The Daily News. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1922. THE HUMAN SIDE OF INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 December 1922, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1922. THE HUMAN SIDE OF INDUSTRY.

During the tense period of the Great War the one outstanding and insistent call was for efficiency. In the succeeding transition period through which the world has been .struggling, with the ultimate object of attaining financial, economic, industrial and administrative stability, the need for efficiency has been quite as urgent; possibly more so, yet, so far as can be seen, the lesson which is of such vital importance to every nation and every community has not been taken to heart. It has been wisely stated that “the efficiency of the worker,” and everyone comes in some measure under this. category, “is the tap-root of industrial success.” It may fairly be claimed that the efficiency of ali workers, in every department of activity, is bound up with their psychological state. They must be, as it were, psychologically fit. a state to which they can only attain by will power, determination and ceaseless striving .after efficiency, as well as bringing to bear on whatever they have to do that co-operation between mental and manual effort whereby alone can efficiency be obtained. Obviously there must be a real incentive to the putting forth of the best efforts by all the workers. The conditions of work must be such as will make for the workers’ physical . ease and mental content, and it is essential that they shall receive a fair share of the product of their labor. The question is whether modern conditions are such as tend to promote efficiency or act as a deterrent. Much discussion has taken place relative to the well-being of the workers and the factors that make for industrial peace and progress. There has been a plethora of legislation dealing with this subject, but whether the position- of affairs has been advanced or retarded thereby can be accurately judged by existing conditions. Any system that makes the workers mere automatons signally fails to advance the cause of efficiency. It is quite prssible to speed up work in a factory and yet to diminish the output. Sometimes a very slight change in the height of a table or the form of a seat will make an appreciable difference in the output. Assuming, however, that the conditions of work are all that can be desired, the part that trades unions play in' reducing the workers to a dead level has to be reckoned with. It is just as necessary to encourage competition in the workshop and in every branch of work as is the case with the business community, and until that principle is fully recognised and acted upon it will be useless to expect efficiency. Manifestly, as the efficiency of the worker is the taproot of industrial success, the aim of the period should be to make the best use of the workers’ abilities and fit every man ?6r his job, whatever it may be. In reality this aim is work for highly-trained and skilled psychologists who understand how to develop the human side of industry. Tlie mechanical side has been given in the past every attention, and may confidently be expected to keep pace with requirements in the future. The pressing need is that the workers shall be placed on a new plane and encouraged to rely upon their own mental and physical resources without let or hindrance of unions or grandmotherly legislation. They should have a fair field for their energies and the natural desire for betterment. With due safeguards against exploitation and under favorable conditions as to the performance of their tasks, the workers would find it advantageous to cultivate that wholesome co-operation with .th.g jgßiployers. which ivpuJd...be

mutually beneficial. The restoration of trade and industry depends more than anything else on efficiency and increased output, and never has there been a time when co-operative effort has been so essential as is the case at present.