^^o ft 4* ,\*^irC* ^> <> *'7V * ^ *: d §Q0-< HOW TO MANAGE MEN GETTING THE MEN BEHIND NEW IDEAS AND MANAGEMENT PLANS HOW FACTORY EXECUTIVES CHARGE SPOILED WORK, LEARN MEN'S EARNING POWER, FIX WAGES AND AWARD INCREASED PAY MAKING THE FORCE GET IN ON TIME, READ THE RULES AND PULL TOGETHER A. W. SHAW COMPANY CHICAGO NEW YORK A. W. SHAW COMPANY, Ltd., LONDON 1914 — <&l s 6 ■ • \ THE MAGAZINE OF BUSINESS SYSTEM "HOW-BOOKS" How to Increase Your Sales How to Increase a Bank's Deposits How to Systematize the Day's Work How to Increase the Sales of the Store How to Sell Real Estate at a Profit How to Sell More Life Insurance How to Sell More Fire Insurance How to Write Letters that Win How to Talk Business to Win How to Write Advertisements that Sell How to Sell Office Appliances and Supplies How to Collect Money by Mail How to Finance a Business How to Run a Store at a Profit Others in Preparation FACTORY "HOW-BOOKS" How to Get More Out of Your Factory How Scientific Management is Applied How to Get Help How to Cut Your Coal Bill How to Handle Workmen How to Systematize Your Factory Others in Preparation STANDARD VOLUMES AND SETS THE KNACK OF SELLING (In Six Books) BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE LIBRARY {Three Volumes) BUSINESS MAN'S LIBRARY (Ten Volumes) BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUSINESS MAN'S ENCYCLOPEDIA (Two Volumes) THE SYSTEM OF BUSINESS (Ten Units — Thirty Volumes) In Preparation wsxsm THE MAGAZINE tPT.CLIR| UT.CR. 1 USTID 1 '■ P.TMtNT FORMS 4, 5, 6: In front at the right is Form 4 used by the time- keeper as the basis of all his reports. Form 5 at the left, a semi-pay period report on each man's earning power is made out from the remain- ing, coupon (Form 6) which is one variety of the several similar work tickets used by different departments at the end of each pay period — an individual day-work record (Form 9) and an individual piece-work record (Form 10). These reports are merely summaries of the cards (Form 4) filed behind operatives' numbers in the time- 26 FIXING WAGES keeper's office, and from these pay period reports the pay roll is made out. "After the reports go to the cost depart- DAILY DEPARTMENTAL REPORT OF INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES EARNINGS EMP. NO. DAILY TOTAL EMP. NO. DAILY TOTAL O 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6, 6 — — — __2^ __^ 3 — r 3 1 ~ -- 4 4 6 5 6 6 7 7 8 e 9 9 FOOT FOOT INGS TOTAL PIECE WK. PIECE WORK, REPORT OF TOTAL TIME WK DEPT. TOTAL FOR 191 TOTAL COMPARED WITH REPORT OF CLASSIFIED COSTS AND FOUND TO AGREE 6Y -— .- FORM 7: Daily this report of individual earnings goes to the cost de- partment as a check on labor costs. The numerals to 9 are repeated down the side. Upon prefixing the other numerals of an employee's number, the clerk has his list complete and in order ment, they are sent to the pay-roll department. The day-work time record is there checked with the clock record by the pay-roll clerk, who is also the timekeeper of the clock records. "A very interesting analysis and one which I have found valuable is the report (Form 11) of the employee's piece-work averages. This report is assembled in the cost department from the individual piece-work earnings cards. This piece-work average sheet is a WHEN TO GIVE A RAISE 27 detailed record of the work done by each piece- work operative and enables me to get some idea of the average daily earnings of each oper- FORM 8: Work done day by day by individual operatives occupies the columns at the top of this blank. Below is analysis of these figures ative, so that in case it is necessary to set a day rate on piece workers on account of the way in which the work is going through the FORM 9: This form is designed to show whether piece work is being done economically. Earnings are distributed at the right for daily com- parison. At the bottom are the individual's net earnings, piece work and day work for the current period, as well as the piece work to be paid for factory, we can make use of this report and can get the average amount of money paid the piece worker for the pay period. "If it is found that an employee would have 28 FIXING WAGES made a great deal more money doing the job piece work, it is apparent that the day worker is not doing all that he can on the job. INDIVIDUAL PIECE WORK EARNINGS RECORD OPCRATIOIt Jo". p*r"' !=" .c^j MRS WUMBER1 ..."■BUfOHOr «»,«..,.„. ; 1 '. 1 1 RAT. cS T sV, . 1 1 ' ■ , 1 1 ll RAT. COST. ! _ i t !l || | |- . || I | i I RATC COST» [[ [ [[ I 1 1 T0TAL8 1 nun '" "mVcmo' « rat" p.VdTor » "as* k «™™m """* ? T w'" T» MttWRi OtPlHTUCNT «AMI ; | [ P.W.TIMC FORWUDU '-»« ! L 1 KRi'o» M T6™m""oR TOT.l R t ",oTT0 aVp.!o TOR __,.._.. ««™ TIMC TO Jt PAID FOR. FORM 10: This report is similar to the individual time-work earnings record, except that it is made out in terms of time work. From this form a very close supervision can be kept on all day workers ' 'The sheet of average earnings per hour (Form 12) gives the averages on the individ- PIECE WORK AVERAGE : .. i! ii T,«| AMT. AVCR. TIME TIMC! AMT.I AVCR, TIMC AMT AVER. TIMC *MT AV£R TIKI AMT AVBR 1 II ii | r I ] . 1 1 1 • II ' . ■~^^~*~_> -^ — -~-^- -~_!_- --___— ^_^^-___: - 1 1 II 1 1 II ! ! 'i ' j i ; ii i II 1 II I i 1 i 1 ; ! ! i ' ■! ! ' !' [ I !i i ■ ■• i . i J I ' ' ; 1 i i; : 1 ;, i : Ii ■ , I 1 1 1 1 ii 1 ' i '1 ? !. . , i, ! . i: . _ ;. . „ ,. 1 . FORM 11: The top spaces on this form are for operatives' numbers. The spaces at the left are for pay period dates. In the columns are en- tered the total time, total pieces and the worker's average output per hour ual operations, whether day work or piece work, but figured at piece-work rates. WHEN TO GIVE A RAISE 29 "At the end of each pay period or when plan- ning for next year's business, it is often inter- AVERAGE EARNINGS PER HOUR PABTNAUC °r-L"- OPIMYlOf* ■::: *»iNDiaa ravtftDiNO HVMOim llMTCHDMS ■srl'ss « • V. t»- H« Hr" ST r ... OEB "u i || FORM 12: On this sheet are the average earnings per hour of the oper- atives on individual operations on day or piece work, all figured at piece- work rates. From this the average cost of pieces is also easily obtained esting to find out just how much various em- ployees earn in the pay period and per hour. RECORD ON TIME WORKERS, SHOWING EARNINGS AT PIECE-WORK PRICES. PAV ENDING wotmpI kr AT Sr. 1 amouwt "Hi ""-"*H *jggay UnM**iiDui RECORD FRQM_ FORM 13: The wages the time workers would have made had they been working by the piece can be shown on this form. This information is a check on both classes of workers A series of card reports (Form 12) makes it a simple matter to compare the earning power of employees in any group. "The fourth report which comes to me from 30 FIXING WAGES the cost department (Form 5) is the " analysis of individual time-workers wages. "Another equally interesting report is the analysis of time-workers ' earnings (Form 13). This is made out from the daily time-work tickets and forms a record of just what the time worker would have earned if he had been doing the individual job by piece-work at piece-work prices. When I Give a Man a Raise "By the system of analysis I have described the earnings of each employee whether a day worker or piece worker are kept as a separate record. This record shows me comparatively the total number of hours that each employee works during each pay period and the amount of money paid that employee. A piece worker's record is kept in the form