Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

BUILDING HUMAN RESOURCES RCA Victor Personnel Administraticn Believes Planned Development of Emploijees' Aiiilities Is Important Factor in Postwar Industrial Success. By W. B. Dominick Personnel Administration RCA Victor Division ECONOMISTS have predicted that a life and death sti-uggle may be expected in the post-war period between well-established companies making the same kinds of products. They also point out that, under the necessity of increased war pro- duction, many small pre-war busi- nesses expanded tremendously be- yond their normal fields and will be keen competitors of nationally known firms. Other companies dis- tantly related in normal times are now prepared to compete in the same markets. The end of the war and the re- sumption of peacetime production will undoubtedly find many of these war-born and expanded companies determined to remain in their new fields. This will surely bring more intense competition than ever known before. In this predicted post-war strug- gle, perhaps the greatest promise for a company's survival lies in its human i-esources. To place this in its true perspective, we must re- member that certain factors are relatively constant where competi- tion is involved. For instance, a company cannot buy raw materials below market cost. It cannot buy machinery more cheaply than its competitors. It usually has to pay at least the same salary rates as its competitors in the community. And [RADIO AGE 13 it cannot sell its products at prices too far out of line with those of competing firms. Under conditions of keen competition, profit margins are so narrow that even minute savings or improvements in effi- ciency can be of great importance. The one element which ojfers important opportunities for im- provement and development in an industrial organization is the hu- man factor. Far-sighted industrial leaders agi-ee that the success of an organization depends largely upon the individual well-being of every person in its employ. Much of this personal well-being stems from the employee's feeling of satisfaction in his job. This can be developed and strengthened through a planned program of training that increases his skills and prepares him for advancement in his work. Accoiiiplishmenls Listed What can good training accomp- lish? More than any other tech- nique of management, eflFective training establishes good personal relationships, develops employees' skills and understanding of their work, prei)ares them for larger re- sponsibilities, and clarifies the pur- poses of the organization through which they work cooperatively for the attainment of certain goals. Just how productive a systematic training program can become is illustrated by one supervisor of an IICA plant who attributed a three- fold increase in the value of the items shipped from his section I)rincipally to the inauguration of a systematic job training plan. This kind of result in a highly competi- tive market could very well mean the difference between success and failure. Reconversion of manufacturing facilities to peacetime production will not diminish the need for good training. As long as we have em- ployee turnover, promotions, trans- fers or any changes whatever in personnel, there will be need for training. Just as long as industry is concerned icith reducing waste and inefficiency, training will be as vital to management as any other phase of production. One of the training tasks that lies immediately ahead concerns the absorption of returning service men and women. This problem is already upon us, because a consid- erable number of these people are coming back every month. Many of them have developed new skills or gained experiences in the armed services that eiiuip them for differ- ent or better jobs than they previ- ously held. The training of super- visors to understand these ex-serv- ice men and women and to instruct them patiently and wisely is a task of first importance in formulating a postwar training program. Another important training task concerns the reconditioning of the thinking of supervisory personnel to peacetime methods and processes. Many business practices condoned IN RECOG.VITION OF THE VALUE OF PLANNED TRAINING, THIS GROUP OF FOREMEN AT THE RCA VICTOR PLANT IN CAMDEN MEETS TO DISCUSS THE HUMAN FACTOR IN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION.