Evening star., 1938-10-02
By John L. C0onfx.

DD JOHU Il. l. OOHLSs
EARY O'BRIEN bounced into
nu the dining room and tossed
VI her pay envelope on the table
4 4 Mother" she exclaimed,
they are changing the Office for us.
Already the file cabinets have been
painted white and the electric men
are working on the lighting fixtures.
It is going to be so good for my eyes,
and all the girls are enthusiastic about
1t. And Mr.. Myers, Our Office manager,
says that he has lot more new changes
coming on for us that will help our
efficiency in the Office and not make us
60 tired either"
Mary's mother was delighted to
hear the news, or that which made
work lighter for Mary made life easier
for them both But where did you
get all these ideas?" she exclaimed
"Oh, you'd be surprised where they
came from. You would hardly ever
guess. In fact. myself know little
about the place except what I read
Of it in the newspapers. But there
has been a report of some kind fol-
lowing a study in ofIice efficiency by
the Tennessee Valley Authority. down
In Tennessee. where the Government
has its great power plant. Down there.
is seems, q series of Office tests and
surveys has been conducted, as q
sort Of side issue to the main program,
with the net result that great many
large firms, like our insurance COM
paI1y, have adopted the findings"
MARY was quite right. The T. v. A..
was responsible for her bright,
CHEEKY creating to her mother when
she came home from her days work.
The results Of the experiments and
Investigations made by T. v. A. have
caused many business organizations,
large and small, to review the work
Of their office management depart
n1ents.
'The basis for improving an ofiice
Is q complete Job analysis" says John
r. Pierce, director of the ONCE Ser
vice Department Of the T. v. A. He
has defined job analysis as "an orderly,
organized record and objective meas
urement of a Job; that Is. the pro-
cedures followed, equipment utilized,
practices involved, the volume and
now of work"
1T is a record" he continued, land
an objective measurement of the fac
tors and conditions modifying and
surrounding the job. To make such
q comprehensive analysis calls for
an investigation of the conditions under
which the work is performed. We
give stencil cutters adequate illumina-
ton and make sure that there is as
little eye strain as possible. In one
Of our reproduction centers a job
analysis revealed the fact that the
floors were frequently damp because
Of the splashing liquids, and the con-
dition was Immediately corrected by
installing wooden gratings which
served as a self-draining floor. In
buildings poorly designed We installed
ventilating systems to bring fresh air
to our employees"
Proper illumination for the working
surface used by every ONCE employe
was one Of the earliest studies under
taken. With light meter, rule, and
color chart, every room in the office
was surveyed. Obsolete lighting fix
lures were replaced, others were raised
or lowered to the proper level, and walls
and ceilings were painted light color,
80 that minimum of 15-foot candles
Of illumination could be supplied to
every office worker. To maintain this
standard, q regular schedule for clean
Ing the light fixtures, ceilings and
walls is followed.
THE results were so gratifying" Mr.
Pierce said, that we began question
ing the wisdom Of having our equip
ment, especially our filing cabinets,
painted the customary green color.
After testing different shades Of color
We picked a light gray as being the
one that would reflect the greatest
amount of light without giving any
glare. Now we are painting the cabi-
nets in our central fireroom that
color"
INCIDENTALLY, protection Of young
peoples eyes at the school at the
r. v. A.-made town Of Norris. Tenn,
Is secured through the use Of photo
electric cells, which automatically turn
the lights on when daylight through
the windows becomes inadequate.
When daylight here gets below 15-foot
candles in strength, the lights turn
on automatically.
To handle the variety Of material
received daily in the central files, a
classification system was devised hav-
ing over $4,000 breakdowns, both re-
lated and unrelated, of encyclopedia
proportions. The 10 major divisions
under which the material is filed
identify the Authority's records as a
decimal file. An analysis Of production
showed that the peak performance Of
the average employe. working seven
hours per day, was reached about $50
am. and pm, and that following
these periods there was a reduction
IN output. Observation Of errors indi-
Gated that their frequency increased
with the reduction in output.
Various studies were conducted to see
what effect there would be upon en-
ploye morale and production II every