of average earnings per hour. "This plan fixes an employee's earning capacity. It shows in dollars and cents which employees are most valuable — which are entitled to a raise. "On time workers a record is kept by hours of work and money paid. These figures are compared with the piece-workers' earnings during the pay period at piece-work prices, or if they are doing some work on which it is not possible to put a piece-work rate, the number of hours they have been employed at this class of labor is shown. "These totals are carried from time to time so that I am able to determine at a glance whether this employee is earning less than the amount paid him or more than his rate per hour. When the time comes for a change in pay I know absolutely whether the employee is actually entitled to an increase." SHAPING MEN TO YOUR PLAN TI/ HA T your shop blacksmith does in shaping his iron is to work not against, but with the habits of the metal. Never does he hammer it cold. It goes first to the forge, until, tinged with the glow which marks it as plastic, he fashions it easily. So the shrewd foreman han- dles and shapes his workers to the task, the plan and the spirit of the shop. He works with, not against their habits. It is only the trouble maker whom he breaks. Behind tardiness, discontent, carelessness, he finds the reason. He learns the grain and fiber of his men. Sagely, he fires the enthu- siasm of his helpers. And then, at the right instant, he shapes them easily out of their old habits into line with the swing, the pur- pose and the rhythm of his plan. V GETTING EMPLOYEES TO WORK ON TIME A STRAIGHT backed bench at the main entrance of a western clothing factory is the focus of the company's system of getting men to work on time. It is a pillory for the tardy. Its effectiveness may be judged by the fact that it is rarely occupied, though a thousand or more employees file past the door- man every morning. This "mourner's bench" is not for the acci- dental offender. The company, which puts quality of product above every other consid- eration in dealing with its tailors and machine operators, is liberal in its policies and allows an occasional "late" as a concession to uncer- tain transportation. Let an employee push this privilege beyond one or two reasonably brief lapses in any fortnight, however, or trail in half an hour late any morning, and he en- counters the ordeal of thejnourner's bench. The door man makes note of his name and department and sends him to the pillory. "Mr. Brown, the manager, wants to see you" he is told and news of his detention is 'phoned to the front office. Waiting for Mr. Brown to appear, he is given time to examine his GETTING MEN IN ON TIME 33 conscience and cast up his accounts with the organization and with his job. The only idle man in the building, his discomfort is increased by the fact that his seat is at a cross-roads of factory travel and he is subjected to the scru- tiny of every executive and employee passing, all of whom understand the reason for his detention. Before Mr. Brown appears (after an hour's interval, perhaps) the tardy man has had the virtue of punctuality bitten so deeply into his ftoul that he hardly needs the manager's atten- tion. He gets it nevertheless. He learns what promptness means to the business and why the house must insist upon it. And when the manager finishes with him, he hurries away to his desk or machine with a new, fixed idea — never to cross the dead line of the company's forbearance again. The house records, made up from department time rolls, show very few cases where the bench has claimed a man a second time. This is backing up the time clock with psychology. It is one of many methods by which tardiness is eliminated among skilled, or semi-skilled workers whose good will and co-operation it is essential to retain. For a company employing a large force, the money loss due to "lates" or slow starting may some- times transform a small net profit into a deficit. The problem, therefore, is to enforce such discipline or bring such influences to bear on employees that they will "beat the whistle" to their benches or desks and get a flying start — without antagonizing them. No hard and fast rules can be laid down for effecting this, since the temper of organiza- tions, environment and conditions are never twice the same. In determining how to handle 34 SHOP DISCIPLINE the problem, the character and temperament of employees — whether men or women ; skilled or untrained; salaried, piece workers or paid by the hour — together with working condi- tions and the labor market, are all factors to be taken into consideration. The regulations accepted and obeyed in one store or factory might empty another of all its workers. "Docking" for time lost, fines and penalties ranging up to suspension or abso- lute discharge, are no doubt necessary in many industries and imperative in dealing with cer- tain classes of men. As workers grade up in skill and intelligence and the demands made by the work increase, however, employers gen- erally concede that tact and even generosity are required to hold employees "in line" and insure the best results in service and quality of output. Encouraging Punctuality by a System of Rewards Encouragement of punctuality by a system of rewards is a further step which many houses have taken. One large corporation with more than a thousand office employees deducts noth- ing from pay envelopes for occasional tardi- ness, but keeps a careful record of "lates" as well as the total number of hours put in by each employee. Twice a year, when the lists of those recommended for promotions or in- creases in salary are submitted to the man- agement, a statement from the timekeeper accompanies each record showing the punctu- ality average of the man and the total of his overtime for the year. If a man has an undue number of lates and is also a "whistle-quitter," even unusual abil- ity will not earn him advancement. If, on the GETTING MEN IN ON TIME 35 contrary, his record shows much overtime and his department head admits that the extra hours were necessary, an occasional lapse at the time clock does not count against him. The house's policy on this point of disci- pline and reward is known to every member of the force; as a consequence neither clerks, messengers nor section heads are willing to jeopardize a possible "raise" by tardiness or unwillingness to "clean up" the day's work. Offering Small Daily Premiums for Promptness Promotions cannot reach down to every private in the industrial army. To interest all employees and secure prompt attendance some companies pay small cash premiums — some as low as two cents — for each day's perfect record at the door. Another phase of the pre- mium idea in successful operation is the bas- ing of vacations on the employee's record at the timekeeper's. A clean record for a month gives each worker a certain credit of vacation time on full pay. The schedule contemplates an occasional slip, but the man or woman who is reasonably punctual and shows the right attitude is able to earn two weeks' free time on salary during the dog days. Fining Employees for Late Arrival Fines remain, however, the commonest means of enforcing promptness. They vary from virtual discharge to a day's "lay off" for common laborers who come late to their work — the practice of certain large companies in industrial centers where a supply of unskilled workers is never lacking. If a laborer is not in his place at the time fixed a call is sent down to the gate, a brass check is issued to the like- 36 SHOP DISCIPLINE liest candidate and the incident is closed un- less the missing man has been employed some time and the foreman recalls him as efficient. In that case he loses only the day and is re- stored next morning. "Docking" Wages Proportionate to the Tardiness From this blunt policy the system of fines ranges up to carefully graded penalties for the better classes of employees. One manufactur- ing house with six factories in America and Europe " docks " its mechanics a quarter- hour's pay for being three minutes late, half an hour if the tardiness runs up to ten minutes, and a full hour if he is thirty minutes behind time. For all its severity, this may be consid- ered a typical code among large organizations which make no special effort to cultivate warm personal relations with their men. Other houses content themselves with deducting the time lost and inflicting a small additional fine. In many stores and factories the flat fine alone is used, except in flagrant cases, for a few min- utes lost; it usually is no more than five cents. Confiscating an Employee's Pass Card When Late Somewhat similar is the method employed in an eastern garment factory where the work- ers ' entrance is closed the instant the whistle blows. Tardy comers have to pass through the office entrance where their numbered pass cards are taken up and turned over to the time- keepers and foremen before restoration to the men. Instead of time clocks some companies with heavy pay rolls provide individual tickets which are punched at the door. The ticket is GETTING MEN IN ON TIME 37 divided into squares, each representing an in- terval of five minutes and beginning fifteen minutes before the starting hour. Not a few plants use time stamps, each employee being supplied with a new card every day on which he is compelled to keep a complete record of his movements in and out of the shop or de- partment all day long. Holding Employees by Daily Work Cards Another system which requires no time clock is that devised by F. W. Taylor for the plant of a large link belt manufacturer and other large establishments. At each shop en- trance are racks containing a numbered com- partment for the individual job or layout card for each mechanic or handy man employed. When the seven o'clock whistle blows the timekeepers lock the racks. Tardy men are compelled to report at the shop office and sign a slip before they can get their work cards. Thus the arrival of each man is checked and his work assigned in a single operation. If a man completes his job the same day he turns in his card and gets a new one immediately, otherwise he turns it in at night and finds a continuation card for the same job in his rack the next morning. Taking Up Identification Cards of Tardy Employees As an additional check on the arrival and movements of workers one company, with a payroll of 100,000, stations a uniformed guard at each of its work entrances. After the whistle blows the guards take up the numbered identification card of each man or woman who enters. These are passed through the time- omce to the foremen and returned to the own- 38 SHOP DISCIPLINE ers. Employees register on time clocks before starting work, even when they are late, the double checking system making it impossible for them to get their fellow workers to ring in for them. In addition each foreman has an exact report of the time of arrival of those under him. Making Workmen Record Time of Starting Work Getting men down to work on time has its important corollary — inducing them to start production the instant the whistle blows and to keep it up as long as the wheels revolve. This interval between the moment of report- ing and the actual commencement of work be- comes a matter of tremendous importance where the force is large. To prevent wastes of time in changing clothes, loafing in wash- rooms, or finishing the "morning pipe," many companies place their time clocks between the lockers and the shops, so that employees must change and be ready for work before " punch- ing. " This method seems to be the only way in which a certain percentage of every large force can be kept from "sponging" the time required to change at starting and stopping. Yet many employers find that such close regu- lations of workers' movements influence their attitude towards the house and the quality of their product. They allow more latitude, therefore, depending on the supervision of ex- ecutives to prevent abuses rather than me- chanical prods, particularly in the case of skilled operatives. "We believe in letting a man finish his pipe after the whistle blows," explains the superin- tendent of a steel plant. "It is the rule of our shops that a man may finish his smoke if his GETTING MEN IN ON TIME 39 pipe is lit, but he must not fill up again. We have satisfied ourselves that we can't keep skilled mechanics contented and loyal if we re- strict them too much. There are so many ways in which discontented machinists can get square with the house that the only safe policy is to follow the golden rule." Automatic Recorders of a Machine's Work Recent developments in devices for prevent- ing tardiness and loafing after starting include automatic recording instruments to be con- nected with each machine. These record both starts and stops on a ribbon in the foreman's or superintendent 's office. When a machinist starts his tool or machine, an electric contact is formed and the office is advised automati- cally that that particular machine is working. When the material begins to be processed a second contact is formed in the nature of the record changes and the office knows that the man is" not only working but is actually pro- ducing. The moral effect if these various checks on men — like time clocks and other devices for recording their movements and activities — is said to be considerable. It is as though an in- visible eye were always upon them. As one experienced manager puts it: "They beat con- science or good will all hollow. Some men haven't either and others let what they have slumber. But your automatic recorder is always on the job." VI MAKING WORKMEN READ FACTORY RULES RULES are posted with the expectation that men will read them — and remem- ber. Curiosity may lead a workman to watch for new rules, but the application he makes of them is another question. Different factory managers use a variety of means to force their rules home, as bulletin boards, form letters, booklets and signs. Many factory managers have definite ideas on the subject of getting rules obeyed. "We have found the shorter and more con- cise the rules can be made, the less there is for the men to remember, and the more sure they are of paying attention to them," says the general superintendent of a transmission machinery company. "We arrange to have each man sign the rules in the back of the pamphlet when he goes to work. Each one is given a copy. Rules are printed on large type posters and posted up in the various departments. Continued violation subjects a man to discharge. In each department are bulletin boards on which gen- eral matters pertaining to the department are posted; at the entrance to the factory is a gen- RULES THAT WORKMEN READ 41 eral bulletin board for posting matters of gen- eral interest in the factory. Foremen go over with their men, when they first go to work, general subjects pertaining to the work and the company's way of doing business." Rules must necessarily be brief, but inter- esting; written in a way that will appeal to each workman and be remembered by him. The fewer instructions set down the better; shop spirit and the personality of foremen must be relied upon to tone up a factory. Stereotyped forms detract from the impres- sion of rules on employees. Notices posted in conspicuous places and on various sizes of cardboard attract attention, particularly if changed often. Making the employee sign an agree- ment to read and obey the rules is the •plan of a box factory superintendent. 