The labor standard., 1919-10-01

ing new year, they should know ez
 actly what the preceding year accomplishments have been. Tn annual statement of the concer should be full and explicit, so ths every man engaged in the enterpris
 will know what business was done i
 the preceding year and on what basi
 An honest, detailed annual statemen
 tells him officially what the profit
 were, if any, and this fixes a minimum
 goal for the coming year, whic
 everyone, individually and collectively
 will bend every energy to reach am
 exceed by as large an amount as pos
 sible. Under such an arrangement a
 this, each man, in place of workin,
 solely for himself in his own depart
 ment, will pass on to other depart
 ments any ideas that occur to him tha
 might help that other department, ant
 in that way benefit the organization
 as 9 whole. In my judgment, som'
 profit-sharing plans are radicall!
 ute profits by departments or in some
 way other than on the basis of the
 company's success as a whole. This
 This narrows the vision of the individ
 ual, and he lacks the proper incentive
 to help wherever he can, whether ir
 his own or another department. The right kind of profit sharing offers def.
 nite goals that an organization, indi. vidually and as whole, can buckle down to and work for, and it is aston. ishing how such plan of profit shar. ing will heighten the esprit de corps It removes petty jealousies; it makes a man eager to pass his ideas on to the man in the next department, and causes them to vie with one another to reach and exceed the figures reached in the preceding year.
 A detailed annual report by the company is not only necessary to show the organization in prosperous years how the profits were arrived at and what they amounted to, but equally the losses were arrived at, what they amounted to and why there are no profits to distribute. Gradually, as the employees in the organization be- come part owners in the business, you broaden and deepen their interest in their work. They begin to think and speak of the business as their busi- ness; they work for it as their busi- ness, not your business or somebody else's, and in place of Knocking" it they praise it and 'boost" it in every way they can, for they have become part owners through being security holders and are receiving their inter est or dividends at the same time and in the same manner as other security holders receive theirs. In other words, once the employees become se- curity holders, they share in interest or dividend distributions and other profits, not only as security holders, but as employees.
 Some Objections to the Plan Answered
 Many people have said to me: "Oh, but it takes long while for a man who is only saving a small sum each year to acquire much of a financial interest in the concern by which he is employed" I have always found that such criticism comes from some one who has not given sufficient thought to the subject, for small in- crest means as much to the man hav- ng a comparatively small salary as a arge interest does to the man of arge affairs.
 Let us summarize some of the ad- 7antages of this method of profit sharing:
 First: It is real, it is genuine. The as a whole, and each in lividual in it, has a definite goal for he years work. They know at the of a year how much money must be earned to cover what we will all fixed charges; hey know that they ire being paid salaries to earn those fixed charges; they know that they share in all profits over and above he basis on which they share, and hot hn af fc argely depends on the individual and collective effort of each individual in he organization. This in itself is of great practical value to the business rom a dollar-and-cost standpoint. There is no philanthropy about it. The employees have certain definite goal o reach. If they reach it they are ,aid definite percentage for doing 10. It is definite business proposi- ion, based on the principle of profit haring as practiced in partnerships.
 Second: Having reached the goal et, the money over and above the they are paid-in other words, their profts-are invested in he business in which they are en- saged and on which their whole time md thought and energy should be cen cred. What a great advantage this s CO the employer, ana WnaL spur md incentive to the employe! What nore valuable insurance policy could m employer have against year of ,oor earning? What a real, genuine interest it arouses in the worker for he business in which he is engaged! | The whole atmosphere, the whole re- is changed. The employer leed give little thought to whether or lot his men are soldering" on him, or not they are really giving o their work the best that is in them; md the employe need spend little time whether or not he is being compensated. The whole re- is placed on a new basis, lot antagonistic, as heretofore, but 
 This plan is vastly different from 1 he one now practiced by which one ct of men working in business, viz., he capitalists and partners, leave nost of their profits in the business, while another set of men, working houlder to shoulder with them, viz, ho or,oy10uoc each fo1o fhoi,s l