SOCIAL WELFARE AND PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

by

REGINALD L. CLARKSON

ELIZABETH EVE CROSTHWAIT

ANCIE POUKS

Th e s i s Submitted i n P a r t i a l F u l f i l m e n t

of the Requirements f o r the Degree o f

MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK

i n the School o f S o c i a l Work

Accepted as Conforming to the Standard Required f o r the Degree of

Master o f S o c i a l Work

School o f S o c i a l Work

1964 THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for an advanced degree at the University of

Br i t ish Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make i t

freely available for reference and study. I further

agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis

for scholarly purposes, may be granted by the Head of my

Department or by his representatives. It is understood

that copying or publication of this thesis for f inancial

gain shall not be allowed without my written permission.

School of Social Work

The University of Br i t ish Columbia, Vancouver 8, Canada.

Date "TH-fl

In presenting t h i s thesis i n p a r t i a l fulfilment of

the requirements for an advanced degree at the University

of B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree that the Library s h a l l make

i t f r e e l y available for reference and study. I further

agree that permission for extensive copying of t h i s thesis

for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my

Department or by his representatives. It i s understood

that copying or publication of t h i s thesis for f i n a n c i a l

gain s h a l l not be allowed without my written permission.

Department of SaQ.Q^ k)oR<

The University of Br i t i s h , Columbia, Vancouver 8, Canada.

Date

I n p r e s e n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t o f

t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r a n a d v a n c e d d e g r e e a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y

o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , I a g r e e t h a t t h e L i b r a r y s h a l l make

i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r r e f e r e n c e a n d s t u d y . I f u r t h e r

a g r e e t h a t p e r m i s s i o n f o r e x t e n s i v e c o p y i n g o f t h i s t h e s i s

f o r s c h o l a r l y p u r p o s e s may b e g r a n t e d b y t h e Head o f my

D e p a r t m e n t o r b y h i s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I t i s u n d e r s t o o d

t h a t c o p y i n g o r p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l

g a i n s h a l l n o t be a l l o w e d w i t h o u t my w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n .

D e p a r t m e n t o f

The U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , V a n c o u v e r it, C a n a d a .

Date IT, / ? C Y

1?

- i i -

ABSTRACT

The study of social welfare and personnel management is justified by the possibility of providing in the work situation the early detection and treatment of persons with social needs. The advantages of developing an increased sensitivity in personnel managers to the pathogenic conditions present in economic organizations is a further reason for studying the sub­ject of this thesis. Encouraging results have been achieved by other professions, such as industrial medicine, which have placed themselves in the most strategic location to workers.

This thesis attempts to discover what social welfare elements are present in the field of personnel management, and to map a course of action for the social work profession to follow in it's relationship to personnel management groups.

Data was gathered by reviewing literature that described industrial social work and/or the social welfare practices of personnel managers. Theoretical descriptions of the personnel manager's job and of his training were studied to determine the social welfare content of his general duties. An operational definition and interview structure were developed. These were used in personal interviews to provide data on the practices of seven reasonably representative personnel managers in the Greater Vancouver area.

Several significant conclusions for Social Welfare were discovered in the data of this thesis. Personnel managers are directly involved in several major social welfare activities. They are concerned about the provision of income protection and health care for their employees, and are often involved in the treatment of crippling personal problems experienced by employees. Personnel managers consider their social welfare activities of vit a l importance to their organizations because of the effect of these activities on employee morale. Within the limits set by their organizational settings, personnel managers have a unique contribution to make to Social Welfare. The transfer of employees to new jobs and the retraining of employees are two actions that personnel managers can, and do take, to prevent individual cases of unemployment. Large organizations should experiment with the establishment of industrial social work positions.

The results of this thesis indicate a need for further studies of the subject of social welfare and personnel management. The area of union relations and collective bargaining is important to the social welfare actions of economic organizations and also requires special study.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to thank Mr. A d r i a n Marriage f o r h i s guidance and encouragement i n completing t h i s t h e s i s . We a l s o wish to extend our thanks to Mr. L. F r o s t , P r e s i d e n t of the Vancouver Personnel Management A s s o c i a t i o n f o r h i s kindness i n g i v i n g generously of h i s time and a l s o f o r recommending important sources of i n f o r m a t i o n . We would l i k e to express our a p p r e c i a t i o n to the many personnel managers i n Vancouver who so generously granted us p e r s o n a l i n t e r v i e w s .

v i i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter I. The Link Between Personnel Management and Social Welfare.

The emergence of i n d u s t r i a l welfare. Points of convergence i n the entrepreneurial aspects of the manageri a l task. Some points of non-convergence. Thresholds of f e a s i b i l i t y and relevance for welfare schemes i n industry. Sources of organizational r i g i ­d i t y i n the structure of conventional welfare services. Some examples of the strategic use of context i n the administration of helping services such as i n d u s t r i a l and occupational medicine, public health, the worker p r i e s t s and s o c i a l work. The concept of work "as" welfare. Personnel management as the professional dimension of i n d u s t r i a l welfare. . P r o f i t i b i l i t y as a p r i n c i p l e of l i m i t a t i o n i n i n d u s t r i a l welfare. The interrogatives of the present study 1.1

Chapter I I . The Role of Personnel Management i n Industrial Organization.

The evolution of personnel management. The range, scope and character of the personnel manager's job. The heterogeneous and unsettled character of the personnel manager's job. Training programs fo r personnel management. The welfare cha r a c t e r i s t i c s of the personnel manager's job I I . 1

Chapter I I I . A P o l l of Opinion and Experience i n a Group of Local Personnel Managers.

Need fo r an operational d e f i n i t i o n of s o c i a l welfare. Operational d e f i n i t i o n as a questionnaire and as an interview. The interviewing program and findings. The conclusions drawn from the interviews I I I . l

Chapter IV. Contradiction and Agreement i n the F i e l d s of Social Welfare and Personnel Management.

The personnel manager's function incorporates many of the values of s o c i a l welfare. The influence of trade unionism on the personnel function of management. The projected tasks of s o c i a l welfare i n industry. The l i m i t a t i o n s facing the personnel manager i n dealing with employees' welfare. Recommendations IV. 1

v i i i

Appendices.

A. A Note on Methods Used to Obtain Research Data 1 B. Job Description 5 G. Bibliography 7 D. Questionnaire 15

Table and Chart i n the Text.

Table A. Summary of the Interview Findings 111.14

Figure I. Functional Chart. Personnel Department 17

SOCIAL WELFARE AND PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER I

THE LINK BETWEEN PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL WELFARE

The Emergence of Industrial Welfare

Welfare work i n industry as recently as the early 1 9 2 0 1 s

was thought of as anything contributing to the comfort and

improvement of the employee which was not required by law and

not part of a system of remuneration. Today, however, i t i s

realized that welfare i n industry consists of more than administering

a few additional comforts to working people; and i n d u s t r i a l

e f f i c i e n c y i t s e l f i s seen to depend on success i n coping with the

human problems of production no l e s s than with i t s technical

problems. The interrelatedness of industry and welfare i s indeed

both deep and many sided. Friedlander, for example, has indicated

that there are four aspects of modern i n d u s t r i a l operations which

seem of p a r t i c u l a r importance when considered i n the l i g h t of t h e i r

implications f o r s o c i a l welfare.

F i r s t , there are the arrangements made (recently described as " i n d u s t r i a l health and welfare plans") i n plants, mines and commerce i n order to establish or to improve s o c i a l security, health and general welfare of the employees and t h e i r families. Second, there i s the function of public employment services i n finding the best-suited worker f o r employers and the right jobs f o r workers seeking employment. Third, there i s the use of s o c i a l workers i n i n d u s t r i a l and commercial companies i n order to a s s i s t the employees and t h e i r families i n personal, health and f i n a n c i a l problems and d i f f i c u l t i e s . F i n a l l y , there i s the r e l a t i o n of organized

I. 2

labour to s o c i a l work and i t s p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the responsi­b i l i t y f o r development and maintenance of community welfare s e r v i c e s . 1

Ever since there have been employers, there have been those

who did t h e i r utmost to promote the welfare of t h e i r employees.

But so long as industry i t s e l f was organized i n small units, welfare

schemes were necessarily l i m i t e d i n scope and idios y n c r a t i c i n

character. Even these, however, disappeared when, with the i n t r o ­

duction of the factory system, personal l i n k s and primary s o l i ­

d a r i t i e s between employer and employee were broken; and with

the development of j o i n t stock li m i t e d l i a b i l i t y companies, the

t y p i c a l business enterprise became even more impersonal. Under

the moral exemptions of Manchester School doctrines, the workers

were regarded merely as instruments of production rather than as

men, women and children whose in d i v i d u a l well being was of import­

ance. Labour was something to be bought cheaply, i n the same single

minded way that one approached one's other production costs.

Untempered at least i n the early days of the Industrial

Revolution by the requirements of factory l e g i s l a t i o n or the

checks of trade union organization, the conditions of work for

the mass of those who did i t were related to welfare only by t h e i r

systematic enmity to i t . The few factory owners whose despotism

was benevolent have become h i s t o r i c a l l y memorable for t h e i r

abnormality.

Friedlander, Walter, Introduction to Social Welfare, (New York Prentice-Hall, 1 9 5 5 ) . p. 495 .

I. 3

C o n d i t i o n s o f t h i s s o r t have s u r v i v e d i n t o the contemporary-

Western world o n l y i n v e s t i g i a l form. For a v a r i e t y of reasons,

which we do not need to d i s c u s s i n d e t a i l , the a t t i t u d e s of what

we now c a l l "management" to the w e l l - h e i n g of the i n d u s t r i a l worker

have undergone fundamental changes. Whether i n deference to the

demands of the unions, i n compliance with the standards of r e g u l a t o r y

agencies, i n response to competitive b i d d i n g f o r scarce s u p p l i e s

o f labour, or simply i n the i n t e r e s t s of i n d u s t r i a l e f f i c i e n c y ,

the modern employer i s concerned i n innumerable ways wit h the

s e c u r i t y , comfort and morale o f the people he employs.

I t i s not p o s s i b l e to say w i t h any degree of confidence what

c o n s i d e r a t i o n s weighed most p o w e r f u l l y i n b r i n g i n g about these

changes. I t may be that a complex and t e c h n o l o g i c a l l y advanced

economy j u s t cannot be run on the b a s i s of c o e r c i o n and n e g l e c t o f

i t s l a b o u r f o r c e . The more common view, however, i s t h a t i t was

the growth of l a b o u r o r g a n i z a t i o n s which had the most o b v i o u s l y

d e c i s i v e e f f e c t , e s p e c i a l l y when i t i s remembered t h a t t h i s e f f e c t

was f e l t not o n l y through the a c t i v i t i e s of the unions, but a l s o

through the a c t i v i t i e s of labour-based p o l i t i c a l movements.

Other circumstances a l s o promoted the development of w e l f a r e

s e r v i c e s f o r the worker. Fo r i n s t a n c e , the n e c e s s i t y f o r n a t i o n a l

u n i t y and i n d u s t r i a l harmony i n times of war has p e r f o r c e l e d

employers to take a g r e a t e r i n t e r e s t i n the w e l l - b e i n g of the

employee. To c i t e j u s t one example, the B r i t i s h government,

du r i n g World War I, e s t a b l i s h e d a welfare department with the

I. 4

Ministry of Munitions, concerned solely with the development of

welfare conditions i n the thousands of munition factories controlled

by the State. But i t i s almost an act of arbitrariness to single

out any one example when one ponders the part that the i d e o l o g i c a l

pre-requisites of t o t a l war..:have played i n the creations of the

B r i t i s h welfare state.

The adoption by management of an enlightened and benign approach

to relations spread slowly, though progress became more rapid

during and a f t e r World War II, being marked by the establishment

i n increasing numbers of personnel and welfare departments, staffed

by people with variably convincing claims to expertness i n the

human problems of industry.

Today, welfare services are viewed as normal adjuncts of

modern i n d u s t r i a l society. As Wilensky and Lebeaux put i t :

Social welfare objectives can be intimately associated with what i s b a s i c a l l y profit-making enterprise, as when a private business provides recreation f a c i l i t i e s , pension plans, or nurseries f o r i t s employees. The view may be taken, on one hand, that since such services attend human wants quite peripheral to the purpose of the organi­zation, they neither share.in nor a l t e r the nature of the underlying profit-making a c t i v i t y On the other hand, the view may be taken that industry-sponsored welfare programs are simply part of the conditions of employment, a substitute f o r wages .... Thus, the degree to which an i n d u s t r i a l s o c i a l welfare program may be considered s o c i a l welfare varies inversely with the extent of emphasis on a contractual relationship between two parties seeking a mutually rewarding arrangement, and d i r e c t l y with the extent of s o c i a l sponsorship and control. It i s clear, nevertheless, that i n d u s t r i a l welfare programs affe c t the development of s o c i a l welfare i n s t i t u t i o n s .

Wilensky, Harold L. and Charles N. Lebeaux, Industrial Society and Social Welfare, (New York, Russel Sage Foundation, 1958), pp. 142-143.

I. 5

P o i n t s of Convergence i n the E n t r e p r e n e u r i a l and Welfare Aspects o f the Managerial Task

As the i n t e r e s t i n the "human r e l a t i o n s " aspects of manage­

ment grew, i t became c l e a r t h a t welfare p r o v i s i o n s could not be

formulated or administered without thought f o r t h e i r r e c i p r o c a l l y -

c o n s e q u e n t i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p to e x i s t i n g procedures and p o l i c i e s .

( I t was i n acknowledgment of t h i s f a c t t h a t the job of personnel

manager took on i t s s p e c i a l c h a r a c t e r of expert mediations between

the demands of i n d u s t r i a l e f f i c i e n c y and the requirements o f employee

w e l l - b e i n g ) . I t was recognized, moreover, t h a t "welfare" was not

something apart from the job, bestowed or w i t h h e l d a t the w i l l o f

the employer. Rather than b e i n g seen as, of i t s very nature, a

challenge of c u r t a i l m e n t o f o r d i n a r y canons of p r o f i t a b i l i t y , i t

came to be viewed as a means o f improving the working environment

t h a t c o u l d be o f advantage to both the employer and the employee.

I t was r e c o g n i z e d t h a t the employee, i n a d d i t i o n to h i s obvious

i n t e r e s t i n a h i g h l e v e l o f earnings, had a need a l s o f o r d i r e c t

s a t i s f a c t i o n from h i s work, f o r agreeable group r e l a t i o n s h i p s ,

and not l e a s t , f o r informed and benevolent a s s i s t a n c e i n tie

management o f p e r s o n a l problems which might a f f e c t h i s performance

i n and experience o f the job.

Most people d u r i n g a g r e a t e r or l e s s e r p a r t of t h e i r l i v e s

spend a t l e a s t h a l f of t h e i r working hours a t work, and what

happens to them there i s bound to have profound and r a m i f i e d con­

sequences f o r the h e a l t h , p r o s p e r i t y and c u l t u r a l v i t a l i t y o f the

n a t i o n as a whole. In t h i s p e r s p e c t i v e , employers must be seen

I. 6

as having obligations for the quality of l i f e i n t h e i r places

of business which are owed not only to those they employ but also

to a l l members of the same c i v i l society. Work should not be

regarded as an inevitable deduction from the net p o s s i b i l i t y of

happiness i n l i f e , but as an i n t e g r a l part of that p o s s i b i l i t y .

The establishment of welfare services i n strategic locations

such as industry i s not only a duty of kindness to those who may

use the services, but a source of advantage to the employer him­

s e l f and for that matter, to the rest of us also i n so f a r

as we parti c i p a t e i n the benefits of a f l o u r i s h i n g economy. Since

i t i s ordinary men, rather than specimens of "homo economicus",

who spend so much of th e i r time at work, t h e i r e f f i c i e n c y i n and

attitude to that work w i l l be a r e f l e c t i o n of the t o t a l human

situa t i o n i n which they there f i n d themselves. The economic

and administrative aspects of the job cannot be divorced from the

functionally "extraneous" experiences to which the workers w i l l i n

fact d a i l y be submitted. The importance of human relations on

the job i n giving job s a t i s f a c t i o n to the worker can hardly be

overemphasized. The desire f o r s i g n i f i c a n t p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the

so c i a l enterprise and the corol l a r y desire for recognitions of

one's contribution to i t are powerful motivational forces. A

man's wish (too often allowed to slumber.') to test and to use h i s

highest capacities can be the p r i n c i p a l dynamic of s t a f f develop­

ment. I t can also be a r a d i c a l cause for d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n i f the

organization f a i l s to recognize the existence of such wishes, or,

though recognizing the wish, i s complacently cynical about the

I. 7

capacities. It i s a strangely s e l f - l i m i t i n g concern with pro­

d u c t i v i t y that w i l l accept i t i f i t i s enforced, but reject i t i f

i t i s volunteered. One of the things that workers are too seldom

expected to ask i s that the job should ask something of them. 1

Moreover, i f the worker i s considered as a "whole person",

with no more than a.limited capacity for leaving his other s o c i a l

i d e n t i t i e s at the factory gate, i t w i l l be rea l i z e d that when he

has a serious personal problem which he cannot s a t i s f a c t o r i l y

resolve, h i s preoccupation, however irrelevant to the job, i s

l i k e l y to a f f e c t both his productivity and h i s morale.

Business enterprise depends for success, at least i n part,

upon the personal e f f i c i e n c y and s o c i a l s t a b i l i t y of workers, as

well as on the more obvious q u a l i t i e s of pecuniary zeal and

organizational compliance which are normally held to be cardinal

f o r r a t i o n a l economic behaviour. I t i s therefore to management's

advantage to provide conditions that are calculated to generate

s a t i s f a c t i o n both on and o f f the job, and likewise to give each

employee whatever help can properly be offered i n meeting his

personal problems. It i s almost by d e f i n i t i o n — unreasonable

to expect a high standard of e f f i c i e n c y from employees whose

Aronson, Albert H. "Human Dynamics i n Administration: The Social work and Personnel Approaches", (New York, Social Work i n the Current Scene, 1950 Selected Papers, National Conference of Social Work, Columbia University Press) p. 214.

I. 8

energies are being wasted i n combating gratuitously adverse

conditions. 1 An early detection of existing problems w i l l y i e l d

benefit to the employer- i n greater productivity and lower unit

cost, more team s p i r i t , a reduction i n absenteeism, tardiness,

accidents, complaints and excessive personnel mobility. There

w i l l also be lower costs i n the h i r i n g and r e t r a i n i n g of new

employees.

Seen from one r a t i o viewpoint, the re l a t i o n s between manage­

ment and the workers are l i k e those of partners i n a j o i n t enterprise

and fellow members of the company community. Management therefore

should do i t s share i n supporting the p r i n c i p l e of mutual respon­

s i b i l i t y by helping themselves i n meeting t h e i r fundamental needs.

By so doing, i t increases the employee.'s morale, gives him a

greater sense of well-being, gives him fewer causes f o r d i s s a t i s ­

faction, creates a basis for better i n d u s t r i a l relations, and

helps generate a settled mood of good w i l l which i s propitious

fo r a greater understanding of and sympathy to a company's p o l i c i e s

and purposes.

Some Points of Non Convergence: Thresholds of F e a s i b i l i t y and Relevance f o r Welfare Schemes i n Industry

This, however, i s quite c e r t a i n l y to state the case i n i t s

most optimistic and unqualified form. There are important reserv­

ations to be entered. Titmuss states one of them well when he says:

1 Pigors, Paul and Charles A. Meyers, Personnel Administration: A Point of View and a Method, (New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Incorporated, 1956) p. 335.

I. 9

I do not believe that the problem of 'human relat i o n s ' i n industry can be e n t i r e l y solved within industry i t s e l f . I t cannot be solved by tying closer the bonds between employer and employee through the provision of miniature occupational welfare states. Such an approach implies l e s s freedom of choice, and consequently, l e s s rather than more control by the worker over his a f f a i r s . I t can also mean, too, more s o c i a l and psychological pressures toward submissive and conforming behaviour i n the workplace and thus have, again, disturbing effects i n the home when the worker, released from the determinism of the factory, attempts to recover posses­sion of himself.

Nor can the contemporary problems of family l i f e be en t i r e l y solved within the family i t s e l f . The family does not function i n a s o c i a l vacuum. How i t functions today i s profoundly affected by the forces of i n d u s t r i a l ­i z a t i o n . I t i s simultaneously benefited and damaged by these forces. And the r a p i d i t y with which they have been developing over the past one hundred years or so i n highly i n d u s t r i a l i z e d societies has put the family on the defensive. Its r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s have grown; i t has been placed i n more situations of divided l o y a l t i e s and c o n f l i c t i n g values; i t has been forced to choose between kinship and economic progress; and i t has been constantly subjected to gales of creative i n s t a b i l i t y .

I f i s i n t h i s context, that we have to see the s o c i a l services i n a variety of s t a b i l i z i n g , preventive and protect­ive roles 1

Considerations of t h i s kind represent one of the l i m i t a t i o n s

to the scope and f e a s i b i l i t y of welfare schemes i n industry. I f

there i s a danger of management becoming an over-bearing parent,

there i s a danger also of labour becoming a self-indulgent and

irresponsible c h i l d . Moreover, no business organization either

can or should be expected to surrender i t s primary concern with

the economic and productive significance of i t s a c t i v i t i e s , whether

the standards used to assess that significance are those of ordinary

commercial p r o f i t a b i l i t y or something else.

Titmuss, Richard M., " I n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n and the Family", I n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n and Social Work, (Munich, 1 9 5 6 , Carl Heymanns Verlag kG, Koln, Berlin) p. 3 5 .

I. 10

Sources of Organizational R i g i d i t y i n the Structure of Conventional V/elfare Services

Nevertheless, so long as we are not so simple-minded as to

forget such facts of l i f e , a v a l i d place f o r welfare i n industry

remains, i f only as part of the "variety of s t a b i l i z i n g

preventive and protective r o l e s " to which Titmuss refers. For

one thing, the existing i n s t i t u t i o n a l structure of our welfare

services i t s e l f f a i l s to s a t i s f y the requirements of adaptiveness

and v e r s a t i l i t y which are implied i n the notion of "varied ro l e s " .

Organized as they are on the pattern on the general p r a c t i t i o n e r ' s

o f f i c e , to which the patient "brings" a l l the information and i t s

causes the doctor i s thought obliged to know about, they are often

as insensitive to the str u c t u r a l aspects of welfare problems and

welfare services as conventional medicine i s to the epidemiological

and s o c i a l dimensions of disease. Thus few s o c i a l workers are as

l i k e l y to have a developed awareness of the problems associated

with the individual's place of work as someone who i s located

right on the job. Even when r e f e r r a l s are made from the place

of work, they often get " l o s t " because of the long waiting periods

involved. I f the problem originates i n the plant or has i t s out­

l e t preponderantly i n the plant, the service of out-plant agencies

i s usually too in d i r e c t and small-scale i n character to influence

the e t i o l o g i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t variables i n the i n d u s t r i a l environ­

ment i t s e l f . Thus the strategies of prevention the most

e f f i c i e n t of a l l forms of service are made almost impossible,

i n t h i s instance, at least, f o r the t y p i c a l s o c i a l welfare agency.

I. 11

This point w i l l become clearer i f , following the comparison

with medical practice that has already been made, we b r i e f l y

examine the problems of the organization and l o c a t i o n of services

as they are dealt with by cer t a i n other professions as well as

that of s o c i a l work.

Some Examples of the Strategic Use of Context i n the Administration of Helping Services such as Industrial and Occupational Medicine, Public Health, The Worker P r i e s t s and Social Work

Indus t r i a l medicine i s an example of a specialized form of

medical practice, directed i n t h i s case toward the prevention of

disease i n the i n d u s t r i a l worker and the treatment of those diseases

and d i s a b i l i t i e s which have a causal r e l a t i o n to the environment

of the worker. In some (perhaps most) industries, workers are

exposed to c h a r a c t e r i s t i c health hazards which may cause disease

or d i s a b i l i t y . Where an i l l n e s s i s the d i r e c t consequence of some

factor i n employment, or where a disease condition can be traced

to employment as the proximate cause, i t i s generally regarded as

i n d u s t r i a l disease.

Production losses r e s u l t i n g from i l l n e s s and accidents among

workers cost m i l l i o n s of d o l l a r s each year, and even i f we had no

independent concern for the health of the people involved, i t

would be clear that the conservation of the working capacity of the

i n d u s t r i a l l y employed was of major importance i n maintaining a

highly productive economy. Studies of absenteeism r e s u l t i n g from

non-occupational i l l n e s s e s and accidents have been shown to be one

of the most important causes of l o s t man-hours and decreased

employee earnings.

I. 12

The passage of workmen's compensation laws placing responsi­

b i l i t y upon the employer f o r medical care or of r e s t i t u t i o n to the

injured or diseased worker was a major influence i n the develop­

ment of i n d u s t r i a l medicine. Employers did not need to have

visionary powers to recognize that the prevention of d i s a b i l i t y had

an actual monetary value. At the same time, management found

that medical services i n industry made an important contribution

to the effectiveness of workers i n a plant, and even to the standards

of health i n the general community. Nowadays, i n addition to the

care of compensable accidents and i l l n e s s , the medical departments

of large industries render in-plant treatment f o r minor i l l n e s s e s ,

preplacement examinations to determine f i t n e s s of applicants f o r

work, periodic check-ups and examinations of workers i n hazardous

occupations, and medical opinions on questions of job f i t n e s s ,

d i s a b i l i t y and retirement. They also advise management and labour

on questions r e l a t i n g to health, sanitation, hygiene and pre­

ventive medicine. Another important function of an i n d u s t r i a l

medical program i s the education of workers on such subjects as

n u t r i t i o n , personal hygiene and other aspects of accident and

disease prevention.

The prime purpose of these varied i n d u s t r i a l medical a c t i v i t i e s

i s not to replace or supplant the personal physician, but rather

to meet emergency needs without loss of working time, production

and wages. They also stimulate an i n t e l l i g e n t interest i n the

maintenance of health and o f f e r guidance to the sick and handicapped

I. 13

employees who might otherwise f a i l to obtain competent medical

care. There has been increased emphasis i n the past few years

on the relationship between occupational medicine and other

branches of medicine, and on the contributions that each may

be able to make to the other. More recent trends have seen a

new emphasis on the r e h a b i l i t a t i o n and employment of the handi­

capped worker and on the study of the re-employment of the cardiac

and psychiatric p a t i e n t . 1

Again, i n the closely related f i e l d of public health, we can

see c l e a r l y how the strategic location of services, even when

these services are administered to "selected" groups has improved

the general health and welfare of a l l concerned. Notwithstanding

the variety of the scope of l o c a l health programs and the d i f ­

ferences i n the administrative auspices under which they operate,

one of t h e i r chief functions i s the control of communicable and

chronic disease. An excellent example of t h i s l i e s to hand i n

the recent project of the B r i t i s h Columbia Tuberculosis Society

calle d "Operation Doorstep". Not only was every c h i l d enrolled

i n school given the opportunity to have a skin test to determine

the presence of tuberculosis, but also mobile c l i n i c s were set up

i n d i f f e r e n t neighbourhoods i n order to reach as many individuals

as possible. Each new case diagnosed by these means was calculated

to have brought benefit not only to the person concerned but also

to those others who might have contracted tuberculosis had h i s

1 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Book of the Year. 1963 Edition, see Industrial Health, p, .455.

I. 14

condition gone undetected and untreated. The operation of

neighbourhood c l i n i c s for mothers and children places an important

program of immunization and general health care i n a geographical

and s o c i a l l o c a t i o n which i n v i t e s use and y i e l d s major benefits to

health at a low l e v e l of cost. Public health nursing services

meet an important need for those who require nursing care at

home and o f f e r the same advantage of r e l a t i v e cheapness. There

are also environmental health services including inspection,

supervision and sanitary control of water supplies, sewage disposal

f a c i l i t i e s , milk production and d i s t r i b u t i o n , and food-handling

establishments. Public health agencies o f f e r the community a

readily available f a c i l i t y f o r information. There are many

l o c a l and national agencies working closely with voluntary organi­

zations, with professional groups, with schools and foundations,

with representatives of labour and industry, and in d i r e c t service

to families and communities, to control disease and improve the

general standards of physical well-being. The p r i n c i p a l communi­

cable diseases of childhood such as diphtheria, whooping cough,

measles and scar l e t fever have been v i r t u a l l y eliminated as

causes of death as a resu l t of the progress made i n the public

health f i e l d . Public health agencies are now turning to the

control of chronic diseases, such as cancer and heart disease,

to the problems of an ageing population, and to the health problems

associated with a complex and i n d u s t r i a l i z e d s o c i a l environment.

Among these l a t t e r are water and a i r p o l l u t i o n , the hygiene aspects

I . 15

of housing, accident prevention, the dangers involved i n the

widespread use of chemicals, i o n i z i n g radiation, and the pro­

motion of mental h e a l t h . 1

In Great B r i t a i n , the National Health Service Act of 1946

(which came into operation i n July, 1948) provided f o r the

expansion of public health into the f i e l d s of s o c i a l medicine.

It provided f o r a health v i s i t i n g service to give advice and

assistance to mothers experiencing d i f f i c u l t y i n the care of

young children, to people suffering from long-term i l l n e s s e s and

residing at home and to expectant mothers. The health v i s i t o r ' s

work was thus extended to the whole family and the opportunity

created to integrate her s o c i a l work with medical care by the

family doctor. The Act also provided a home nursing service f o r

those requiring nursing care i n t h e i r own homes and a home help

service for those requiring assistance i n the performance of

domestic jobs; both services being designed f o r such groups as

l y i n g - i n and expectant mothers, the mentally defective and the

aged. The National Health Service brought about far-reaching

changes i n the understanding of the scope of public health i n

Great B r i t a i n . Its emphasis upon the s o c i a l aspects of disease,

upon bringing services into the home and exploiting i t s indigenous

therapeutic resources, upon alternatives to i n s t i t u t i o n a l care f o r

the aged, and upon early detection of so-called problem families,

a l l t e s t i f y to the c r u c i a l importance of context i n the admini­

s t r a t i o n of health and welfare services.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, Book of the Year, 1963 edition. See Public Health Service, U.S. p. 675-

I. 16

However di f f e r e n t the nature of the "service" may appear to

be, similar p r i n c i p l e s are involved i n the phenomenon of the worker-

p r i e s t i n industry. In France, as i n so many other countries, the

processes of i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n during the l a s t century l e d to the

growth of huge urban agglomerations and the creation of a rootless

working class. This development became a matter of deep concern

to certain Catholics who had become conscious of the misery of the

masses and of t h e i r estrangement from the Church. In turn, t h i s

concern f o r the s p i r i t u a l l y alienated worker prompted a number of

p r i e s t s to enter what was termed, "The Mission to Paris". These

pr i e s t s l i v e d and worked alongside other workers i n order to

experience i n t h e i r own l i v e s the conditions of the labouring

poor, believing that i t was only by some such affirmation of

kinship that they couH accomplish t h e i r work as p r i e s t s . I t

was thought at the outset of t h i s experiment that after a time

these p r i e s t s would be p a r t l y released from manual labour i n

order to have greater freedom to devote themselves to s t r i c t l y

apostolic a c t i v i t i e s .

This o r i g i n a l idea underwent gradual change. Even i n the

early days of the movement, some worker-priests had thought i t

t h e i r duty to accept temporal commitments i n trade unions and

other secular organizations. Later, however, several of them l e t

themselves become so f a r preoccupied by these commitments that

t h e i r mission as p r i e s t s seemed to take second place and t h e i r

effectiveness as pri e s t s was questioned. Some of them were alleged

I. 17

by senior o f f i c i a l s of the Church to be i n danger of confusing

t h e i r apostolic a c t i v i t y with t h e i r temporal commitments so that

they ceased to stand out c l e a r l y enough as o f f i c e r s of the Gospel

on permanent duty.

The Pope and the Bishops were af r a i d that the l i f e of the

p r i e s t s , occupied and committed as these were, might l i t t l e by

l i t t l e be emptied of what i s essential i n p r i e s t l y l i f e . I t was

for these reasons that the Church, f e a r f u l of these deviations,

decided that the worker-priest experiment as i t had developed should

not be continued, and they therefore attempted to put a halt to

these a c t i v i t i e s . In January of 1954, the Bishops sent to each

of t h e i r worker-priests a c i r c u l a r l e t t e r requesting them to

renounce everything that had gone to make up t h e i r l i f e during

the preceding years. A certain number did leave t h e i r work; but

the majority of the worker-priests have continued to l i v e as

workers, maintaining between themselves the same close bonds as

before and preserving as a group the same concern with what they

believe to be the s o c i a l implications of t h e i r ministry.

In Canada, similar developments took place. The Quebec

Action Catholique, announced i n i t s issue of February 1954 the

o f f i c i a l entry of a p r i e s t , as such, into one of the largest

factories i n Canada. The day t h i s venture began, i t s originator

addressed an audience of workers i n the following manner: "We

s h a l l not concern ourselves with your technical problems. For

example, i t w i l l not be our job (a) to t e l l you how to repair such

I. 18

and such a machine part: the foreman i s there to t e l l you.

Nor i s i t (h) to s e t t l e your differences with the management;

the unions are responsible f o r that. Rather you w i l l come to

see us to talk about your personal and family problems, to t e l l

us at times what makes you happy or anxious "

The worker-priests are perhaps notable not so much for the

o r i g i n a l i t y or the systematic character of the view they hold of

the priesthood but rather f o r the dramatic significance of t h e i r

unaccustomed manner of existence. They have l i v e d i n a world, i n

many ways opposed to the one i n which the clergy are accustomed to

spend t h e i r days. 1 Their devotion to t h e i r cause and t h e i r re­

f u s a l to leave the i n d u s t r i a l scene, i n spite of great opposition

from the hierarchy of t h e i r Church, would lead one to believe that

they are meeting some measure of success i n helping t h e i r fellow

workers.

The close i d e n t i f i c a t i o n with his fellow workers has presented

many problems to the worker-priest. It i s evident that he has

experienced many c o n f l i c t s i n his dual role of worker and p r i e s t .

Nevertheless, i t i s d i f f i c u l t not to be impressed by his attempt

to reach his "parishioners" by placing himself where he could be

reached most re a d i l y by those who needed him, and by his p e r s i s ­

tence i n conveying to those i n higher places the manifold problems

of a working class from which they are often so f a r removed.

The Worker-Priests. A C o l l e c t i v e Documentation, Translated from the French by John Petrie, Routledge and Kegan Paul, Lord on, 1956.

I. 19

One cannot leave a discussion of the strategic use of

context i n the administration of helping services without also

considering the profession of s o c i a l work. The s o c i a l worker has

realized that i t i s often necessary to separate himself from the

specialized agency structure and go into the community i n order

to o f f e r a more advantageous service. Projects such as those

which deal with families having a m u l t i p l i c i t y of problems have

been devised i n which one worker deals with a l l aspects of the

family's problems rather than having the family v i s i t a number

of agencies which would deal with only one aspect of the family's

problems. This has enabled the worker to see the interrelatedness

of the problems, has eliminated the need for the involvement of

many agencies and has expedited the r e h a b i l i t a t i o n of the family,

where possible.

In the f i e l d of mental health, i t i s evident that one of the

most c r u c i a l times f o r the welfare of the patient i s the time when

he leaves the hospital and re-enters community l i f e . The s o c i a l

worker has begun to leave the confines of the mental hospital

and now spends a great deal of time i n discharge and after-care

a c t i v i t i e s f o r the welfare of the patient.

In large c i t i e s such as New York, the street-club worker has

developed i n order to cope with the problems of juvenile d e l i n ­

quency. These workers reach out to troubled youth who l i v e i n the

midst of violence, poverty, mental i l l n e s s and narcotic addiction.

These workers are nearly always available to these youths either

I. 20

on the streets or i n t h e i r homes. They aim, i n many cases, to

get them o f f the streets and into community centres where they

could receive specialized attention.

From the foregoing, i t can he seen that e f f o r t s are being

made i n many d i v e r s i f i e d f i e l d s to of f e r services to the i n d i v i d u a l

where they can be most readi l y available and also most e f f e c t i v e .

The Concept of Work "As" Welfare

L i b r a r i e s could now be f i l l e d with what has been written

about the influences which technologically and routinized forms

of work are said to exert on human beings. These influences, quite

c l e a r l y , are f e l t by the white c o l l a r worker just as they are by

his neighbour i n the blue c o l l a r , even though the most f a m i l i a r

image of the " r a t i o n a l i z a t i o n " and de-personalization of work i s

probably that of the assembly l i n e . Few of us, at. any rate, ( i f any)

are immune from the effects of the bureaucratic and engineering

refinements of the d i v i s i o n of labour, and the attendant impoverish­

ment of the meanings of work. Whether the end resu l t of these

trends w i l l be a millenium of l e i s u r e and abundance or an eternity

of s e r v i l e boredom i s a question which i t would require oracular

powers to answer. Even at the more modest l e v e l s of judgment,

however, the subject i s f u l l of uncertainty and controversy.

Nobody can say with confidence i f the mass of men are happy i n

t h e i r work or miserable; or i f whatever t h e i r condition may

be that they are happier or more miserable than t h e i r ancestors

were. And i t i s l i k e l y to be many years before the human sciences

I. 21

can provide us with the instruments for making such judgments

with any show of ob j e c t i v i t y .

One feature of the l i f e of contemporary i n d u s t r i a l s o c i e t i e s ,

however, which has evoked some unanimity i s the apparent f a i l u r e of

affluence to create the conditions necessary for a general state of

well-being. The almost obsessional concern at the present time with

the subject of mental i l l n e s s and mental health may not s i g n i f y any

objective increase i n the rates of psychiatric disorders, but i t

does seem to suggest a widely diffused sense of the d i f f i c u l t i e s of

achieving a l a s t i n g condition of personal contentment and s a t i s f a c t i o n .

