The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1917-06-15
EMPLOYERS FIND
THAT firing" HELP
INVOLVES WASTE
Shift inefficient Workers About
to Find Job They Gan Fill
new SYSTEM WORKS WELL


taetursrs to Reduce Disehargins TO
Minimum-soms Have Practically
Eliminated u. Thereby Saving Money
and Increasing Output.
A new era has dawned In Industrial.
ism-an era In which the human ele-
ment Is paramount Wise employers
OF labor have come to realize that the
spirit OF their employees is more val.
pable as an asset than the material
and the machinery In their plants.
Methods are being adopted by the lead
ers In the Industrial world for con-
serving and nourishing the loyalty and
energy Of their working forces.
One OF the strongest indications Of
this upward trend In the Industrial
field lies In the progress that has been
made In the method Of hiring help and
adapting that help to the work for
which 1t In best fitted. In their efforts
to reduce discharging to a minimum
many Of the biggest manufacturing
concerns In the country have establish
ed employment departments headed by
experts who are fitted by instinct and
education to deal with human beings
and get the best out of them. After
long and careful study these employ.
ment experts have come to the conclu-
sion that almost any worker, no mat
ter how inefficient he or she may seem
at first, can eventually be taught to do
some useful work and that the time
spent to make the worker efficient Is
negligible when compared with the ap-
palling economic waste due to the in
discriminate discharging of employees.
From the standpoint of economy this
new aspect to the employment question
Is a long stride forward, for loose
methods Of "hiring and firing" consti-
tute the greatest leakage In modern
business. The tremendous proportions
which this leakage has assumed are
reflected In figures compiled by Mag
nus w. Alexander, one Of the engineers
Of the General Electric company.
Figures Show Appalling Loss.
In an address delivered at the twen-
tieth annual convention of the Nation.
al Association of Manufacturers Of the
United States Mr.. Alexander cited the
case Of twelve metal factories located
in six different states. At the begin
ming of the year these factories en-
ployed 1924 persons and at the end
1891. Their normal increase in en-
ployees that year, therefore, was 6,607,
and II the proper system had been in
force the factories would have had to
take on 6,697 persons, plus an extra
complement Of 13,843, to provide for
unavoidable reductions In the working
force due to deaths, sickness, tempo
rary employment due to extra work
and other causes Of a similar nature.
In reality, however, the factories
took on during the above mentioned
year 42,571 employees, or 22,O31 per-
sons more than were absolutely neces-
sary, and each of those 22,O31 persons
cost the factories from $50 to 5000
for broken tools, spoiled work, the
reduced rate Of production and the
additional Office expenses incurred
through the necessity for the main
tenance OF an extra clerical force to
keep track of the temporary workers
and the hiring of foremen and assist
ants to instruct them. Altogether, 1t
was computed, the unnecessary en-
gagement of 22031 employees caused
the factories I'm question an aggregate
loss of 1891 900.
Another manufacturer estimated that
he had to hire 1000 men in a single
year to get fifty employees, which
means that he has to pay for certain
length of time salaries to the $50 who
fail to make good. He estimates that
this reduces his profits by $4,000.
Examine Applicants Carefully.
The substitution OF scientific meth.
DDS in place of the old haphazard sys-
tenn of employing and discharging bids
fair to stop this leakage, however. It
is the chief function Of the modern
employment department to give every
applicant thorough examination
with view to determining what sort
of work the latter is most likely to be
fitted for. The applicants record Is
carefully consulted for any light that
1t may throw on the nature of the task
at which he may or may not be sue
cessful His mental attitude, his ambi-
lions and even his failures are taken
into consideration. AS an added precau-
ton many Of the plants give the appli-
cants physical examination as well.
II the head Of certain department
In one Of these progressive plants re-
quires help he makes out a written
requisition for the same, and the su-
perintendent of the employment de-
partment furnishes him with the nee
essary number Of workers II the men
supplied prove unfit for the type of
work to which they are assigned they
are not dropped from the payroll, but
are merely sent back to the employ
ment department and are tried in some
other line OF work. In extreme cases
the misfts are shifted about from one
department TO another until they land
I'm some place where their peculiar
qualities can be used. Under this sys.