'T^ROUBLE does not arise from employees -* not reading signs and notices. In case of an accident it is necessary to make such proof. Curiosity prompts them to leave their work for that purpose as soon as the oppor- tunity presents itself after a new sign is posted. The trouble lies in proving that they have read them previous to breaking them. "I had one case where a man was injured while engaged in a foolish undertaking, not in connection with his work. He was warned not to do it, and admitted in con- versation that he expected to be punished by discharge had I caught him at it. Yet he sued the company and was given a verdict for damages, having perjured himself as to not having received the very instructions which had been repeatedly given him. I could not prove that he had read the rules. Now a new 42 SHOP DISCIPLINE employee signs up for receipt of the book of instructions and by the same signature says he can read and write, and agrees to read and follow instructions." The secretary of an engineering company advocates personal contact, as a factor in getting rules obeyed. I UST analyze the fate of stereotyped rules. ** They are generally framed and hung in a more or less conspicuous place. At the end of the first week they are covered with dust; during the next week the glass is accidentally broken. In a few days more the rules are unreadable. "The ordinary mechanic pays little or no attention to rul^es or bulletins. Why should he % What is there to attract a faithful work- man to a set of dirty rules, and why should he be wasting his own and the firm's time in trying to read them? "If it is necessary to make any changes in the existing shop practice, call the entire force together and have the general manager address the men. If a large number are employed, call the foremen to the main office; and they, in turn, can explain the new condi- tions to their men. The moral effect of a two or three minute address by the manager will have more weight and will produce better re- sults than any set of rules ever framed and hung in a shop. It is the personal contact that counts. "I firmly believe in the integrity and honesty of the average mechanic. He is in- telligent, anxious to advance, and if the policy of the company is to treat the men fairly, he will work in the interest of the company. Such men require no list of rules. Of course, there RULES THAT WORKMEN READ 43 are exceptions, but I am convinced that in nine out of ten shops, printed rules are of little use." A factory signal system executive makes the rules interesting and he also urges the rule-breaker to form new habits. WRITE your rules to be interesting to fac- tory employees. . If it is a general rule of importance, mimeograph copies are made of it and attached to the pay check, in addition to being posted on the general bulletin board. If a department rule, a mimeograph copy is given each employee, and it is posted in the depart- ment. "I find a very efficient method is to have the offender talk with the factory manager. In case of a repetition of carelessness, I usually have a nice talk with him. I believe that no man has reached a point where he is beyond the assistance of other people. People who are careless are usually so from education, and carelessness will explain ninety per cent of the reasons for breaking rules. "I have had instances in a large company where it was necessary for me to talk to three or four men during one day, although not every day. I try to get the foreman to assist the offender — to try to show him where it is to his interest to do as other people do. He will learn more and earn more and feel better with himself by doing as other people do. If you feel that you have taken one offender and made him better than he ever was before, you have accomplished a great deal more than dis- charging the man and helping him along the downward path. The farther down he gets, the more he rails against capital and the em- ployer; he really becomes a menace to the 44 SHOP DISCIPLINE industries. On the other hand, if, by careful assistance, he is made a better man, he soon becomes conscious of the fact that steady em- ployment is better than being shifted from factory to factory, and he begins to appreciate why his employment is steady. He becomes a loyal assistant. "I have been connected in the past seven- teen years with three companies. Following out this rule, I believe, has been a good invest- ment, actually paying a dividend aside from any real human feeling that one man should have for another. " Regardless of how simple the labor per- formed by a workman, the man who stays by the job all the time should certainly be able to perform the operation quicker and in a more efficient manner than if continual changes are being made. If the expense of educating new men all the time was taken into consideration, I am certain it is a better paying investment to educate and assist in the education of every workman and be lenient with the average offender." Holding the foreman responsible for rule enforcement among his men is the method of a machine screw company official. WE HAVE found having foremen take up the question of broken rules with the offending workmen in a quiet way, is much more effective than any other scheme we have devised. So far as possible the foreman is as easy as he can be in enforcing any shop rules we have posted. We do not look for Sunday- school behavior, nor do we expect it. Our plant is so small that we still take the man-to- man grip on discipline. We employ an aver- age of one hundred and sixty hands, which RULES THAT WORKMEN READ 45 number can be handled by personal attention much easier than in any other way. ' ' Carrying rules on the bach of time cards and forms has worked out for the vice- president of a repeating arms factory. WE HAVE sets of rules for different de- partments. Our rules as to ringing of time clocks, keeping of time records and de- portment are practically the same throughout the shop. Special rules have to be made to cover peculiar conditions in some departments. "These rules are printed on the back of the cards used for assigning clock numbers to the employees and are given to the workman when he is first employed. " Special rules of a temporary nature are brought to the employee's attention by post- ing such rules on a bulletin board. Copies of these rules are also sent to the foremen, and they are instructed to bring the matter to the attention of the individual workmen. " Penalties for infraction of the rules have to be of all kinds, from discharge to money penalties or loss of time, as in the instance of failure to properly observe the time clock regulations. "Our rules are general, and we believe the fewer we put in force the more harmonious will be our relations with the help. ,, The