Such d i f f i c u l t i e s w i l l undoubtedly have many diff e r e n t sources. But

one of them i s almost cer t a i n l y to be found i n the paucity of the

sa t i s f a c t i o n the average worker receives from his job. The imperson­

a l i t y of most systems of i n d u s t r i a l organization i s calculated to

preclude either the sense of being a valued member of a purposeful

enterprise or the sustaining pleasures of an i n s t i t u t i o n a l atmosphere

of s o c i a b i l i t y . Most people are consequently forced to look f o r these

satisfactions e n t i r e l y i n the private sphere, and p a r t i c u l a r l y , of

course, i n t h e i r family l i v e s — often with disastrous r e s u l t s f o r

those very relationships upon which they have come so exclusively to

depend. One may wonder what species of dogma i t i s that binds us

to the view that the r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s for accommodation of these

tensions l i e wholly, or even mainly, with the worker: that i t i s up

to him to "adjust" to the job. The r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s are mutual, and

we must not be put off from saying so for fear of being accused of

sentimentality. There i s a large and open question as to how

i n d u s t r i a l organization can be adapted to the demands of human

I. 22

personality, and i t i s no les s v a l i d than the question as to how

human personality can he subordinated to the requirements of indust­

r i a l organization. Fortunately, the legitimacy of th i s question i s

being acknowledged i n widening c i r c l e s throughout our i n d u s t r i a l

system.

Personnel Management as the Professional Dimension of Industrial Welfare

A number of professions and sundry people without a formal

professional a f f i l i a t i o n , are to be found i n i n d u s t r i a l l i f e today

that a l l share some kind of concern with improvement of the conditions,

s o c i a l and physical, of work. Personnel Management i s probably the

most prominent of these groups. 1

In 1963 the Institute of Personnel Management of Great B r i t a i n issued a statement defining the scope and aims of Personnel Management em­bracing a l l aspects of i n d u s t r i a l welfare, which runs as follows:

Personnel management i s a r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of a l l those who manage people as well as being a description of the work of those who are employed as s p e c i a l i s t s . I t i s that part of the management which i s concerned with people at work and with t h e i r relationships within an enterprise. It applies not only to industry and commerce but to a l l f i e l d s of employment.

Personnel management aims to achieve both e f f i c i e n c y and j u s t i c e , neither of which can be pursued successfully without the other. It seeks to bring together and develop into an ef­fective organization the men and women who make up an enter­prise, enabling each to make his own best contribution to i t s success both as an individual and as a member of a working group. It seeks to provide f a i r terms and conditions of employment and s a t i s f y i n g work for those employed.

"Statement on Personnel Management and Personnel P o l i c i e s " i n Personnel Management, Journal of the Institute of Personnel Management, Vol. No. 363, March 1963, London, p. 11.

I. 23

Personnel management has been defined as that part of the

management function which i s primarily concerned with the human

relationships within an organization, and which has as i t s objective

the maintenance of those relationships on the basis which by

systematic reference to the well-being of the individuals involved,

enables a l l engaged i n the undertaking to make th e i r best personal

contribution to i t s work. It i s concerned with methods of r e c r u i t ­

ment, selection, t r a i n i n g and education and the proper employment

of personnel; subsequently with terms of employment, methods and

standards of remuneration, working conditions, amenities and employee

services; and beyond t h i s with the maintenance and eff e c t i v e use

of f a c i l i t i e s for j o i n t consultation between employers and employees

and between t h e i r representatives and the establishment of recognized

procedures for the settlement of disputes. 1

Although the job of the personnel manager could scarcely be

called an ancient one, and although i t s composition as a job varies

greatly from one setting to another, one could f a i r l y say that a

v e r s a t i l e ooncern for the health and welfare of the in d i v i d u a l

worker i s now an established and e x p l i c i t part of most current

conceptions of the job. Moreover, the personnel manager i s

generally well placed to detect the early signs of maladjustment

i n the work situation, so that given the appropriate t r a i n i n g and

resources, he could often deal with these before they became

exacerbated.

Hunter, Guy. The Role of the Personnel O f f i c e r , A Group Review, Institute of Personnel Management, Management House, London, 1957.

I. 24

Nor i s t h i s part of his job l i k e l y to become obsolete. It

i s evident that the immediate future w i l l bring a marked increase

i n i n d u s t r i a l problems having repercussions for s o c i a l agencies.

The accelerating pace of automation and the consequent releasing or

ret r a i n i n g of workers, early retirement of workers, the entry of

large numbers of young untrained workers to the labour market,

the increase of l e i s u r e time, d i s a b i l i t y from chronic disease;

these are but a few of the problems that the personnel manager should

be q u a l i f i e d by t r a i n i n g and experience to deal with or help deal

with when they arise. He should be able to advise senior l e v e l s

of management on the best way of dealing with current problems, and

to a l e r t them to the importance of looking ahead to future problems

involving personnel.

These are not f a n c i f u l or speculative suggestions, for they are

consistent with much that i s being done already. It i s widely recog­

nized, for example, that management has a clear and confessed need

for guidance i n developing e f f e c t i v e retirement programs i n order

to have t h e i r employees make a satisfactory adjustment to r e t i r e ­

ment.1 Again, personnel managers have frequently been urged i n

recent years to combat the waste of s k i l l and talent which arises from

the reluctance of employers to hire former mental patients — a

prejudice that, as the program described i n a recent a r t i c l e demon-2

strates has l i t t l e or no basis i n fact. There i s growing evidence,

1 Industry's Interest i n the Older Worker and the Retired Employee: Proceedings of a conference, I960, Industrial Relations Section, C a l i f o r n i a Institute of Technology, Pasadena, C a l i f o r n i a . p

Teplow, Josef E. and Reuben J. Margolin, "The Former Mental Patient: An Untapped Labour Source?" Personnel, Vol. 38, No. 1. Jan.-Feb.1961.

I. 25

too, that the very processes of management, and personnel

management i n particu l a r , are being ar t i c u l a t e d i n terms which

bear the imprint of concepts developed and made fam i l i a r i n the

work of the mental hygiene movement.1 In some cases, indeed, the

very core of the personnel manager's job has been defined as an

a c t i v i t y aimed at developing the human relations s k i l l s of other p

spheres of management. Attention has been drawn to the respon­

s i b i l i t y the personnel manager bears, especially i n his capacity

as counsellor, to help an employee solve these problems which are

not job problems but which a f f e c t his job e f f i c i e n c y . These are

only a few of the signs of the increasingly e x p l i c i t orientation

of personnel management to the welfare and mental health i m p l i ­

cations of a man's experience of and performance i n his job.

P r o f i t a b i l i t y as a Pr i n c i p l e of Limitation i n Industrial Welfare

Industry, however, i s f i r s t and foremost an economic a c t i v i t y ,

and personnel management as such exists only within the framework

of industry. I t must therefore be concerned along with every other

branch of management, with the economic v i a b i l i t y of the firm.

There may be an apparent or, indeed, a r e a l clash at certain

times between the requirements of business enterprise and the

desiderata of employee welfare. In such cases, the personnel

"hEilbirt, Henry, "A Study of Current Counselling Practices i n Industry", Journal of Business, January, 1958. 2

F i l l e y , Alan C., "Human Relations i n the Growing Company", Personnel. Vol. 34, No. 2, September-October, 1957. ^ Meyer, Gladys D., "A Primer f o r Counsellors", Personnel, A p r i l , 1959.

I. 2 6

o f f i c e r might act as an advisor i n a r b i t r a t i o n between the c o n f l i c t i n g

policy alternatives, i n d i c a t i n g the probable consequences of d i f ­

ferent courses of action f o r employee morale and i n d u s t r i a l r e l a t i o n s ,

and interpreting the significance of these predictions f o r the

decision to be made; but i t i s presumptive that the decision

eventually reached must be referrable to the organization's long-

term economic interests. "In t h i s , he d i f f e r s e s s e n t i a l l y from

the s o c i a l reformer, whose precise business i t i s to put s o c i a l

needs f i r s t and demand that economic needs should accommodate.1,1

The personnel o f f i c e r may f e e l i t h i s "duty to improve the way i n

which i n d u s t r i a l a c t i v i t y i s organized, but i n doing so, he does

not act by higher standards than those of good management.

I f these observations have the effect of making the personnel

o f f i c e r ' s commitment to employee welfare seem half-hearted, or

c y n i c a l l y d e f i c i e n t , as soon as happiness ceases to be productive,

i t must be remembered that on the one hand there would be no firm

to administer welfare schemes i f i t f a i l e d to maintain a healthy

trading p o s i t i o n i n i t s markets, while on the other hand, the

personnel manager has every r i g h t to assume that where his com­

petence of r e s p o n s i b i l i t y ends, the competence and r e s p o n s i b i l i t y

of the " f u l l - t i m e " welfare agencies begin.

The Interrogatives of the Present Study

The Personnel manager i s , therefore, a natural l i n k between

1 Hunter, Guy, The Role of the Personnel O f f i c e r , A Group Review, Occasional Papers No. 1 2 , I n s t i t u t e of Personnel Management, Management House, London, p. 9 .

I. 27

industry and s o c i a l welfare. I t i s the purpose of th i s study to

examine the character of that l i n k . An attempt has been made to

answer some of the following questions: In what respects does

the personnel manager's job encompass welfare functions? Is he

q u a l i f i e d by v i r t u e of his tra i n i n g , s k i l l s and knowledge to carry

out these functions? In what ways and with what frequency does

his job expose him to stresses and confront him with the pre­

dicament of divided l o y a l t i e s ? Is the t y p i c a l personnel manager

aware of the important function he f u l f i l l s i n contributing to the

welfare of employees? What opinions does he have about the

problems of s o c i a l welfare considered i n their general aspects?

Is he aware of community resources and does he use them f o r

refe r r a l s ?

With these questions i n mind, we set out to examine the

range, scope and character of the personnel manager's job and

i t s r e l a t i o n to the f i e l d of s o c i a l welfare.

CHAPTER II

THE ROLE OP PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT IN INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION

The Evolution of Personnel Management

When the Ashtons of Hyde, s t i r r e d perhaps hy some remini­

scence of feudal patronage, exhibited certain marks of so l i c i t u d e

for the employees of th e i r factory i n Cheshire, when Robert Owen

made the 1700 workers i n his New Lanark m i l l s the object of his

Utopian paternalism, when Boulton and Watt set up sick clubs,

schools and dispensaries i n t h e i r respective f a c t o r i e s i n Soho

and Birmingham, they were inaugurating an approach to the world

of i n d u s t r i a l and commercial enterprise which has become as well

established i n our day as i t was eccentric and rare i n t h e i r s .

What they were doing, f o r t h e i r diverse reasons and i n th e i r

d i f f e r e n t ways, now constitutes the f i e l d of i n d u s t r i a l welfare,

which i s almost as in t e g r a l a part of the tasks of management i n

the mid-twentieth century as playgrounds are a part of our schools.

Nobody needs to be told how long and discontinuous a l i n e

stretches from these primitive and extraordinary experiments i n

benevolence to the elaborate and widespread schemes found today.

This i s not the place for a detailed reconstruction of the fami­

l i a r horrors of the Industrial Revolution, the enactment of fac­

tory l e g i s l a t i o n , the growth of the organized labour movement

and the other i n s t i t u t i o n a l transformations which eventually l e d

I I . 2

to the pattern of i n d u s t r i a l relations p r e v a i l i n g i n the western

nations at the present time. It i s s u f f i c i e n t i f t h i s sequence

of events be perceived as h i s t o r i c a l back-drop to the questions

with which we s h a l l be c h i e f l y concerned i n t h i s Chapter; and i n

par t i c u l a r , that t h e i r significance f o r the evolution of the job

of the personnel manager be t a c i t l y understood.

To assign a point of o r i g i n to any complex s o c i a l phenomenon

i s always, i n some degree, an arb i t r a r y act. But f o r our li m i t e d

and p r a c t i c a l purposes i t w i l l be convenient to date our record

from the year 1913 when the Institute of Industrial Welfare

Workers was formed i n B r i t a i n . This body was brought into being

upon the i n i t i a t i v e of a group of employers — themselves repre­

sentative of a strengthening current of s o c i a l and economic

thought — who repudiated the t r a d i t i o n a l view of the worker as

a tiresomely'recalcitrant but regrettably necessary feature of

the processes of trade, and affirmed instead the claims of the

employee as a human being. Shortly a f t e r i t s foundation, the

Institute and i t s p r i n c i p l e s received support from an adventitious

quarter when the unprecedentedly acute concern with i n d u s t r i a l

e f f i c i e n c y (especially i n munitions work) prompted by the F i r s t

World War resulted i n a rash of new programs f o r the health and

welfare of factory workers. The return of peace, however, and

what was known at the time as "normalcy" was accompanied by a

d i s t i n c t slackening of zeal f o r the welfare of the i n d u s t r i a l

workers; and many health and welfare schemes which had been i

inspired either by the Institute or the necessities of warfare

I I . 3

were l a i d aside as being not required i n the prosperity of the

1920's and not supportable i n the destitution of the 1930's. But

not a l l the ground gained i n e a r l i e r years was l o s t during t h i s

period; and the even more thorough-going mobilization of the

labour force that took place i n the Second World War, followed

i n turn by the demand f o r increased productivity occasioned by

Bri t a i n ' s post-war trading d i f f i c u l t i e s , a l l served to give fresh

impetus to the development of i n d u s t r i a l welfare programs and to

enlargement of the scope of personnel management. Training

courses f o r those entering the f i e l d were established at a number

of u n i v e r s i t i e s and technical colleges. A watershed had obviously

been reached when the Institute of 1913 changed i t s name to the

Professional Institute of Personnel Management. This organiza­

t i o n i s o f f i c i a l l y recognized by the B r i t i s h Institute of Manage­

ment, and i n les s formal ways, by B r i t i s h industry i n general.

