STAFFING PROBLEMS

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 332, 13 January 1937, Page 2

STAFFING PROBLEMS

NEED FOR CARE. Help From State Placement Service. (From Our Own Correspondent). Th© principal information required from a man when he enrols under the Placement Service is regarding his industrial history, his conjugal condition, and his main and alternative occupations. <A frequent reply to the latter enquiry is; “Oh, I can do any kind of work,” and when pressed for a more explicit answer he may claim that he is a mechanic, a driver, an accountant, a storeman, or that he follows any one of the callings that may have become subsidiaries to those specific occupations. Further questioning may reveal that the man has no real claims to expertness in any particular work. Because he has driven a motor car he has not qualified as a driver; his experience as a ’book-keeper does not lin any way entitle him to call himself an accountant; if h e is physically unfit to shift heavy cases in a warehouse he would certainly never qualify as a storeman; and a fqw odd jobs in a motor garage would scarcely fit him to fill a position as a motor mechanic. Perplexed Employers. An employer’s difficulty in selecting a suitable worker from such applicants can be readily understood. As a rule, he has neither the time nor the inclination to make detailed enquiries concerning the capability and personal character of would-be employees, and there may be many reasons why their previous employers cannot be communicated with in order to verify ex parte statements or testimonials. In cases wher e the staff needs include capable artisans the problem of selecting the right men is intensi- ! fled, more especially in industries subject to vigorous competition. The I race then is to the organisation that | can produce goods of a higher qual-ity-than those of its rivals, and neither quality nor output can be maintained if the staff Is not uniformly good. “Working on the Blind.” The position that faces most business men is feelingly described in a letter recently received by the Placement Service authorities from a much-relieved employer. “In past years,” he wrote, “I have had. little time for interviewing applicants. I found that, working more or less on blind, selection, there was usually a fly in the ointment. You appear, with this Placement Service, to have solved the employers’ problem." That, in fact, was the chief plank in the plan from which the Service was constructed. It was realised that as business began to respond to the re-opening of trade channels long since closed there would come an inCistent demand for workers of all classes, and the Service was inaugurated to meet it. If this new plan could enlist the support of employers, there could not be any doubt about its success; but it would be necessary first to demonstrate that it was not a one sided bargain. Accordingly, the flrst administrative regulation provided that every possible effort would be made to ensure that the men recommended to employers were industrially and personally suitable. The Service Guarantee. The wisdom of this rule has bceu abundantly proved. It has been responsible for the provision of more than 20,000 jobs for men whose ability and integrity were vouched for by the Service authorities from Whangarci to Invercargill. There has not been any halt in the tide of business in all parts of the Dominion and one may assume from that fact that the process of staff increases will continue. For the sake of those men who are still awaiting suitable positions it is hoped that this assumption will bo realised.