ARTICLES BY ARTUR VICTORIA

Many employees have good ideas for increasing production or for improving plant conditions, but from self-consciousness, indifference, or lack of incentive, they do not volunteer them They may feel "what's the use, I won't get anything for it," or else they are afraid that if they tell their ideas to their supervisor he will get the credit for it when he reports it instead of the worker receiving credit

Promotion is the advancement of an employee to a position of greater responsibility, usually with an increase in compensation Upgrading is the increase in compensation of an employee in recognition of his effective handling of the position

The interview might consist of one of the following situations: 1 The interviewer reads the application and asks, "What kind of job are you looking for", if it is not clear from the blank

The growth of the business, the employment market, the conditions of employment, all affect management plans Management must face the problem and work out solutions in consonance with present conditions

In this industrial age the worker, of necessity, is interested in security He is dependent upon the actions of others

It is unnecessary to point out the importance of not losing workers due to accidents or poor health Much progress has been made in recent years, perhaps more along the lines of health than safety

A number of interesting on-the-job studies indicate that more productive and constructive man-manager appraisal discussions result from the use of a performance appraisal form prepared by the subordinate as contrasted with the usual form prepared by the manager When a man has to quantify and review his own performance, he seems to get a clearer perception of his job duties and the causes of under-achievement and to form a more realistic picture of his own performance

One of the human resources executive most effective tools for cementing line and staff efforts into a coordinated, cooperative undertaking is the business effectiveness task force Often, in the course of time, a business is in need of renewal

Assign to each foreman a package of work which he is able to perform In order for a foreman to do his job properly, the demands on his time must be brought within reasonable bounds

A key position for accelerated advancement is the business planner These attempts are usually successful and help to improve morale if superior people are brought in, identified early in their careers, and given really responsible assignments with commensurate authority

To manage change successfully, a company must mobilize its total internal resources, human and material, in pursuit of carefully defined objectives-which should obviously include human resource objectives An organization can be thought of as having a personality of its own

One good management tool for measuring the effectiveness of human resource utilization is the attitude survey, sometimes called the employee opinion or morale survey It is in the form of a questionnaire designed to tell management about employee opinions and feelings on a variety of subjects dealing with human asset management

The timing of major shifts or alignments in the structure depends to a large degree on the urgency of the situation For example, if a company has had the inventory control staff reporting to the sales department for several years, in all probability an immediate change would not significantly affect the profit and loss statement

Provision must be made for the clear written definition of responsibility, authority, and accountability for each executive position at a minimum This is not automatically understood or properly implemented in many companies

Employee relations practices are major causes of manifest problems such as low productivity, poor quality, missed delivery dates, and excessive costs Personnel practices can be indirectly measured, for each manager, by the following standards: - Turnover in terms of voluntary resignations

While the basic human relations principles do not vary significantly from one organizational level to the next, the approach and application of these principles do vary considerably For example, there is no such thing as an effective universal plan of job evaluation

When an executive is newly hired or is transferred to a different division, his introduction and orientation will influence his subsequent behavior and attitudes toward his own people and others and, hence, will exert a considerable impact on organization climate Like performance appraisal, socialization or orientation does take place, whether by accident or by design

Higher turnover rates, lower productivity, poorer quality Negative attitudes exist among hourly rated employees who are starting factory work for the first time

The human resources executive emerges as an internal consultant, a business effectiveness agent for purposeful and progressive change His background of training and development point to a generalist orientation as contrasted with the more narrowly focused point of view of a specialist

A frequent and related complaint of line people is that the staff man, with his strong sense of mission, makes a proposal that has a sound theoretical basis, but is totally inappropriate to his urgency and priorities Here is a case in point

While clerical employees should participate in the goal setting, the degree to which they should be permitted to set their own performance standards is necessarily limited Yet management must depend on this group to keep the business going, to help realize profit goals, to reduce costs, and to move up into positions of responsibility in lower and middle management

A common complaint among top executives today is that of the excessive pressure of business affairs on them They work long hours-some stay in the office until late in the evenings, many take work home at night and over the weekend, and most key managers take short and inadequate vacations

The role of the assistant-to may be generally or specifically defined, not defined at all, or allowed to define itself In some instances the position may not be related to the original reason for its creation

There is a definite, positive future for the assistant-to position, especially for training purposes or the accomplishment of special projects Using the assistant-to position as an operational, permanent, or limbo function has less merit

The operational role, sometimes referred to as a communications or freelance position, is usually defined as an active, operating function in which the individual is not caged or withdrawn from the mainstream of management activity The man is expected to make a contribution to the successful operation of his company