manager of a textile plant finds that it pays to investigate the causes behind infractions. AS FOR penalties, foremen deal with the employees without specified penalties. Although they understand each other pretty thoroughly as regards how far the em- ployee may go, we always try to look into every case and have not been able to make a 46 SHOP DISCIPLINE hard and fast rule to cover this phase of the subject. For example, one of our operatives was late for a number of mornings. We took occasion to inquire into the matter and found that she was the oldest of a large family of eight or nine children and that the father was worthless and the mother in the hospital. This girl herself was only a little over twenty. It is needless to say that instead of penalizing her, we did all we could to help her." United States Navy expert gets discipline and greater efficiency by enlisting the influ- ence of his foremen in the enforcing of rules. HAVE no method of fining workmen except by suspending them, and I have not been able to standardize infractions of rules well enough to standardize penalties. I have, therefore, to consider each case of itself and impose a penalty which in my judgment seems proper. For infractions of a grave nature, men are discharged. For less grave offenses, I impose suspensions from one to six days in duration, thus depriving the man of a cer- tain amount of pay. "I have two methods of acquainting work- men with general factory policies and methods. I reach them through the foremen (as we have a foremen's meeting every morning at ten o'clock), and if I have any matter of general policy to talk about I discuss it as fully as need be, and they are instructed to pass the talk along through their leading men to the force. That is practically the only general method that we have of reaching the men. It is not satisfactory, but it answers the present re- quirements, as we have such a fluctuating force and such a small supervisory force that we do not feel that we can do much better RULES THAT WORKMEN READ 47 than at present. However, I have made a standing order that I am accessible in my office each day during the luncheon period and I get a great many calls from men with griev- ances or with a desire to ask questions, and I seldom let them go without a few words touch- ing in a persuasive way on some of my gen- eral policies. "From my experience and observation, I be- lieve that so long as the men working for you believe in you and have confidence in you, they will accept anything you say and do as O. K., and that if they have not confidence in you, you can tell them about your policies at the greatest length without convincing them and without accomplishing the end that you are aiming at." Works manager of a large plow com- pany situated in the west sells his rules to workmen by mail order methods. ONE OF the most convenient methods, I believe, for distributing permanent infor- mation through the works is by means of circular letters. Certain of these letters go only to foremen and inspectors, while others of a more general nature are distributed monthly to all the men. Still others are posted on bul- letin boards for the general information of all employees. We have a number of mailing lists and certain letters are sent out to one list or another according to the subject matter dealt with. I have made up a loose-leaf binder with a suitable cover and in it are kept all the active letters. My idea is to have a more or less elastic body of rules and regulations for the guidance of foremen, clerks, inspectors, and others in authority. New instructions are first issued on a circular letter the same size 48 SHOP DISCIPLINE as the printed book so that a copy may be in- serted in it later on for future reference. ' ' By posting rules over the foreman's signature, a watch company super- intendent makes him responsible. f~\V^R general rules are hung in a promi- ^^ nent place in each department, gener- ally near the department office. It is some- times found necessary for a foreman to post a special notice over his own signature to meet some condition existing in his own room. In- fringements of rules are rare and are ordina- rily dealt with by the foreman. Our classes of operatives are of such intelligence and pur- pose that very little discipline is needed. "Our department foremen have an associa- tion of their own, and hold frequent meetings, at which factory conditions and needs are dis- cussed. And our president occasionally calls them together for special instruction. ' ' That breaking the same rule twice means certain discharge has been established as the master rule in a large typewriter factory. A LL SPECIAL rules are posted on bulle- ■**• tin boards by the main entrance of each floor. Any special rule that is to be em- phasized is usually taken up with each fore- man among our thirty odd departments. Manj }f our workmen's forms, such as time cards factory orders, goods receivable sheets, and so on, have certain rules thereon. We have also large cards throughout the plant covering rules for sanitation. Copies of the state laws governing employment of female employees and minors are also posted in our plant. "Any employee breaking a rule is cautioned and if the same rule is broken again by him or her, dismissal follows." TEAM WORK DEHIND the team play of chief and men, horses and engines, which fights down a stubborn fire, are months of drill, which teach every man to count on his mates. Behind the will of the crew, the record of the engine house is at stake. Get into the shop which stands for output and you will find the same team spirit — something to fight and something to fight for; a force built up by patient drill; foremen and a chief who stand with their men. Build your team on its lead- ers. Get your foremen into touch and into line. Then help them to shape up the ranks. Set a record and a reward to fi&ht for. Season your men with training — with trust in one another — and the whole force will show team work. v: WINNING DEPARTMENT INTEREST INTER-departmental interest is most easily promoted by having your foremen and if possible your workmen meet at frequent intervals. The experience of other factory executives will suggest how to arrange these meetings for your men. "Walking through the factory some time ago," says A. B. Russell, "I was particularly impressed by the fact that the foremen of the several departments had little opportunity to become acquainted with each other personally. Neither did they have a chance to secure ideas, one from another, as to methods of manufac- ture, unless time was devoted to this purpose which ought to be spent upon the floor of the factory among the men, or unless the foremen chanced to have some common interest outside of business hours. With these thoughts in mind, it seemed to me that a means ought to be found to bring the men together socially and at the same time effect an interchange of manufacturing ideas. "Our first attempt in the development of this idea seemed a success, but really was so only in a limited way. We engaged a small DEPARTMENT INTEREST 51 hall and the services of a caterer; we invited the president of the company and we wore our good clothes. The president spoke at some length, those of us who were not over- come by the dignity of the occasion had more or less to say, but the foremen themselves were inclined to say very little, and, although we voted the meeting a great