These facts ascertained, as they will be by an efficient employment manager, in will be found to remedy existing defects an the organ ization. By luring men in accordance with properly prepared ejob specifications)) he will greatly reduce the danger of assigning new employees to jobs that they are not fitted to perform; by seeing that they are given ade quate instructions he paves the way for more speedy efficiency in service, which means a higher earning capacity for 'the worker as well as greater and better production for the firm, while, by standing as an intermediary between the employees and the employer he is in a posi tion to receive the grievances of the workers, to see that any injustices are made right, errors are adjusted or misunderstandings explained to the satisfaction of those who may feel that they have cause for complaint. A plant which provides steady work at good wages for men who have been properly hired and who have the assurance that they will not be discharged hastily or unjustly, has put into effect the fundamental remedies for a labor turnover.
The supplementary remedies that have been adopted by those • who have interested them selves in the effort to make employment con genial for the employed include a wide variety of activities.. In many plants a number of these ideas have been 'inaugurated and, so far as the writer's knowledge extends, in no case where a well-defined program of such activities has been adopted has the plan ever been dropped. Un doubtedly, as Boyd Fisher says, nit is hard to make an industrial program succeed promptly owing to the difficulty that a plant has in estab lishing its charadter with its workmen. . . .
Workmen have been disappointed too often to be anything but skeptical. They have tested too many mere paper plans for their welfare to place any easy reliance upon new ones. But when a management, by undeviating honesty, determination and good spirit, carries through during a term of years a program of em ployees' betterment, at cannot fail to win their confidence and fniendshie— two factors which, he might have added, constitute one of the strongest incentives to loyal and efficient service.
These plans include: Health, Sanitation and Safety —The pro vision of standardized sanitary working condi tions, with sufficient' light, proper temperature and adequate ventilation, properly maintained toilets and well-equipped washing and dressing rooms. While many plants now provide for a physical examination of applicants for employ ment, others who do not make this requirement have established an emergency, or first-aid, hos pital where quick and efficient treatment can be given to those who meet with accidents or who are taken ill. In some instances regular physi cians are kept in attendance, in others graduate nurses are to charge of the emergency work, and the nurses frequently perform equally im portant functions as home visitors or by acting as friends and advisers to the female workers.
There are plants in this country where a dentist and an optician are regular members of the physical staff and in a few cases the medical supervision includes attendance upon the work ers even when they are confined to their homes. Where there is a physician on the staff he is almost invariably a member of the safety organ ization and is intrusted with the duty of seeing that the plans of the management regarding the enforcement of all safety regulations and the adoption of standardized equipment for the pro tection of the operatives are effectively carried out.
Lunchroom.— The maintenance of lunch rooms where properly selected and carefully prepared foods are served, practically at cost price, is common. In some plants three regular meals are served daily that workers who do not live at home may have an opportunity to secure the right kinds of food at reasonable prices; in the majority of plants, however, the service is confined to one meal — luncheon or dinner—for each shift of operatives.
Co-operative Stores.— For the advantage of those who are housekeepers many plants maintain co-operative stores, thus using the purchasing power of the company to buy com modities cheaply and dispose of them to the workers with little or no profit. Some con cerns have developed this plan to so high a degree that they supply their employees with products baked an their own ovens, and vegetables and dairy products from their own farms, as well as the commodities which are ordinarily found in such stores.
Promotion of Thrift.— Many of the activ ities that have been adopted along betterment lines are designed to promote thrift and ia more proper use of the income on the part of the employees. To accomplish this result, different avenues of approach are required. These in chide (a) the promotion of a mutual aid asso ciation, providing sickness, death and other benefits for the employees; (b) the establish ment of a home budding association; (c) the maintenance of banking facilities (either in connection with or independent of a local bank), through which employees may deposit and with draw their savings and transact other banking business without loss of time or danger of loss through fraud or error; (d) payment at dis count of the debts of overburdened employees, the money to be repaid in small weekly instal ments; (e) furnishing free legal aid in safe guarding real estate transactions of the work ers, en preventing their exploitation by unprin cipled professional men and tradesmen and in affording them advice and assistance in case of other legal troubles; (f) discourage the use of alcoholic drinks and other habits that lead to extravagance; (g) encourage the employees to purchase stock in the company as an avenue for the investment of their savings, thus giving them a personal interest in the prosperity of the plant.