of handling an old subject. The advertisement writer is generally an assistant of the advertising manager, and, as such, is in the line of promotion to that position. The manager may write little or none of the advertising matter which appears daily in the local newspapers under the firm's name, but he must be a past master in the art of writing advertisements, and be able to tell at a glance whether his assistants are giving him the kind of writing which will sell goods. To be eligible to the position of advertising man- ager you must add other qualities to your experience as an advertisement writer. Every store has a marked style of its own, formed carefully with a view to meet the tastes, capacities and demands of the people who are its patrons. The sensational for cheap bargain hunters— the plain and hearty style for the masses— the dignified for the ultra-exclusive people. The advertising manager has to maintain that style, and must at the same time strive to avoid monotony— a feat which is not unattended by diffi- culties. In consultation with the proprietor of the store, the manager must devise means for whipping up a laggard department of the store, make arrangements for advertising special sales, and determine in ad- vance what departments shall have space, and how much space, in each particular newspaper. Proper space must be alloted to each department which is to offer items for sale. This requires that you know WILLIAM D. McJUNKIN 207 thoroughly every branch of the business and under- stand their relative importance, a knowledge which you can gain only by spending a good deal of time in study of the various departments, and in conver- sation with the department managers. The adver- tisement finally must present to the eye a pleasing, harmonious appearance, which can be effected only through a familiarity with types and illustrations. It is obvious that a man to fill such a position must possess no ordinary qualifications. You must Broad E ui - a^cquire broad and varied knowledge, ment Needed possess at least general knowledge of for the Work printing and types, have good taste and some acquaintance with art, be familiar with the process of making halftones, electrotypes, zinc etch- ings, and so on. You must be able to write clear and forcible English, and to detect at a glance flaws in the writing of your assistants. You must— and this is of even more importance — possess a good gen- eral knowledge of the merchandise which the store handles. Lastly — and this is most important of all — you must be a shrewd judge of human nature and of a temperament that will enable you to do a vast amount of "quick fire" work without becoming ruflBed or upset. The field of agency work lies ahead of the man who can handle the advertising of a single establish- ment. Your training as writer or manager in a retail store will fit you to expand your field of operations as far as your inclination leads. And the qualifica- tions for the work lie within reach of every employee who is bright and soundly educated and has the ability to study the work and products of the es- tablishment with which he is connected. CHAPTER XXX SECURING PROMOTION TO A FOREMANSHIP BY HUGO DIEMBR Former Shop Systematieer, Goodman Manufacturing Company To become some day a director of men, to have charge of all the productive processes of a depart- ment, is the legitimate ambition of every factory worker. However skilled in a particular operation on which he has spent years of study, he yet hopes to graduate from that work into a more responsible position in charge of several operations. A factory foremanship requires perfection in technical training more than many executive posi- tions. Where an ofScial higher in the ranks is re- sponsible for good organization of his working force, proper discipline, and prompt payment of bills, he can hold his subordinates accountable for the proper execution of details. A foreman must be both execu- tive and workman; he must be able to spur work- men to their best efforts, and also to judge of the quality of the output; he is responsible for both or- ganization and product. It is plainly necessary that the first qualification of a candidate for foreman is excellence in workman- ship. A careless or bungling artisan would neither be able to inspire his men to good work nor to detect imperfections in their product. Aim first, then, to perfect yourself in your line of work. Turn out parts 208 HUGO DIEMER 209 with the fewest defects of any man in the shop; make your card show the least waste of material; beat the best record ever made by anyone. These are the first steps in your progress. But good work alone will not fit you for a fore- manship. It may bring you an increase of wages, it may make you stand high in the estimation of your employers; but to this qualification you must add others. I have known many an excellent workman, capable of a greater output than any foreman we ever had, who was bound to remain at his bench or lathe all his life because he lacked seme essential element of managerial ability. Let us see what some of these necessary traits are. The first one is a sense of responsibility. Too many workmen nourish the idea that they must be- ware lest their employers impose on them. A few minutes overtime at night or on Saturday afternoon would appear to most men an unjust hardship; yet that short time may save the company's word on a promised order, and if you stay vrillingly and work cheerfully, will bring you to the favorable notice of your employers. A few days ago an order in one of our shops which was promised for shipment that night was „.,„ delayed in the afternoon by a mistake WillingnesB •' •' to Play the in One process. It could be completed Business Game ^^^y ^iy overtime work. When the word went out from the office, the foreman himself was not very enthusiastic about staying. Several of the men slid out before he saw them. But one or two men stayed. They inquired what time the express train left; they studied how to divide the work amonw themselves so it would be done on time; they 210 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE hurried back to work from a light lunch; and the shipment left on time. Do not imagine that the only- advantage those men gained was a few hours' credit on the payroll. Their willingness to help in an emergency brought them to the notice of their em- ployers, and now they are marked men. They re- alized their position as necessary parts of the great working organization, responsible for a share in its operations; and their very realization of the fact made them more necessary to us than they were be- fore. By a feeling of responsibility I do not mean "grand stand" plays. The workman who tries to step over his foreman's head in order to attract the attention of the higher officials is pretty sure to make trouble for himself. The man who cannot take orders from any person but the head of the house does not commend himself either to the head or to the officials whose authority he tries to