success, as we look back at it now we think it the least suc- cessful of our gatherings. "We conduct our meetings now on a much simpler basis. Only the heads of departments and foremen are invited, and at the close of business on the appointed night, we sit down to a simple dinner, served in a more or less primitive manner by the woman who conducts a lunch room for our men in a house adjacent to the factory. The foremen come in their working clothes, there is nothing to make any one feel embarrassed, and no one hesitates to express his opinions freely regarding the sub- ject under discussion. "We have found it desirable to have some general subject assigned for discussion, as otherwise conversation is apt to lag or branch off to some topic which might better be left unmentioned. "Our line of business is the manufacture of filing devices, library and office furniture, prin- cipally of quartered oak, hence the various subjects discussed have included 'Kiln Dry- ing of Oak,' 'Glue,' 'Veneers' and other matters of a general nature as well as construc- tion problems affecting only our own product. "It is surprising to what extent those pres- ent take part in the discussion and what in- terest is shown by the men in the details of departments other than their own. Thus the foreman finisher learns things about construe- 52 MAXIMUM OUTPUT tion which he never knew before and which, indirectly, are of benefit to him; the foreman of the lumber yard appreciates more fully the uses to which the lumber is put and can more intelligently handle his department with this in view; and the heads of the office depart- ments, who are also at the meetings, get more closely in touch with the entire manufactur- ing proposition. "As to the more direct and practical results, we find that many important points are brought out. For instance, in discussing the construction of our horizontal sections, it was found that the foremen were of the unanimous opinion that the type of joint which we were using was not as strong as was desirable. This joint had been in use for a long time and we had considered it the best possible construc- tion for the purpose intended. An investiga- tion followed the criticism of the foremen and showed the correctness of their position. The construction was changed in accordance with their recommendations. "At a recent meeting, when the subject of 'Veneers' was taken up, the discussion proved extremely profitable, and, although we have long been using veneer for certain work, the discussion resulted in its adoption for two of the most important items of our product, where heretofore we had believed that only solid oak could be economically and satisfact- orily used. But for the suggestions of the foremen and the development of their sugges- tions we should not have made what has proved to be a distinct improvement in certain of our goods. "At an early meeting we discussed the method followed in putting hurry orders through the factory and relations of the gen- DEPARTMENT INTEREST 53 eral office to the productive departments. It was found that on one hand the office did not have the proper appreciation of manufactur- ing conditions and, on the other hand, that the productive departments had misconstrued certain requirements of the office. A mutual understanding between the two departments having been effected, the office no longer urges shipping schedules at dates inconsistent with proper workmanship and the productive de- partments appreciate the attitude of the office and co-operate more intelligently towards the attainment of the desired results. " Incidentally the adoption of the sugges- tions brought out at the meetings has shown the foremen that their ideas are appreciated and that future suggestions will receive proper consideration — a very desirable feature, for many foremen acquire the notion, for one rea- son or another, that their suggestions, regard- less of merit, will receive scant consideration. "An outgrowth of these semi-social meet- ings is the regular Monday morning meeting of the foremen in the superintendent's office, where they gather for an hour and go over the various orders in process. Each foreman there schedules how long a time it will take to com- plete his work and when he can deliver it to the next department. The foreman of this department likewise schedules the time he re- quires, and thus is ascertained a very close shipping date, which the assistant superinten- dent reports to the general office, and thence to the sales office. "The foremen make record of these sched- ules and use every effort to live up to them. Deviation from the schedule is immediately reported and a new shipping date established. In such a case the sales department is notified 54 MAXIMUM OUTPUT and is able to advise the customer in advance that the delay will occur, rather than disap- point him at the time he expects the goods. "The management was decidedly skeptical as to the success of these weekly meetings, but experience has proved the wisdom of them, and the old difficulty of side-tracking orders, one foreman blaming another, and the conse- quent delay in shipments have been overcome to a remarkable degree. "We firmly believe that the closer in touch the foremen can come, one with another and with the management, and the more general knowledge regarding the whole manufacturing proposition each department head can acquire, the better results we will get, the less inter- departmental friction will ensue, and the more will the foremen look after the real interests of the company." Make your meetings informal, let your fore- men feel at home and free to speak their minds. Get your president interested in the meetings ; let him read a report of each meeting; but don't attempt to have him preside at them. The president of any firm will unconsciously domi- nate any meeting of his employees. You are after the ideas of your foremen; then keep the "boss" away and let them feel free to talk among themselves. To prevent fruitless discussions on unde- sirable topics, announce at each meeting the subject to be discussed in the next. "Our club," says A. E. Oldham, "was organ- ized some five years ago. All foremen and heads of departments are eligible to member- ship. At the present time we have twenty- eight members and hold meetings twice a month, from November to June and one meet- ing per month the balance of the year. DEPARTMENT INTEREST 55 "Our meetings are very interesting, being largely of a social nature. We have here at the plant our own dining rooms, and the com- pany provides dinner for all our meetings. Dinner is served at 5:30 P. M., after which we adjourn to the club room when we imme- diately hold a business session. The business session may be either long or short, as the occasion demands. We carry on our business meetings in a most approved manner. Our society is well organized with proper officers, president, vice-president, secretary and treas- urer. We usually follow our business meet- ings with a debate on some popular subject, as, for instance, the debate held at our last meeting in October just prior to the elections, had for its subject the control and reform of the city's street railway system. "In this debate we had four members take part on each side, each member being allowed ten minutes, except the last speaker on the negative, who had five minutes extra for rebut- tal. Following the debate, a vote is usually taken for general