Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-02-10

MIR. MCUBB1N nent part III the
meeting.
Mr.. McCubbin spoke against the in
PRODUCTION of a minimum wage ana
presented plans intended to secure
greater efficiency in department stores.
Il am going to deal with proht
shar ring" said Mr.. McCubbin, from
the viewpoint of employe and also the
employer, Theorists are apt to lose
sight OF the latter. as If all that capltai
has to do is to distribute golden eggs
from an ineXhaustible basket.
Your chairman. in the course OF
his remarks one year ago, urged the
desirability, IL not the necessity, of
voluntarily giving, before sentiment or
law compels. the minimum wage. PUB
lie sentiment appears to favor such a
measure and our business is primarily
one which calls for an intelligent an
ticipation of the public's requirements.
In my opinion, the Introduction of
minimum wage will not in itself be
of assistance. or increase the selling
power of our employees, but Will, in
stead. tend to add to the already over
burdened expense of conducting bust-
ness.
Bowmans solution
"'rhe profit-sharing plan was started
toward the end of September, 1913, at
the time when business was picking
up, so that the employees did not have
to make up the deficits which they
would undoubtedly have incurred had
the plan been adopted earlier. Th1s
was done Intentionally so that we
could have the sales force enthusiastic
from the beginning.
Last Fall. from information al
ready in our possession, we were en-
abled to more correctly determine the
actual and desired cost Each depart
ment and each salesperson was re-
quired to sell a determined amount,
and the monthly cost for the year was
fixed. This method worked to better
advantage from all points of view.
In the dull months $500 might be re-
quired in sales. and in the busy season
$1,000, $1,500 or 81, 500 asked for. on
any increase over the stipulated
amount, whether it be $50 in the dull
times or $500 in the busy season, we
paid a bonus of from l to per cent.
Il should mention that these pay
ments are made monthly and sepa-
rately from our usual payroll. This
method distributes the pay on more
equal basis and meets the desires of
our employees more fully.
SeniannuaI Sharing
I'VE now come to the sharing of
profits semiannually. To determine
the actual net profit of the business.
the trading or operating account is
charged with interest on the capital
invested. This is only right since
the owners of the business could OBJ
tain this interest on their capital by
investment and reside, If they chose.
in Los Angeles / do not feel that
employees have a right to share in
profits until this interest charge has
been earned.
Expenses are distributed over the
departments. discounts are credited.
and the net profit for each department
ascertained.
The buyers are then given a per-
centage of their net profits. This per-
centage being based on the capital in
vested in their department. or, in
other words the turnover
I'm addition to the share of profits
distributed under our present plan we
aim eventually to extend and divide
half yearly among the department en-
ployes an additional share of the net
profits.
'In every way our profit-sharing
plan aims to be thoroughly practical,
as we call upon our employees to con
tribute toward these profits before
they can expect to share in them.
Develop Selling Ability
I'VE feel very much gratified with
the progress already made and the
manner in which our employees have
Joined with us in making the plan a
success encourages us to extend it still
further. The higher grade selling
ability they have developed has en-
abled our employees to share in the
profits, making an addition to their
wages of from per cent. all the way
up to 80 per cent.
This, in turn, has brought about a
corresponding reduction in the cost of
carrying on business and enables us
to give our customers the benefit by
reducing the prices of our goods"