slight. Do your work well, take orders and try to carry them out a little better than is expected, be equal to any emergency that may arise, and you are following the course of conduct that is sure to bring you favorable notice. The next essential is that you use your brains in the execution of every piece of work given you. ■Workmen, not "^^^ methods used by your predecessor Machines, may not be so good as some that you are Wanted ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ yourself. The wages of a machine are pretty low. Its chances of promotion point only toward the scrap heap. Your own wages and your own line of progress will be different just so far as you prove yourself more than a machine. Do not be carried away by an unreasoning desire to HUGO DIEMER 211 increase the quantity of your output at the expense of its quality, nor go to the other extreme of use- less polishing or grinding at the expense of quantity. The man who can hit the happy mean of maximum output with the best quality is the most desirable workman. How are you to know the point beyond which refinement of your product would be waste? Only by study along two lines: in the first place, know the history of the part on which you are working; and secondly, know its function and position in the makeup of the completed product. If you find out what processes the part is still to undergo you will be able to judge whether to leave it in a rough or a smooth condition, whether to trim it or to pass it on with raw edges. Five minutes spent in polishing a bar after you have bent it will be wasted if the sec- ond or third man who handles it after you must de- stroy the polish. Do your work so that the part is perfect with respect to your processes and the fore- man will see that other operations are performed at the proper time. The second suggestion, to know the use and posi- tion of the part in the whole, will show you where „ _ _ the greatest care should be used. If ledge of the the part has two bearing surfaces and Product Helps ^^^ exposed surfaces, the former should receive careful attention from the polisher, the latter none at all. Observation of these points will help you to place your work where it will accomplish the best results. The knowledge of mechanical engineering which you to place your work where it will accomplish the prenticeship and later experience may not be enough 212 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE to fit you for a foreman's position. You should know the principles of designing and of construction. These you can learn in almost any night school without interference with your regular work. Should such a course not be available the work offered in mechanical drawing by correspondence schools will give you considerable training if conscientiously car- ried out. Factory managers are looking for men in the ranks who show ability and a progressive spirit. Opportunities for advancement are open to them. Promotion follows close upon discovery of a man's capacity. CHAPTER XXXI THE RISE OF A CHIEF ENGINEER BY HUGO DIEMBR Former Shop Systematizer, Goodman Manufacturing Company Directly below the managing officials of a manu- facturing plant ranks the works manager or chief engineer, a man of practical experience, a production expert with knowledge of executive matters. In the absence of his superiors he manages the establish- ment, directing the co-operation of departments, rul- ing on emergency questions that arise and that in- volve the integrity and the policy of the company. A technical man, he yet has a broad outlook on the affairs of the concern, which enables him to direct the workings of the whole plant. Such a man is a type of the highest development of the mechanical engineer. He has grown up through the ranks. Often he has gained his experi- ence, or a good part of it, in minor positions of the establishment which he later directs. Considering the great number of trained tech- nical men in modern industry, it would seem that eligible candidates for this position would be numer- ous. On the contrary, the great majority of men working in any of the producing departments fail to qualify for executive positions because they re- fuse to progress. I think it is a conservative esti- mate to say that not twenty-five per cent of the 213 214 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE graduates of .engineering colleges achieve the degree of success they should. Becoming engrossed in one specialized branch of their profession, they fail to realize its relation with other departments of pro- duction and push to the extreme ideas of their own, which wise management would temper to fit the needs of other departments. The young man who aspires to a chief engineer's position in a manufac- turing plant has therefore to educate himself broadly for the work. The education of a technical man is not complete when he graduates from his engineering college. He Tr ■ "ne After ^^^ ®*^^^ *° learn the details of practical College Course operation ; he must learn to master Is Over problems that his text books did not treat of. If you have just completed your college course and aspire to fit yourself for factory man- agement, you cannot do better than to secure a posi- tion in some establishment where you can get, at first, a general view of manufacturing processes or of the materials used. A position as time taker, job tracer or stock clerk will teach you the elementary points of the business. In the stock department you can gain familiarity with every kind of raw material, and every com- pleted part. Use this opportunity to learn the best sources for obtaining materials, the prevailing range of prices, the amounts usually carried in stock. Study the complete or partly finished product which fills your shelves. The job tracer can see in process of manufacture the various articles put out by the plant. If you are set to work following an automobile or a sewing toachine order througji the factory you should be HUGO DIEMER 215 able to learn the processes through which it passes; in watching its transformation from raw material to finished product you can get a general view of all the operations, that is hidden from the draftsman or lathe worker, specializing in only one process. Should your first position be as timetaker, you will have not only the opportunity to study processes and to cultivate the difiicult art of handling work- men, but you will be able to study the time consumed by different men on similar work and by the same men on different work; for your duties will be to check the work done by a certain group of men, not- ing the time when each of them began a job and the time when he completed it. You should notice the conduct and the methods of those men who prove to be most efficient, and study the systems of discipline that bring the best results. These are the possible means by which you may gain your first insight into factory operation and management. 