discussion, all of the mem- bers present taking part, if they wish. We do not always hold debates, of course. Some- times our meetings take on some other form of amusement and sometimes we go in a body to some of the theaters. "As a promoter of good-fellowship and a better understanding between the members the Foremen's Club is certainly a practical success." Meetings of a formal nature may well con- clude with something really worth while in the way of entertainment. Much interest is taken in debates on subjects of civic interest. Mov- ing picture exhibits of topical interest, such as the process of manufacture in a similar line, 56 MAXIMUM OUTPUT or the operation of new machinery which the plant is about to install, meet with approval. Even in the small plant, factory band concerts, vocal concerts, bowling and billiard matches, theater parties, and an endless chain of similar amusements can be used to cap a business meeting and show that the spirit of the man- agement in promoting department interest is not altogether selfish. "In our shop," says an executive of an elec- trical manufacturing company, "a good deal of attention has been paid to getting the men in- terested in their work. The employees ' library contains over one hundred standard works on science, and arrangements have been made to procure sixty new books each month. "This library is, therefore, a center for the informal meetings of foremen, and much good results. Moreover, ambitious employees can join classes under competent engineers, receiv- ing theoretical and practical instruction in modern methods of manufacture. "These activities focus, so to speak, in our foremen's meetings, which gather once a week. Here, after a dinner provided by the company, topics of live interest pertaining to the shop are discussed." By providing carefully selected literature the career of the ambitious employee can be piloted along the very channels you desire. The fact that you have a library and keep check on its users will bring to your notice all those who are especially promising workmen. The intelligent use of the library will be re- flected in the work of the most progressive men. By the amount of theoretical knowledge a workman applies, you will distinguish him from the dreamer who reads everything and applies nothing. DEPARTMENT INTEREST 57 "Meetings of officials, superintendents and foremen in our plant," says an executive of an engine company, "are held in a spacious and well appointed club-house established by the company. The prime object for which this club-house was built and for which the club was formed, was to crystallize interest in the work of the company. "The club, which has been unusually suc- cessful in the attainment of its object, has a large membership of men, whose interest, while common, would have no place for expres- sion, elsewhere. "For a nominal yearly fee, members receive all the benefits of the regulation club. Din- ner and supper are served in the building and each table at the noon lunch hour has its circle of men whose interests bring them together. ' ' The co-operative spirit is further strength- ened by receptions, entertainments and lecture courses of both popular and technical nature. Not only is the interest of officers and de- partment managers, engineers, superintend- ents and shop foremen kept fresh, but the i esprit de corps' of the graduate students in engineering is greatly strengthened." It really matters very little how you bring your foremen together, so long as you foster a spirit of co-operation and friendly competition. Whatever you do to encourage department in- terest is lost, unless it tends to make the men ready to help each other in their inter-depart- mental difficulties and makes each foreman de- termined to have his department stand at the top, in merit. VII SHOWING EMPLOYEES HOW TO WORK IT isn't the hammer at all; you simply don't know how to swing it." A skilled jour- neyman steam fitter offered this to a fellow workman who had smashed his left hand badly and had broken out cursing at the hammer while at work on a cold chiseling job. Less than a half hour's voluntary instruction on the part of the skilled man served to show the other a trick that would have saved him hours on similar jobs duriug the twenty years that he had followed the trade. Go into any machine shop and you will see many a man working with a hammer, who does not know how to swing it — who, while he re- ceives wages, is a certain loss because he is not as effective as he could be made to be, if trained properly. Instructing the men who are already at work to do that work better and with less effort is, of course, one of the aims of the much dis- cussed scientific form of management. But a manager doesn't have to be an efficiency en- thusiast to appreciate the value of helping his men to hold their jobs and enabling them to progress. SHOWING MEN HOW 59 An employee who can see that pains are being taken to instruct him naturally feels under some obligation to the shop or factory and will do better work and more of it. " De- velopment ' ' is the slogan, not "low costs. ' ' As one executive who is in sympathy with the training policy puts it, "If one-half the atten- tion were given to properly training labor that is devoted towards bringing about cheaper pro- duction, 'low costs' would take care of them- selves automatically. In a certain large concern employing about six thousand hands, thirty per cent of the force changes each year. In another concern an almost unbelievable change of thirty per cent a month is stated to be a not uncommon occur- rence. Here, however, only the monopolistic character of the business saves it from disas- ter Why do the hands "stick" in the first case? Because they are trained in the shop practically and have every opportunity to secure better jobs as fast as they develop — be- cause a record is kept of their efficiency and they know it, and because there is no limit to the height to which they can rise in the company's employ if they are capable. To train men is to hold men and holding em- ployees is economy — it is a cash drawer factor. The general manager of a large manufacturing concern says: "For every dollar paid a new employee for the first few weeks, we are out two dollars in the cost of breaking him in." Here is a loss — a leak in the pay roll of from one and a half per cent up — that many busi- ness heads have never even thought of; a leak- age all the more dangerous because it does not appear on the books — the most expert auditor will find no trace of it. Yet, it is shrinking the profits of every business to the 60 MAXIMUM OUTPUT extent of from one and a half to fifteen per cent (in the extreme case) of the annual pay- roll. Go back into your accounting department and figure your own loss on the basis of last year's wage disbursements. Of course a large part of this loss is due to material spoiled by poor workmanship. What does this mean in dollars and cents ? Suppose that in a factory of a thousand hands twenty per cent or two hundred are not up to grade. If the average mechanic's wage scale is four dollars per day and each inefficient employee wastes about twenty per cent of his wages (some of them do far worse than this) then the loss per day is $160 or $48,800 for a year of three hundred and five days — money that you are throwing away and not realizing. In the average manager's plant, his em- ployees are doing their work under one