In one sense of the word, (though not, as we s h a l l see, i n the

other) i n d u s t r i a l welfare and personnel management have ceased

to be controversial.

It i s no doubt a fact of considerable c u l t u r a l significance

that personnel management i n the United States begins, around

1910 with P.W. Taylor's evangelical celebration of the idea of

" s c i e n t i f i c management", with i t s now almost notorious proposals

f o r the application of s c i e n t i f i c , efficiency-oriented methods

i n management's dealings with employees. Certain kinds of ideas

t r a v e l with great speed i n North America, and by 1914 a number

of companies, under the banner of Taylorism, had already placed

I I . 4

the tasks of the e f f i c i e n t use of s t a f f resources under the

di r e c t i o n of one executive — a man sometimes known as the

"personnel manager".

Meanwhile, (whether i n p a r a l l e l or opposing l i n e s one i s

hard put to say) the trade union movement was becoming a force

to be reckoned with; and the reckoning had much to do with i n ­

d u s t r i a l welfare and personnel management. By the 1930*s, per­

sonnel administration had i n fact become firmly established as

an essential function of i n d u s t r i a l organization.

The New Deal gave further impetus to these trends i n both

i d e o l o g i c a l and regulatory terms, l e g i s l a t i o n l i k e the Unem­

ployment Insurance Laws and the Soc i a l Security Act gave statu­

tory form to the notion that the worker's economic security was,

i n certain p a r t i a l but d e f i n i t e ways (as d e f i n i t e as a premium

percentage!), a r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of industry. The l o g i c of ad­

ministration was almost universally seen to carry the implica­

t i o n that the requirements which such laws made of industry

came within the realm of the personnel manager's function.

Lundberg, indeed, suggests that unionism and increased govern­

ment intervention i n employer-employee relations had a powerful

influence on management i n the establishment of personnel ad­

ministration as an essential pre-requisite of organizational

e f f i c i e n c y . 1 It was a sign of the time when the Taylor Socie­

t i e s , o r i g i n a l l y formed f o r the discussion and promulgation of

Lundberg, Craig C , "New Directions f o r Personnel Research", Personnel Journal. November, 1962, Vol. 41, No. 10, p. 498.

I I . 5

Taylor's ideas, were transformed into organizations such as the

American Management Association, which l a t t e r body i s t y p i c a l

i n the importance i t accords to work of personnel managers.

The Range. Scone and Character of the Personnel Manager's Job

Lundberg defines personnel administration as:

... the organization, d i r e c t i o n and control of people i n formal organizations accomplished through super­v i s i o n and policy, and as such ( i t t r u l y becomes) the management of manpower resources.

But t h i s d e f i n i t i o n f a i l s to acknowledge the importance of

constructive relationships within organizations, and these are

essential i f the people involved are to be united i n the e f f o r t

of reaching a commonly accepted goal. Appley has drawn atten­

t i o n to management's consistent neglect of t h i s aspect of human

relationships:

... i t has f a i l e d i n the development of constructive relationships between manager and manager, worker and worker, and manager and worker.

Insofar as personnel management i s concerned with the crea­

t i v e use of the entire range of human resources available to an

i n d u s t r i a l enterprise, t h i s i s a weighty accusation. A d e f i n i ­

t i o n which seems less l i a b l e to such charges of managerial forma­

lism runs as follows:

Personnel administration i s a code of the ways of

^Lundberg, Craig C , "New Directions f o r Personnel Research", Personnel Journal. November, 1962, Vol. 41, No. 10, p. 498. p Appley, Lawrence A., "The War i s Over, Personnel, May, June

1963, Vol. 40, No. 3, p. 17.

I I . 6

organizing and treating individuals at work so that they w i l l each get the greatest possible r e a l i z a t i o n of t h e i r i n t r i n s i c a b i l i t i e s , thus attaining maximum e f f i c i e n c y f o r themselves and t h e i r group, and thereby giving to the enterprise of which they are a part i t s determining com­p e t i t i v e advantage and i t s optimum r e s u l t s .

In most instances, the personnel manager i s d i r e c t l y respon­

s i b l e to the Chief Executive. In theory, at least, he has equal

rank with the other s t a f f executives i n handling matters of

general p o l i c y . He i s therefore a representative of management,

not just a l i a i s o n between managers and those who are managed.

He i s the s p e c i a l i s t i n human resources and should be the key

advisor on a l l matters of personnel. As a l l management decisions

have behavioural implications, the personnel manager's function

i s , p o t e n t i a l l y , a very important one indeed.

Some companies have a written statement of p r i n c i p l e s which

has something of the status of a philosophy of personnel prac­

t i c e . When a statement of t h i s kind i s available i t provides

the personnel manager with e x p l i c i t c r i t e r i a of relevance and

legitimacy i n the l i g h t of which he can assess the v a l i d i t y of

p a r t i c u l a r decisions and p o l i c i e s . It w i l l also serve as a

means whereby a c t i v i t i e s having implications for personnel p o l i ­

cies i n di f f e r e n t departments of the organization can be co­

ordinated and systematized. An example of such a generalizating

formula — t h i s one being concerned with the provision of bene­

f i t s might be:

Pigors, Paul and Charles Myers, Personnel Administration; McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc., N.Y., 1956, p. 7.

I I . 7

To give the employee peace of mine or to protect hi s physical well-being to the extent that, i n the long run, the cost of the benefit w i l l be no more than the return the company may reasonably expect to receive.

The personnel manager has a v i t a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y to aid

management i n the formulation of sound personnel p o l i c i e s .

These p o l i c i e s should be f l e x i b l e enough to accommodate varied

and changing circumstances, yet stable enough to serve as limit'

s e tting guides to action. The personnel manager should con­

t i n u a l l y assess these p o l i c i e s and should bring i t to manage­

ment's attention when they have given evidence of being inade­

quate or inappropriate. Moreover, he has a delegated responsi­

b i l i t y to interpret personnel p o l i c i e s to the l i n e supervisors,

who i n turn should interpret these p o l i c i e s c o r r e c t l y to t h e i r

l i n e workers. One student of the subject writes:

Major personnel p o l i c i e s comprise that body of pr i n c i p l e s and rules of conduct with which i t governs the enterprise i n i t s relationships with i t s employees. Being a v i t a l part of the major business policy formulated to guide the enterprise i n attaining i t s objectives, the personnel p o l i c i e s naturally must conform to the broad structural relationships governing the organization as a whole.

In most companies, personnel management assumes the or­

ganized form of a "function", a c o l l e c t i o n of o f f i c i a l duties

f o r which the personnel manager i s responsible. The range of

a c t i v i t i e s that may be contained i n the work of a personnel

Schleh, Edward 0., "Personnel P o l i c y " . Personnel. May, 1954, Vol. 30, No. 6, p. 453. p Scott, Walter D i l l , Robert C. Clothier and Wm. R. Spriegel,

Personnel Management. McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc., New York, 1954, p. 40.

I I . 8

department i s as extensive as the range of human relations

within the organization. The personnel program — planned,

co-ordinated, and controlled hy the personnel manager — com­

monly comprises such a c t i v i t i e s as the formulation and d i r e c t i o n

of a t r a i n i n g and education program, employment, wages and hours,

safety, health, economic security, employee relations, employee

service a c t i v i t i e s and research and s t a t i s t i c s . Each d i v i s i o n

i s usually broken down i n turn into i t s constituent parts. For

example, Scott, Clothier and Spriegel, i n discussing the problem

of providing economic security, (or as they c a l l i t , " f i n a n c i a l

aids to employees") itemize f i f t e e n component considerations.

These include: mutual saving programs, profit-sharing programs,

pension plans, unemployment insurance, group l i f e insurance,

group h o s p i t a l i z a t i o n , and certain annual wage guarantees. 1

A summary chart i l l u s t r a t i n g the way i n which a personnel

program may be c l a s s i f i e d and analysed i s contained i n Figure 2.

Examination of a number of such charts reveals wide v a r i a t i o n

both i n the administrative categories used and i n the program­

matic content of each category. For example, some companies do

not mention counselling as a personnel function, although i t i s

included i n the chart comprising Figure 2 under the heading of

"Benefits". The categories used and t h e i r significance f o r a

given personnel program w i l l evidently vary according to the

-"•Scott, Walter D i l l , Robert C. Clothier and Wm. R. Spriegel, Personnel Management, McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc., New York, 1954, p. 40.

I I . 9

structure and purpose of the organization and the orientations

of the managerial group.

A l l these a c t i v i t i e s are designed to procure, u t i l i z e and

maintain e f f i c i e n t workers. The personnel manager seeks to co­

ordinate and d i r e c t t h i s combined program using a complex pro­

cess of intra-organizational communication. It i s a matter of

the highest p r i o r i t y for a personnel manager that channels of

communication remain f l u i d throughout the organization, f o r

these are the means whereby he maintains a state of informed

awareness of the effects of personnel p o l i c i e s and the guide

he refers to i n changing e x i s t i n g p o l i c i e s or introducing new

ones. At the same time i t has to be remembered that everything

he does should be referable to and consistent with the general

p o l i c i e s of the firm.

It had often been said the ultimate canon of value f o r what

the personnel manager does l i e s i n the contribution he makes to

the promotion of "teamwork1*. A watchful attention to t h i s

matter, as a c r i t i c a l index of organizational s t a b i l i t y and

morale, i s claimed by Pigors and Myers to be one of the p r i n ­

c i p a l functions of the personnel administrator. The equilibrium-

maintaining role of the personnel manager i s c l e a r l y to the fore

i n the following quotation from t h e i r widely-used text.

The personnel administrator i s the exponent of the personnel point of view i n policy formulation and administration as well as handling special personnel problems. He i s expected to keep his finger on the pulse of the organization - to diagnose i t s s t a b i l i t y and morale - and to help develop sound personnel

I I . 10

procedures and services designed to.,maintain, high morale and correct poor conditions.

The Heterogeneous and Unsettled Character of the Personnel Manager's Job

Even a cursory examination of the l i t e r a t u r e of personnel

management w i l l make i t clear that there i s an enormous variety

of opinion as to what the personnel manager actually does. This

d e f i n i t i o n a l equivocation i s also revealingly i l l u s t r a t e d i n the

d i v e r s i t y of t i t l e s ascribed to those who are actually involved

i n dealing with the "human resources" of industry. J . J . Evans

draws attention to t h i s i n an analysis of the o f f i c i a l designa­

tions of the registrants at a representative series of con­

ferences on personnel problems. Altogether, the number of job

t i t l e s held by the conferees was thirty-one. These included

"Employee Relations Representative", "Personnel Manager",

"Director of Employee Services","Vice-President i n Charge of In­

d u s t r i a l Relations", and others even more exotic. Evans com­

ments parenthetically that — apart from everything else - none

of the t i t l e s does much to indicate what the job i t refers to 2

actually consists of.

A s i m i l a r point i s made i n a study of the participants at

a Mid-Winter Personnel Conference of the American Management

Association. Pour hundred and f i f t y out of 1800 members of the "^Pigors, Paul and Charles Myers, op_. c i t . , p. 28. p Evans, J.J., A Program for Personnel Administration. McGraw-

H i l l Book Co., Inc., New York, 1945, pp. 16-23.

I I . 11

conference completed a questionnaire designed to e l i c i t certain

career-profile data on personnel men. Again, the variety of

t i t l e s was s t r i k i n g . They included "Vice-Presidents", "Indus­

t r i a l Relations Directors", "Public Relations", "Employment

Managers", and "Wage and Salary Administrators".

Facts such as these are paralle l e d by many other signs of

the confusion which surrounds the nature and composition of the

personnel man's job. Donald E. Lundberg, addressing himself

p a r t i c u l a r l y to the problems of nomenclature but alluding at

the same time to other elements of uncertainty i n the f i e l d , has

said:

Perhaps we can do l i t t l e but recognize the overlapping and c o n f l i c t s i n terms u n t i l the entire f i e l d of per­sonnel - or s h a l l we say i n d u s t r i a l relations - outlines i t s e l f i n growth and development.

