Evening star., 1919-05-25
By j. w. PURDY.

ITHE inevitable readjustment in
industrial relations after the
war is beginning to be felt
throughout the country. One
of the most important Of all these
will be based on a sound economic
conception of the Civil Service Com
mission as to employment. This idea.
which is simple and obvious. is that
in all industrial concerns there should
be selective system of employees; so
that the men chosen for a job shall
be able to fill that job efficiently.
That principle has been the gov
erning force in the commission. and
it has grown in strength and power
since it's installation some twenty
five years ago. 1t is the application
of this principle in a practical way
that kept the efficiency of the more
than three hundred thousand govern
ment employees up to its standard dur
ing the war. 1t kept the labor turn
over during the tempestuous times
down to a minimum-far below that
of the best of the civilian industrial
plants. The navy yards. Army arsen-
ais, government operated munition
DDS Of selection were in operation
suffered far less than other places of
similar character at times when igno-
BILE employment agencies were leading
labor a march like a merry-go-round.
The harm done to efficiency by the
turn around Of employees is almost in
calculable. Conservative estimates
place the cost of a shift of every en-
ploye above the classification of COM
mon laborer at the amazing sum Of
from $40 to $500. This is due to the
interruption of organized operation;
time wasted in instructing even the
most skilled man with the duties of
his new position and the working and
vagaries of his new machine; and
damage to material and machinery.
The putting of machine out Of COM
mission often results in throwing out
a whole section of progressive work.
supplanting "Hire and Fire" Meth
For .the last twenty-five years the
Civil Service Commission has been
making selective appointments: but
until very recent times. and in but
relatively few instances. public serv-
have given scant attention to the
means of selecting and assigning men
and women in the field Of employ
ment to the positions which they are
QuallneQ pest 10 NIL. FOr the most
part they have adopted the practice
called the "hire-and- fire" neInod.
That is, man who is accepted, tells
in a general way what he can do. and
q foreman. without special inquiry
into his record, puts him at the work
the man says he can do. If the work.
man makes good he holds the job;
otherwise the foreman fires him. In
the meantime the man may have done
great harm, or. even worse. the plac-
ing of the man in work that is un-
suited to his ability may have cost
him an opportunity and done him
great harm.
Figures that are not tiresome are
enlightening. sometimes. During the
war the Navy organized a factory in
Philadelphia for the manufacture of
airplanes. workmen skilled in this
class of work were few in number
and in great demand, for airships were
sadly needed and existed only on War
Department paper. Nevertheless the
Civil Service Commission, charged
with the selection or employees in this
plant. did not relax its rules. It used
every effort to study the jobs and to
select men and women capable of fill-
ing them.
OF the 1000 employees SO chosen. only