of the following three conditions as far as training goes : First, the workman is left entirely upon his own resources. His only instruction comes by way of a " call-down" from the foreman when work is not up to the mark. He is told with a warning what not to do again. This is a negative method of instruction and only when the employee is properly constituted mentally will it be "instruction" at all. Rather more often it irritates without better- ing the situation. The second condition is typified by the factory where the foreman may be a skilled mechanic with sufficient assistance to relieve him of the details so that a portion of his time can be given to showing his men "how." In this factory the manage- ment sanctions the giving of help by employees to their less skilled co-workers. This is sometimes altered to the extent of having SHOWING MEN HOW 61 the sub-foreman responsible for the instruc- tion work. Such schemes are worked out to a greater or less degree in a large number of plants. Third, in a few factories, generally the larger ones, another condition exists. There is a training department with an able instruction corps. This is not a make-shift department but a regularly established, well organized branch of the factory. Looking at the first condition, is it any won- der that there are thousands of workmen who cannot hold a job — that the period of labor turn over in some factories is so short ? Under these conditions there has never been a chance for the laborer to be properly started in any definite line of work. Here is the source of the ever-increasing force of unskilled laborers, " floaters," and men out of work that crowd the employment offices of the American factories. And if the owners of these factories would take some means of imparting instruction, those owners would have an ever-efficient force, upon which to draw for vacancies to be properly and profit- ably filled. "Even assuming that we have workmen who, as such, are doing their work fairly well, what reason is there, ' ' Chas. F. Park, director of Lowell Institute School for Industrial Fore- men, asks, "to expect that these untrained workmen will ever exercise any initiative or that they can ever become leaders even in a small way? How can they ever progress even from the smaller things to the larger ones, or how can they ever become qualified for posi- tions of responsibility such as foremen, super- intendents or shop managers'? To be sure many men have developed under these con- ditions, but not because their work gave them 62 MAXIMUM OUTPUT proper training, but because they were natur- ally superior men. My appeal is for training that will develop the superior man. But I ap- preciate that there is also urgent need of indus- trial training for the great mass of ordinary workmen. ' ' The backbone of any factory is its trained workmen, the men who know not only their trade, but the factory as well and who have the right spirit towards the business. Such men do not develop in a few days or weeks. They are the result of long years of service or else of training, more or less systematic in its nature. A study of many of the plans devised to effect this training seems to show that in assisting men to become thoroughly competent in their particular vocation practical instruc- tion can be profitably given in the shop by skilled mechanics who are able to tell what they know. The skilled mechanic thus qualified may be in the guise of a help-giving fellow workman, a foreman of one grade or another or an acknowledged instructor, depending upon the extent to which instruction is carried in that particular plant. In connection with the second condition mentioned above, that is, where the workman is helped by the foreman, one manufacturer who handles his work differently in this re- spect in different branches tells us that in one department where men are employed, and where the work would be classed as skilled, the employees are divided into groups of about twenty-five. Each group is in charge of a sub-foreman. The sub-foreman inspects the quality of the operator's work and gives in- structions where necessary. Company instruction takes shape in plans SHOWING MEN HOW 63 ranging all the way from classes of workmen who are taught subjects of indirect value in their work, such as English, spelling and arithmetic, to the careful and minute instruc- tions covering every operation, which issue from the plan department of a factory running under the scientific management policy. One manufacturer in the East who stands on middle ground in this question of instruction has an interesting method of showing his men — new and old — the one best way. He says, "We have a department where we instruct all employees in the best method of doing their own particular work, no matter whether they have been at this work six months or a dozen or more years. ' ' As Mr. H. L. Gantt has pointed out, scien- tific management reduced to a broad table of classifications, resolves itself into the follow- ing program: (A) Investigation by experts to ascertain where there is waste of any sort, whether in labor or material ; the determination of best methods, and the adoption of these methods as standards. (B) Development of a mechanism for carrying these standards into effect. Such a mechanism takes care of the assignment of tasks, the supplying of materials and tools to the workman, the furnishing of a teacher to interpret the instructions and show how they should be executed. This is generally called "planning department." (C) Finding and training workers to follow these standardized methods. (D) Providing for adequate compensation of the worker when he attains the standard of efficiency. (E) Developing, among those successful 64 MAXIMUM OUTPUT workers, a continual supp±y of skilled in- vestigators and teachers to make the system s elf -perp e tuating. It is with the last part of the third step that this article deals — training the workers to follow the standardized methods of scien- tific management. There is an instruction card supplied with each job which definitely states the task and the time allotted for the individual operations as well as for the total task. Each tool is selected — each movement is made — according to directions that appear on the instruction card. In fact, each detail of the operation is carefully covered by specific instructions. The primary element in getting men up to standard is teaching. A long course of train- ing is often necessary before even one man in the establishment will accomplish a given task regularly. The most skillful workman is sel- dom able to perform the task set, at the first trial. So an instructor must be at hand who is willing and competent to teach the workers, individually, how to follow the planning de- partment's directions. All the efforts of this department and of the functional bosses center on making it possible and easy for workmen to perform a given operation, by a prescribed method, in an allotted time. Scientific management recognizes the fact that training workers is as much a function of management, as is the providing of suit- able materials and machinery. Increase in efficiency turns upon the handling of men. • ' ' * -* ****** : M&£- °^ -i^fe- %•/ ' . * . «Aoi&fcV >°\:i*./* A ^o*^ c W V4T C u *« »5" S' ^ - ** * o^ *«» • 7 • A W ^ & v »<>«•• ECKMAN NDERY INC. DEC 90 ^' > „K ft ^ ^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 021 485 269 A