5. Moral basis of discipline.—"Aly factory is just like one big family," said the manager to a visitor as they walked thru the Port Sunlight soap works in England. He had in mind the spirit of freedom and contentment which should accompany home life. He suggested something further. The home presents the highest development of social adjustments. The administrator feels instinctively that he Will not have a finely adjusted and perfectly articulated labor or ganization until similar adjustments have been made. He is reaching out for some moral basis of control which will adjust the employe to his fellow-workers and to his job in such a way that discipline is pro duced, not thru external authority, but thru internal impulses.
6. Administrative responsibility.—Every football coach applies two tests in selecting his men. First, Will the candidate play the game for the benefit of the team and not try to star? Second, Can Ile be de pended upon to attempt the seemingly impossible in an emergency? These are stringent moral tests which apply to the factory and office as well as to a football team. The coach must make each man feel "This is my position." He encourages each player to throw into his work all his energy, but not until the "posi tion" becomes a literal part of him does he permit a player to speak of "my position." The subtlest task in the field of administration is to turn "the job" of each worker into "his job." To call out, train and reward the best and highest in men calls for the best resources of an administrator. That the importance of the task is being recognized is seen in the appearance of a new administrative expert con cerned wholly with the selection and training of em ployes.
7. Expert in labor selection.—The appearance of the expert in any field of action indicates that it is no longer economical to depend upon traditional methods in directing important affairs. It is only gradually, however, that this fact has been recognized. Not un til after years of struggle have the lawyer, the doctor and the engineer come into reputable standing.
A like struggle must be encountered by the busi ness expert who presumes to act as a specialist on em ployment relations. Two strong forces are, however, compelling both factory and office to give careful con sideration to the selection, training and holding of their employes. One force is the trade-union which works outside the organization ; the other is the analy sis of the labor "turnover" within the organization.
8. Industrial counselor.—Trade-unions without and labor problems within are leading business men to seek a solution of their difficulties in the creation of a new department, headed by an employment man ager or industrial counselor. The duties of such an officer are not as yet fully differentiated, but the goal that the employment relations are forcing into sight involves an industrial audit, conducted after the same method as that employed by accountants and engi neers. The report of such an audit might contain the following statement of conditions, which will show how far afield a lawyer might be in attempting to give advice: (a) Analysis of fundamental industrial conditions.
1. Sources of labor supply.
2. Attitude of the management toward labor-unions and other associations.
3. Relation of the management to labor laws and court decisions (state and federal) .
4. Public policies ("safety first" and the like).
(b) Analysis of employment conditions within the organization.
1. Description of jobs.
2. Selection and training of employes.
3. Wage system; method of payment— rates, amounts, etc.
4. Labor turnover.
5. Safety; sanitation, health, education, etc.
This field of what may be termed "industrial audit ing" is still young, and its technic is not fully devel oped. The system is being tried out, however, and its possibilities are being proved by the test of practice. The preparation of such an audit would bring before a concern such businesslike questions as these : What are the fruitful sources of labor supply for the factory and the office? Except for the grades of labor at the bottom, does the firm find its best source of supply within itself ? Are the channels up, out and in kept open and carefully guarded? Is the educational system of the concern a basic factor in the methods of discipline? Are the vVastes due to the se lection of wrong persons minimized? Are useful suggestions freely offered by all concerned? Is the spirit of cooperation predominant, and is it firmly based upon the knowledge of what the business as a whole stands for ? These questions show the newer conceptions of the problem of labor control as contrasted with the earlier ideas of rewards and penalties based entirely upon the bauble theory of old-time administrators.