'But if you are ambitious to reach the top, such work will not hold you very long. An opening will come in some one of the departments, you will be chosen to fill it, and your special training to supplement this general information will begin. Three associated lines of work offer avenues of approach to the chief executive position, through any one of which you may rise if you perfect your- self in the line of work you have chosen and learn the essential principles of the allied departments. These three branches are the designing department, the systematizing department, and the shops. In most establishments the head of any one of these branches is eligible to promotion to the position of chief engineer. 216 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE If you have begun work as a draftsman, your line of progress lies through the drafting and dc- _ _ signing branches to the management of •f the Trained the designing department. You will Draftsman }ia.\e to perfect your work as a designer before you can expect further promotion. Study the output of the plant so that you will imderstand thor- oughly the interworking of all parts and will know where and how better adjustments can be secured. You will have to guard, however, against the danger which all designers face: the temptation to push refinement and improvement of designs to such an extent that the processes of manufacture are hin- dered, useless expense is involved, and no practical advantage results. The greatest danger to the de- signer is his tendency toward the impractical in his zest for improvement. I have known machine con- struction shops where it was necessary to pass a strict rule that no change in the drawings for a ma- chine could be made after the materials were or- dered, so prone were the designers to offer sugges- tions for a change after the machines were partly constructed. After perfecting himself in his own work, the designer should study the other departments of the establishment. You must learn what the systematizer and the shop superintendent aim to secure— economy and practicability. Study costs of production— labor, power and material — and learn to co-operate in keep- ing these cost figures to the minimum. Study the peculiar needs of your plant and the uses of its out- put. Theory might dictate that a certain part should be made light, while practical experience shows that this part is subject to such unusual strain HUGO DIEMEE. 217 that it must be made abnormally heavy. Text books will not teach you such facts; they can be learned only through practical experience. Study commercial catalogs to familiarize yourself with standard sizes and styles of nuts and bolts and all the parts which go into the construction of your product. The best way for a trained designer to secure the breadth of experience which he needs is by visits of inspection to manufacturing plants similar to the one with which he is connected. After you have mastered the construction problems at your own factory, secure leave of absence for this pur- pose, or prevail on your employers to send you on a trip of inspection. Comparative study is the best method of learning factory operation. If you are connected with the systematizing de- partment of the plant, you have access to the work- _ , , ing systems of all departments. You How Shop should use this opportunity to learn the Systems Work ^gtails of Operation, as well as the out- line. Learn not only what are the component ele- ments of the cost of a part, but the exact figures of its cost. Study not only how a machine may be followed up in its course through the shop, but how fast it is practicable to push it. You should learn the principles of designing and the practice of shop management. Into these lines of work you will gain some insight in the course of your own duties, for you are expected to know every item that constitutes finished product and every step involved in the handling of each piece. You must know what is the most advantageous man- ufacturing quantity of every item, so as to secure 218 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE uniformity of output as well as economy of manu- facture. You must know how long each step ought to take under the most favorable working conditions. You must be able to tell at any time the exact con- dition of every part involved in the manufacturing process. You must be able not only to plan but to exe- cute. This requires the qualification of knowledge of men, as well as knowledge of system. The systematizing department probably makes more versatile executives than any other line of work in the manufacturing business. Your knowl- edge of production systems, no matter whether se- cured in a furniture factory or a machine shop, you can apply to any other line of manufacturing, for fundamental methods must be the same in all. I have known men who were trained in electrical manufacturing plants, who passed to gas engine works, harvester plants, motor vehicle factories— ap- plying to all these diversified lines the experience which they had gained in each of the others. If you have grown up in the production end of the business, and have risen through the successive „, „ stages of foreman, department superin- of a Shop- tendent and superintendent of shops, in Trained Man opjej. ^o become eligible to the chief engineer's position, you will have to learn enough of the work of designing and of systematizing so that you can harmonize all the activities of the plant, without undue emphasis upon the mechanical proc- esses. Your greatest difficulty will be to give up the oversight of details to your subordinates, so that you may devote time and thought to the broader questions of factory management. HUGO DIEMER 219 If you try to keep your close control of the labor supply, the following up of rush orders, the timekeeping and payroll — ^matters which should be turned over to your assistants — ^you will stagnate in the mass of routine. One year, in order to keep up an average woiiking force of 200 men, I inter- viewed 5,000 candidates and had them fill out ap- plication blanks. I actually hired 1,000 men. Then I shifted the work to someone else. The superintend- ent of a great plant cannot afford the time to at- tend personally to such details. Join the associations of mechanical engineers, and of factory executives; take part in their discus- sions of operating problems. This will give you an insight into the side of manufacturing which deals with plans and projects. Endeavor to initiate im- provements, as well as to carry out those designed by the engineering department; try to simplify re- ports and reduce costs, as well as putting into oper- ation the systematizer's ideas. The chief engineer's position is waiting for the man who shows his ability to handle the problems that arise in any part of a plant, who is able to deal with rush orders, labor situations and hard times. No matter through which branch of the or- ganization he rises, the attainment of the goal for any man depends on the possession of the qualities of adaptability, breadth of experience and progressive- ness.