A statement such as thi s leaves l i t t l e doubt that personnel men

themselves also recognize the unsettled character of t h e i r role

i n industry.

The scope of the personnel manager's a c t i v i t i e s vary, i n

the f i r s t place, according to the nature of the industry. No

standardized plan appears to be i n use even by groups of agencies

or organizations, much less by a l l companies. The administra­

tive l o g i c of the personnel manager's status and responsibi­

l i t i e s i s s i m i l a r l y wanting i n a r t i c u l a t i o n . There appears to

be no general agreement as to the exact meaning of the term

"personnel manager". To some he i s a person who interviews

Lundberg, Donald E., "Why c a l l i t Industrial Relations?", Personnel Journal. May 1948, Vol. 27, p. 21.

I I . 12

prospective employees, to others a labour relations o f f i c e r .

Some think of him as l i t t l e more than a record keeper, while

others see him as a key figure i n the formulation of company

po l i c y .

Craig C. Lundberg i s a p a r t i c u l a r l y f o r c e f u l c r i t i c of the

nebulousness of personnel administration, arguing that the lack

of a basic and uniform terminology and the poverty of good re­

search both show that the f i e l d has so f a r f a i l e d to rationa­

l i z e and integrate i t s p r a c t i c e . 1 Without i n t e l l i g i b l e pur­

poses, clear working goals or systematic theory, the f i e l d i s

capable of doing l i t t l e to improve our understanding of the

problems i t i s supposed to deal with. The l i t e r a t u r e i n the

f i e l d of personnel management i s said to consist mainly of

speculations as to why personnel work exists, random accounts

of how i t i s being done, and rule of thumb suggestions of how

i t should be done; but there i s l i t t l e or nothing i n the

l i t e r a t u r e with the proper credentials f o r the t i t l e of "science".

In these circumstances, the d i f f i c u l t i e s associated with d e f i n i ­

t i o n of the personnel manager's job are cause and effect at one 2

and the same time.

There i s a strong p o s s i b i l i t y that some of these problems

are the r e s u l t of c o n f l i c t i n g and ambivalent attitudes to per­

sonnel work on the part of both management and labour. The "^Lundberg, Craig C , "New Directions f o r Personnel Research", Personnel Journal. November, 1962, Vo l . 41, No. 10, p. 497. 2 The attentive reader may recognize some s i m i l a r i t i e s with

s o c i a l work i n t h i s disenchanted account of personnel management.

I I . 13

personnel "function" has had a mottled and somewhat impure

histo r y . There have been times, i t must be said, when "the

r a t i o n a l use of human resources" meant more work fo r the same

pay; others, when welfare schemes were introduced as the en­

teri n g wedge f o r an oppressive paternalism. Many employers

s t i l l look upon i n d u s t r i a l welfare as an i l l - j u d g e d concession

to the greed of the workers, and many union o f f i c i a l s view i t

as a poor substitute f o r better wages. Some firms retain a

personnel manager i n deference to what they secretly regard

as nothing more than a fashion. It i s small wonder i f the per­

sonnel manager, who i s at the point of intersection of these

currents of suspicion and controversy, should have d i f f i c u l t y

i n achieving a coherent and viable role i n i n d u s t r i a l l i f e . As

the answers to an item on "sources of d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n " i n the

questionnaire mentioned e a r l i e r made clear, a primary concern

of personnel managers i s with the lack of consistent support

from the senior ranks of management. As one i n d u s t r i a l r e l a ­

tions man stated:

There i s a standard lack of status, except when i n the c r i t i c a l function of 'ba i l i n g out' some other management element. Badge of o f f i c e should be a bucket.

Many personnel men recorded i n the same questionnaire that

i t was common for parts of t h e i r jobs to be usurped by c o l ­

leagues, such as l i n e supervisors, who took i t upon themselves

to do such things as h i r i n g , f i r i n g and wage-setting. They

Lynch, Edith. "The.ri.Personnel Man and His Job", Personnel. May, 1956, Vol. 32, l o . 6, p. 489.

I I . 14

complained too that many other people i n t h e i r organizations

i n s i s t e d on regarding themselves as personnel experts, refusing

or f a i l i n g to respect either the r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s or the com­

petences that were d i s t i n c t i v e to the personnel manager.

The ambiguity of the personnel manager's role at the theo­

r e t i c a l or programmatic l e v e l i s matched by the miscellaneous-

ness of the tasks comprised i n his job at the p r a c t i c a l and day

to day l e v e l . One recently published study of t h i s aspect of

personnel management l i s t e d areas of r e s p o n s i b i l i t y as diverse

as employment, medical supplies, communications, incentive pro­

grammes, books and magazines, recreation, vending machines,

house organ, c a f e t e r i a and public address system! It would tax

the understanding of the best brains to discover a unifying pro­

fe s s i o n a l purpose i n a series of a c t i v i t i e s as apparently random

as that. Moreover, the problem i s not made any simpler by the

fact that i n many companies, jobs l i k e these are performed by

people with quite d i f f e r e n t t i t l e s and designations. 1 (For

example, they may be part of the subsidiary r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s of

the Office Manager or Chief Executive). The irony of t h i s s i t u a ­

t i o n i s not only that i t reveals a deplorably improvisatory state

of a f f a i r s but also that i t e f f e c t i v e l y serves to prevent the

creation of one that i s not. It i s hard to see how the per­

sonnel manager can be expected to f i n d either the time or the

energy to formulate a meaningful role f o r himself i n the organi­

zation when both time and energy are being dissipated i n an

Report "What the Personnel Man Does". Personnel Journal. March, 1963, Vol. 42, No.'3, p. 145.

,11. 15

endless round of errand-running.

The reasons f o r the problems under discussion are both

numerous and varied. At times the blame appears to l i e with

management and at others with the personnel man himself.

Management a l l too often f a i l s to define either the content of

the job or the position i t should occupy i n the firm's admini­

st r a t i v e structure. As a re s u l t , the personnel manager w i l l

often f i n d himself working i n a situation of what might be

termed administrative anomie. Quite apart from the f r u s t r a ­

tions to which such a si t u a t i o n w i l l subject the personnel man

himself, i t has the further gross defect of f a i l i n g to y i e l d

clear performance c r i t e r i a to which the personnel manager can

be held accountable.

It w i l l frequently transpire that the personnel manager

has arrived at his job step by step from some other position

within the organization, and thi s i n turn w i l l mean that he i s

unli k e l y to have had formal training f o r the job. In t h i s re­

spect he w i l l d i f f e r from the executives of most other depart­

ments, who w i l l usually have undergone either some kind of

formal t r a i n i n g or a prolonged "apprenticeship" of some sort.

It i s also quite common for a person from another f i e l d such

as law, s o c i a l work, or public relations to secure the position

of personnel manager.

Personnel men themselves sometimes seem to expect t h e i r

mere word to be a s u f f i c i e n t warrant f o r t h e i r policy recom­

mendations, since the standards of "adequate evidence" i n t h e i r

I I . 16

f i e l d are so poorly developed. The c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y specu­

l a t i v e nature of the personnel manager's claims i s i n marked

contrast to the ruthlessly objective and sharply precise judg­

ments of his colleagues i n ( s h a l l we say) the accounting de­

partment; and f o r that matter, bear a generally anomalous

relationship to the f l i n t y decision-making processes that are

customary i n business l i f e . However, the job does involve

many intangible elements, and the personnel man i s undoubtedly

dealing with those variables i n i n d u s t r i a l administration that

are the least amenable to simple measurement and simple manipu­

l a t i o n . Perhaps i t i s only f a i r to say that the personnel

manager i s i n some ways a scapegoat, carrying on his back the

sins of ignorance and stupidity about human relationships that

belong properly to our entire system of economic rationalism.

Training Programs f o r Personnel Management

The data collected i n the course of this study on the sub­

ject of the t r a i n i n g of personnel managers are not, of course,

claimed to be exhaustive. Nevertheless, they are probably rep­

resentative enough to permit the summary judgment that, i n t h i s

matter also, the predominant impression i s one of pronounced

unevenness of development and widespread improvisation.

In many cases we found that the personnel manager i n a small

company would be a comptroller, accountant, or even the manager

or owner himself, performing the personnel function as a side

l i n e to his other various duties. In other, larger companies,

I I . 17

the personnel manager was often someone who had r i s e n through

the ranks of the business, although i t was common f o r such

people to have taken courses i n i n d u s t r i a l r elations and a l l i e d

subjects. (With t h i s exception, however, they seemed to have a

wide variety of educational backgrounds). The American and

Canadian companies evidently used the American Management Asso­

c i a t i o n extensively as a consultative and educational resource.

Many u n i v e r s i t i e s , both i n Canada and the United States,

o f f e r short courses and seminars i n personnel administration

and labor relations which large numbers of men engaged i n per­

sonnel work attend. 1 The Department of University Extension

and Adult Education at the University of Manitoba offers a

Three Year C e r t i f i c a t e Course (the lectures being given on

Saturdays) f o r those interested i n personnel and related work.

University entrance standards, or the equivalent i n p r a c t i c a l

experience, are required f o r admittance to the course. The

courses offered include: The Canadian Economy, Industrial

Psychology and Sociology, labor Economics, Personnel Administra­

t i o n , Labor Relations, Administrative Practices, and Organiza­

ti o n Theory. The University of Alberta Banff Centre f o r Con­

tinuing Education offers an annual course i n Personnel Manage­

ment i n cooperation with the Western Canadian Personnel

""•From the many l e t t e r s which were sent to u n i v e r s i t i e s , per­sonnel associations and management associations, i t was learned that there are very few educational programs — i f any — s p e c i f i c a l l y directed to the t r a i n i n g of personnel managers i n Canada or the United States.

I I . 18

Associations. This course i s available to individuals with

considerable experience i n personnel work or i n general manage­

ment. The course l a s t s for ten days and includes lectures on

Human Relations, Labor Relations, Administrative Practices,

Management Theory, and Economics.''"

The Institute of Personnel Management i n Great B r i t a i n co­

operates with a number of u n i v e r s i t i e s and technical colleges

i n providing courses of t r a i n i n g for a career i n personnel

management. These courses are of two kinds: those giving

exemption from the Institute's own examination, and those pre­

paring students f o r that examination. In the former instance,

year-long f u l l time courses are held at B r i s t o l College of

Technology, Ca r d i f f University, The Royal College of Science

and Technology of Glasgow, The London School of Economics, The

Manchester College of Technology, Queens College i n Dundee,

Liverpool University, and Oxford University. The h s t two

courses are at graduate l e v e l .

These courses are of university standard and combine

the o r e t i c a l with p r a c t i c a l work. They include a minimum of two

month's p r a c t i c a l experience i n personnel departments which may

be arranged by the Institute or by the college concerned. Those

e l i g i b l e to apply are university graduates, people nominated by

th e i r employers to take the course (the minimum age being

"'"These programs of the Univ e r s i t i e s of Manitoba and Alberta are described for t h e i r representative rather than t h e i r paragon­l i k e character. There are many such programs scattered through the u n i v e r s i t i e s of North America.

J 1 - !9

twenty-four), or those with experience i n industry or commerce

who wish to take the course on t h e i r own i n i t i a t i v e . There are

also Part-Time Day Release Courses given at various colleges on

one day and one evening a week over a period of two years. The

courses are attended hy those who are already employed i n the

personnel f i e l d and who have been nominated by t h e i r firms to

participate i n them.

The courses which prepare a candidate f o r the Institute's

examination are somewhat d i f f e r e n t . One-year f u l l time courses

are held at Hendon College of Technology, (on the outskirts of

London), and Slough College. Day Release Courses are held at

various colleges throughout the country. The examination i s

designed to test basic knowledge of personnel management, and

the standard approximates that of a university degree. There

are two parts. Successful completion of Part 1 leads to Gra­

duate Membership, and completion of Part 11 to Associate Mem­

bership. Candidates may prepare on t h e i r own by corresponding

or by attending technical college classes. The examination f o r

Part 1 covers Business Economics, Business Administration, In­

d u s t r i a l Relations (inclusive of i t s l e g a l aspects), and Per­

sonnel Management. The examination f o r Part 11 requires a

supervised project, an o r a l examination, and one paper i n Per­

sonnel Management. In these ways the Institute cooperates with

u n i v e r s i t i e s and other educational authorities to ensure a high

and reasonably uniform standard of q u a l i f i c a t i o n and t r a i n i n g

among personnel o f f i c e r s i n Great B r i t a i n .

I I . 20

A somewhat unusual educational project, which i s neverthe­

les s of great interest f o r the uniquely direct bearing i t has on

the subject of the present study, has been set up i n India,

where i t may be presumed the processes of i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n pro­

duce even more numerous and d i f f i c u l t problems than they do i n

our part of the world. In 1942 the University of Calcutta

established a Department of Social Work to conduct a diploma

course i n labor welfare. In 1954 the A l l India Institute of

Social Welfare and Business Management was established at the

University, and the Department of Social Work was merged with

i t . (Subsequently, i n June 1958, the name of the Institute was

changed to the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business

Management). The Institute was to continue to prepare and pre­

sent students f o r the Diploma Examination of the Calcutta Uni­

v e r s i t y i n labor Welfare and i n Business Management. Indian

labor law requires firms which employ 500 or more people to re­

tai n a labor welfare o f f i c e r . Most of the welfare o f f i c e r s are

trained i n the School of Social Work. Their duties are manifold,

and range from the provision of various amenities i n plants to

c o n c i l i a t i n g i n d u s t r i a l disputes and handling worker grievances.

It should be noted, however, that i n d u s t r i a l and s o c i a l condi­

tions i n India would i n fact make possible fewer provisions f o r

the welfare of the worker than would conditions i n the advanced

i n d u s t r i a l s o c i e t i e s of Canada, the United States and Great

B r i t a i n . Nevertheless, given the differences i n the base-line,

the Indian experiment i s well worth further study.

I I . 21

It appears that Great B r i t a i n i s the most advanced country

i n the provision i t makes fo r specialized t r a i n i n g courses f o r

personnel managers. Perhaps the fact that i t has more exten­

sive welfare services i n general, together with the presence of

a p o l i t i c a l l y potent labour movement, might help to account f o r

the differences. In addition, the influences which led to the

development of the personnel management function had t h e i r be­

ginning i n Great B r i t a i n . It would be natural enough i f specia­

l i z e d programs f o r the education of the personnel o f f i c e r were

most highly developed i n the country where the job i t s e l f be­

came singularized f i r s t .

In 1945 the American Management Association issued a state­

ment on what was judged to be a desirable background f o r per­

sonnel work. This included the completion of courses d i r e c t l y

related to personnel work (such as psychology, labor l e g i s l a t i o n ,

sociology, and general management); previous business ex­

perience i n l i n e and s t a f f positions; a period of apprentice­

ship i n a personnel department; and a record of successful or­

ganization and development of a personnel program."1"

Recent pronouncements appearing i n the professional journals

suggest that graduate degrees w i l l be an absolute requirement

i n the near future. It appears to be a matter of general agree­

ment also that a d i s t i n c t i v e system of t r a i n i n g must be developed

which w i l l p a r a l l e l the t r a i n i n g required f o r executives i n other

"The Qualified Personnel Director". Personnel. November, 1945, Vol. 22, No. 3, p. 141.

I I . 22

branches of management. Action under this head, we might add,

could well have the effect of both defining and legitimating

personnel administration to those other branches of management,

apart from i t s more obvious value i n providing a r a t i o n a l l y con­

ceived t r a i n i n g plan f o r intending personnel managers.

The Welfare Characteristics of the Personnel Manager's Job

The personnel manager's job can be said to have three broad

and closely i n t e r - r e l a t e d objectives: the i n d u s t r i a l l y produc­

tive u t i l i z a t i o n of human resources; the development of good

working relationships among his firm's employees; and the de­

velopment of the s k i l l s and capacities of the in d i v i d u a l em­

ployee. A l l three objectives have welfare implications of one

sort or another. In the f i r s t place, there i s an obvious con­

nection (though not an i n f a l l i b l y d i r e c t or symmetrical one)

between the wealth of nations and the welfare of nations.

Secondly, "good working relationships" are a major source of

s a t i s f a c t i o n i n themselves i n addition to being an important

variable i n the achievement of the i n d u s t r i a l productivity we

have already spoken of. F i n a l l y , the purposeful c u l t i v a t i o n

of the s k i l l s and capacities of the i n d u s t r i a l worker i s not

only an important instance of sophisticated husbandry, but a

means whereby the worker's own sense of accomplishment can be

fostered.

Many of the a c t i v i t i e s of personnel managers, therefore,

have a welfare character. For example, a l l benefit plans, such

I I . 23

as pension plans, group l i f e insurance plans and health i n ­

surance schemes, are designed to provide the worker and his

family with protection from some of the hazards of old age

and sickness. Their value l i e s both i n the concrete benefits

they supply and i n t h e i r power to free the mind from enerva­

t i n g worries. The part that the personnel manager plays i n

the formulation and administration of such plans c l e a r l y makes

him a c o l l a t e r a l figure i n the maintenance of the country's

system of s o c i a l security.

Personal counselling i s another a c t i v i t y of the personnel

manager which exhibits unmistakable a f f i n i t i e s with welfare work.

Three-quarters of the panelists who comprise the Bureau of

National A f f a i r s Forum reported that they offered personal

counselling to t h e i r employees on a wide range of problems."*"

These problems might concern either job matters or personal

matters. Provisions for a service of t h i s sort i s made nowadays

by almost a l l medium sized and large scale i n d u s t r i a l organiza­

tions, and where the provision exists, i t i s nearly always p r i ­

marily the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of the department of personnel manage­

ment. It i s probably unnecessary to s p e l l out the connections

between t h i s service and the welfare of the worker. (If the

connection i s uncertain here, then i t i s also uncertain i n

psychiatry and s o c i a l work).

To continue l i s t i n g examples, however, would be needlessly

"Company Counselling Programs", Personnel. January, February, 1962, Vol. 39, No. 1, p. 77.

I I . 24

painstaking and literal-minded. Reference to the summary ac­

count of the personnel manager's duties contained i n Appendix

II i s by i t s e l f s u f f i c i e n t to show that v i r t u a l l y nothing he

does i s without consequence f o r the welfare of the organiza­

tion's employees."'"

Reference has already been made, i n an e a r l i e r part of t h i s

study, to the f a c t that i f the personnel manager's concern with

welfare matters i s pervasive i t i s nevertheless not boundless.

A community's o v e r a l l system of welfare services must extend

to many i n s t i t u t i o n a l spheres. The impediments to occupational

mobility to say nothing of the threats to c i v i l l i b e r t i e s as­

sociated with corporate paternalism must be seduously avoided.

Not l e a s t , the i n d u s t r i a l organization's primary concern with

the production of marketable goods and services must not be

blunted through being ground down by an excessive and func­

t i o n a l l y inappropriate preoccupation with the creation and

maintenance of welfare programs.

To indicate the l i m i t s to i n d u s t r i a l welfare, however, i s

not to deny i t s f e a s i b i l i t y or even to question i t s necessity.

It would not be claimed that, because a school teacher f e l t

obliged to put h i s concern with the mental health of h i s pupils

into abeyance when i t seemed l i k e l y to undermine h i s educational

"Welfare i s an i n t e g r a l part of the personnel function, to be attained through a policy soundly based on human considerations and human values". (Northcutt, C.H., Personnel Management. Prin c i p l e s and Practices. Philosophical Library, Inc., N.Y., 1956, p. 215.

I I . 25

r o l e , he was insincere i n his e a r l i e r expressions of t h i s con­

cern or had no genuine grounds f o r acting upon i t i n the f i r s t

place. It i s true, of course, that the relationship between

the educability and the mental health of children i s more

straightforward than the relationship between the well-being

and productivity of factory workers, and i s less l i k e l y ,

moreover, to be the subject of p a i n f u l "either-or" choices.

In addition, i t would be ingenuous to ignore the f a c t that

businessmen w i l l not be as consistently impartial i n the way

they balance the two things as a teacher — or any other public

o f f i c i a l — i s at any rate expected to be. Nevertheless, we

must i n s i s t that observations l i k e these do not so much destroy

our case as specify the r e a l i s t i c terms i n which i t has to be

made •

It must be remembered, also, that the economic systems of

the advanced i n d u s t r i a l nations are not made up of a m u l t i p l i c i t y

of small businesses engaged i n a ferocious struggle to survive

i n a c r u e l l y competitive world. It i s characterized rather by

the prominence of large corporations which are heavily insulated

against the cruder shocks of competition, and which can go a

very long way before they f i n d that the arrangements they have

made for employee welfare are threatening t h e i r health as busi­

ness enterprises. Organizations l i k e this can afford to be

both s o l i c i t o u s and sincere. As Tead and Metcalf put i t :

There are companies where the objectives and purposes of operation have already become broadened to include a remarkably f u l l acknowledgment of the p r i o r i t y of

I I . 26

human values. P r o f i t s are regarded as a necessary means of e f f i c i e n c y and a useful operation against periods of business depression. Beyond that the central thought i s on perfecting the organization as a sound instrument of production and public service.

The importance and authentic problems, therefore, seem to

us to be these: to a r t i c u l a t e , i n a degree of d e t a i l hitherto

unavailable, the scope and methodology of welfare i n industry;

to affirm and demonstrate the legitimacy of i t s place therein;

to integrate the measures taken for i t s provision with the

organizational processes of the t y p i c a l business enterprise;

to lay these provisions under the responsible and expert d i r e c t i o n

of a d i s t i n c t and respected branch of management; to r i d the

o f f i c e of the personnel manager of i t s present thoughtless

c l u t t e r of odd jobs; and to develop a program of "professional"

education f o r the personnel manager which w i l l be uniformly good

enough to j u s t i f y managerial and public confidence, though not

so stereotyped as to foreclose the question of what such an

education should consist of. I f those working i n the f i e l d of

personnel management were to do a l l t h i s , the only thing wanting

would be that the members of the other "human rel a t i o n s " pro­

fessions should do h a l f as much!.

Tead, Ordway and Henry C. Metcalf. Personnel Administration. McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc., N.Y., 1920, p. 17.

Chapter 3.

A POLL OF OPINION AND EXPERIENCE

IN A GROUP OF LOCAL PERSONNEL MANAGERS

Chapter three is concerned with the findings yielded by interviews

with seven personnel managers in the Greater Vancouver area. The aim of the

interviews was to determine the extent to which reasonably representative

personnel managers were engaged in dealing with social welfare programs and

how they viewed their work in this area.

An Operational Definition of Social Welfare

The scope and nature of "social welfare" are notoriously elusive of

definition even in the context and with the advantage of shared professional

understandings and purposesj but even more so when the conversation is between

people who do not have a common idiomatic background. Of the fifty-six

replies to letters sent to personnel associations and training institutions

during the course of this investigation over half requested clarification of

the term "social welfare". It was part of our task, therefore, to formulate

an operational definition of social welfare that would be suitable for

standardized use in a questionnaire or in an interview.

Two approaches were used in producing the operational definition that

was finally adopted. The f i r s t was to consider well-recognized, formal

definitions of the term. Two sources were used for this: Friedlander's

Introduction to Social Welfare ^ and "The Beveridge Report". ^

(1) Friedlander, W. A. Introduction to Social Welfare, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall, 1961

(2) Beveridge, Sir W. Social Insurance and Allied Services Report, New York, The Macmillan Co., 19UH

Priedlander's observations on the subject, i f they do nothing else, at

least serve to confirm the impression of prevailing ambiguity. He frankly

acknowledges that there has been l i t t l e or no success to date in establishing (1)

a generally acceptable protocol of usage for the concept. In his own text,

however, he would appear to have averted the risks of controversy only to court

the opposing risk of a limp generality. His definition runs: "Social Welfare is

the organized system of social services and institutions, designed to aid

individuals and groups to attain satisfying standards of l i f e and health, and

personal and social relationships which permit them to develop their f u l l

capacities and to promote their well-being in harmony with the needs of their (2)

families and the community." This definition i s so abstracted and high-flown

that without further clarification i t is almost meaningless, even to professional

social workers. It is weak in the discriminations that a good definition

should contain, and vague in its implicit rules of application. We, therefore,

took from the Beveridge Report the idea of the five "giants" named as the

enemies of social welfares namely, "Want, Squalor, Ignorance, Illness, and

Idleness". These five conditions served as the starting point of the

operational definition.

The second approach involved an examination of the typical social welfare

services and institutions of North America to determine what needs appeared to

be uppermost in the circumstances of the clients served by those institutions.

From this review, three items were selected for inclusion with the five

outlined by Beveridge. These were (a) the relief of psychological stress,

(b) the solution of problems of personal relationships so serious as to affect

an individual's "social functioning", and (c) the promotion of the general

well being of individuals. The excessive generality of these notions has to

(1) Friedlander, Op. Cit., p. h (2) Friedlander, Op. Cit., p. k

3.3

be recognized, but i t seemed necessary to have something of this sort included

i f the objectives of casework and groupwork (as opposed to concrete welfare

"benefits") were going to be covered. The eight needs were then summarized

as follows:

A. Income protection against unemployment arising from, (1) sickness,

disability, death, (2) old age, (3) lack of suitable work.

B. Health needs for (1) hospitalization and (2) medical services

C. Housing needs

B. Educational needs

E. "Personality problems" expressed in impaired social functioning

and obstructed development of natural capacities.

These eight concerns of social welfare had to be made "operational" so

that the practices of personnel managers could be appraised i n accordance with

the extent to which their work could be said to be addressed to precisely such

problems. The f i r s t operational definition prepared was in the form of a

questionnaire (see Appendix D) which attempted to formulate the eight needs as

the personnel manager might encounter them.

The second operational definition was prepared in the form of an

interview outline. It was decided at this point to omit a number of the problem

areas listed above, either because they did not lend themselves to unambiguous

specification (their boundaries being difficult to l o c a t e o r because

personnel men were usually concerned with them only in unique or extraordinary

situations. (The "housing" item was eliminated for this latter reason).

Finally the following operational definition of "social welfare" was adopted

(l) The concepts employee morale and employee education can be found in almost every action the personnel manager takes on behalf of employees. Similarly a l l actions of the personnel man on behalf of employees can be considered as efforts aimed at the development of employee capacities.

3.k

for the study.

Social welfare measures are comprised in those actions taken under institutionalized auspices to deal with certain well-known con­tingencies of the l i f e history. These contingencies are (a) loss of income through unemployment, sickness, disability, death or old age; (b) the need for hospitalization and for medical services (c) the occurrence of personal problems that affect a man's ability to do his job and/or to maintain a viable pattern of social relationships.

Certain other considerations that were thought favourable to the choice

of this simplified definition of "social welfare" may be cited: the study was

to be exploratory rather than encyclopaedic; the areas of social welfare not

covered by the definition were chiefly those which seemed least amenable to

scientific analysis and measurement; and i f the personnel managers were not

concerned with the subjects of the definition, then their working relationship

to "social welfare" would be tenuous, and of correspondingly meagre relevance

to this study.

Even at this comparatively unusual level of specification, however, i t

was judged that a continuing uncertainty as to how personnel managers might

interpret the very terms of our definition made i t desirable to abandon the pro­

posed questionnaire and to conduct the investigation solely through the means

of interviewing. It is well known that the questionnaire is an effective

instrument of research only when the terms i t employs are substantially free

of ambiguity, requiring l i t t l e or no explication for the informants.

Interview Structure

Interviews lasting an average of 1 to 1-1/2 hours were held with seven

practicing personnel managers employed in a variety of businesses in the

Greater Vancouver area. Each interview was introduced with a short account of

the purpose of the investigation and a recitation of the definition of social

welfare described above. The questions posed in the course of the interview

are given in order, as follows:

3.5

- Do your responsibilities include elements of social welfare? What kinds of employee problems do you deal with that are similar to those that concern social workers?

- Are the social welfare elements of your job an officially accepted part of it? Do your superiors expect you to deal with the social welfare problems that are involved in your work? Are these responsibilities part of a written position description?

- What is the relationship between the social welfare activities of your firm and the overall objectives of your firm to provide goods and/or services efficiently and at a profit?

- Is there any conflict in your job between your social welfare responsibilities*;and your responsibilities to help your firm operate as efficiently as possible?

- Do you need or have you received any special training to carry out your social welfare responsibilities?

- How does the union affect the social welfare activities of yourself and your firm?

- Are there any characteristic opinions amongst your management group about the possible relationships that might exist between government and industry to satisfy the social welfare needs of a l l Canadians?

- How much interest do you show in the private lives of your employees before and after they are employed? Does an employee's private l i f e become a consideration in his employment and promotion?

- Do you feel you are sufficiently aware of the resources of the social welfare agencies in the community, to make referrals for your employees?

The only eligibility criterion used in selecting the interview subjects

was that they be fully occupied in personnel administration positions.^ An

effort was made to secure representation from at least one each of the following

types of firmst large and small local firms; local branches of national firms;

union and non-union firms; blue collar firms and white collar firms.

Results

Probably the most significant single finding.of the interview series was

the discovery that a l l the personnel managers interviewed were concerned, in one

(1) The actual selection process is described in Appendix A.

3.6

way or another, with social welfare problems. These problems were of three

types: (a) income protection, (b) health insurance, (c) personal stresses that

were affecting a man's work performance or for which he was seeking help for

independent reasons. The personnel managers were concerned with these problems

either because the problems f e l l within the terms of company policies or because

of the claims to attention of the individual case. A l l the personnel managers

interviewed were either administering retirement plans or were considering such

plans for initiation at a future date; they a l l administered group medical plans

and sickness pay plans. A l l the firms they worked for, of course, were

involved in statutory sanitary regulations, workmen's compensation, and the

unemployment insurance plan. In each case, the personnel manager was

responsible for the administration of the Workmen's Compensation Plan, though

in several instances a Safety Director had the job of attending to the

technical side of these responsibilitiesffor the Personnel Manager. Every

personnel manager interviewed confessed to being continually faced with the

problem of finding jobs for long service employees who could not carry on at

their regular jobs; many of these employees were disabled and did not have

sufficient insurance and pension protection to permit them to stop working,

or held jobs that were becoming obsolescent.

Financial indebtedness and alcoholism were the two most common personal

problems the personnel managers had to deal with. In a l l cases of personal

problems the personnel manager tried to work through the man's supervisor or

through a fellow worker who had some special and close relationship to the

employee. Two of the managers had medical departments to refer the employee to

for counselling. If these approaches failed, or i f the supervisor or employee

preferred i t , the personnel manager would himself deal directly with the employee,

3.7

generally by talking with him. None of the managers thought of these talks

as "counselling" that used recognized techniques or required formal training.

"In addition to talking to him certain other efforts were made by the firm to

help the employee. These included pay advances, job changes, shift changes,

and retraining.

The social welfare responsibilities they bore were, for a l l the

managers interviewed, of a secondary status. Their primary responsibilities

were concerned with hiring, training, and placing employees, processing the day-

to-day documents that are required by employees (such as time cards, pay checks,

reports to operating management), and attendance at grievance procedure sessions

and collective bargaining sessions. The personnel men a l l indicated, though,

that their social welfare responsibilities were important and even vital to the

success of their organizations. This latter statement is of particular signi­

ficance for i t indicates that a l l the firms contacted have a stake in social

welfare measures which they themselves acknowledge. The importance of social

welfare measures to a company was also affirmed by the managers when they

stated "that these measures had a direct influence on the efficiency of their

own firms in the way in which they affected the attitudes of employees.

Moreover, i t would be possible to argue that the acceptance of social welfare

measures as a natural part of their employee-relations policies was shown in

the absence of feelings of role conflict among the personnel managers, despite

the fact that they had simultaneous responsibilities to the profit-making

capacity of the firm and the welfare needs of its employees. But i t should

be said also that conflict fails to arise not only because there is a clear

understanding of the part that welfare schemes can play in industrial

administration but because the very possibility of conflict is precluded by

the unfailing preference that would operate in favour of the organization's

economic interests whenever a choice appeared to exist*

3.8

The compelling features of the social welfare activities of the firms

studied are to be found in the instrumental value of those activities rather

than i n their character of something independently worthwhile. Management

establishes and maintains welfare programs in order to attract, retain, and

positively motivate employees. Since business concerns cannot survive i f

they f a l l below certain critical levels of business-like efficiency, the

tendency of what is done in this field must be to contribute, directly or

indirectly, to the promotion of the goal of efficiency. Thus, in commenting

on why their firms had adopted certain social welfare practices, the personnel

managers referred to the possibility of adverse affects on morale that might

have arisen had the management not taken such action. Again - and for similar

general reasons - their concern for employees was usually directed toward the

long service employee. For example, one personnel manager expressed com­

paratively l i t t l e concern for eight men then being laid off, even though a l l

eight men had four or five year's service with the company, a l l were unskilled

and a l l faced a bleak employment future. Tet this manager was greatly con­

cerned about an employee with thirty year's service who had been partially

disabled by a heart attack. This concern with long service employees seems to

be in part the result of a policy of rewarding corporate loyalty, in part the

result of the intrusion of "particularistic" sentiments which have no strict

connection with general rules either of profit or of welfare.

Besides personal acquaintance, and the needs of the firm, modal practice

in the same branch of industry appeared to be an important determinant of the

scope and form of a firm's social welfare policies. Two of the managers stated

that their companies" policies were governed by industry practice, even though

in one case this meant being more generous than the firm wanted to be, and in

the second case less generous. One manager had recently turned down a proposal

for a dental health plan because i t was not part of industry practice.

3.9

The Interviews do suggest, however, that within the limits set by the

overall objective of maximum profits, individual firms, both large and small,

can effectively administer social welfare measures of vital importance to their

employees and to the general community. The flexibility the firms exhibited

in dealing with individual cases in which employees were no longer able to

carry on their regular jobs was impressive. One firm had recently taken back

an employee who had gone blind and been trained by the local C.N.I.E. Agency.

Another firm had created a special job for an employee almost totally crippled

by arthritis. A l l the firms either had staff training programs designed to

help employees acquire special knowledge and skills, or encouraged employees

to take training courses on their own time. One firm was reported to have

hired two trained instructors to conduct annual courses which employees could

attend without cost. The skills developed in these courses made i t possible

for some employees in the forest products industry to move from the status of

unskilled worker to that of skilled worker over a period of three years.

Unless their reticence on the subject was due to causes not revealed to

us, the personnel managers had remarkably indefinite opinions about the more

general issues of social welfare. In reply to the question concerning the

respective responsibilities for social welfare measures of government and

private organizations, not one of the personnel managers was able to give an

account either of his own views on the topic or of those held by other

members of his management group.

The personnel managers readily admitted a lack of knowledge of social

welfare resources in the community, the one exception being a manager who had

served actively on two social welfare agency boards. They believed, too, that

i t would be of assistance to them in their jobs i f they were in fact better

informed about such resources, methods of referral to social agencies, and so forth.

3.10

Our informants were unequivocal in their rejection of any suggestion of

intentional paternalism in their firms. ̂ Nor were their firms thought to be

improperly or unduly concerned with the private lives of their employees.

Even in the appointment of middle management personnel or senior executives

there was no scrutinizing of an employee's family or his social habits.

Perhaps the second most significant finding of the interviews is the

manifest importance of the influence that unions and the process of collective

bargaining have on the social welfare measures taken by the firms involved.

Since welfare benefit plans for employees cost the firm money, the management

naturally looks on such expenditures as part of the remuneration of employees,

and accordingly includes welfare benefit plans in its bargaining with the

union about wages. These managements expect the union concerned to reduce

its cents-per-hour demands in proportion to the costs of any benefit plan

being negotiated. Management is usually willing to absorb the administrative

costs of a plan, as well as to absorb a percentage of its costs in substance.

For example, one of the personnel managers recounted how his firm had offered

to establish a disability pension plan for its employees, stipulating that i f

the union would contribute three-cents-per-hour of its normal wage increase,

the firm would match this with three-cents-per-hour and administer the plan

without cost. The union refused the offer because, (so the personnel man

believed), the union is judged by its members and by other unions in terms of

the cents-per-hour pay i t has secured in bargaining, for its members. Welfare (2)

plans apparently do not figure prominently in the prestige appraisals of unions.

(1) This finding appears to confirm the point made earlier that industrial management sees social welfare measures as related to employee productivity. It does not use these measures to satisfy paternalistic inclinations.

(2) "Union positions with respect to the question of bargaining on a cents-per-hour basis versus the level of benefits basis seem to reflect the bargaining environment rather than firm principle." Barbash, J., "The Unions and Negotiated Health and Welfare Plans", New Dimensions in Collective Bargaining, Davey, Kaltenborn, Ruttenberg, Ed. Harper & Bros. i<>3<), p.' 102'

3.31

The union influence is extremely important in company welfare arrange­

ments where there is industry-wide bargaining. One of the firms studied was

a very successful, long established, and large business, with approximately

600 employees on its payroll. Yet i t did not have a retirement pension plan.

The personnel manager was convinced his firm would have established a retire­

ment pension plan years earlier had i t not been for the industry-wide bargaining

in which his firm participated. Since many of the smaller firms in the industry

were marginal operations, they were opposed to any welfare measures that would

increase their operating costs.

The personnel managers of the two largest unionized firms in the study

indicated a second way in which unions influence the social welfare policies

of companies. In order to find work for disabled employees or for employees

whose jobs are being discontinued, management often has to transfer the

employees concerned to other jobs. Union agreements are continually being

negotiated, however, that limit management's right to transfer employees from

one job to another without f i r s t holding the position open to applications

from employees with seniority claims.

Only one of the firms studied was non-unionized. This particular firm

had the most extensive social welfare policies and services of the seven in

the group. It was the only firm that offered a savings plan and a profit-sharing

plan. The employees were represented by an employee council, the members of

which were chosen on a departmental basis in annual elections. This council

met monthly with local management personnel and i t s members were free to bring

up any subject of concern to the employees they represented. Future studies

of "social welfare and personnel administration" should concern themselves,

inter alia with the seeming advantages of working for a non-union firm. A l l

of the personnel managers felt that the unions in their companies adversely

3.12

affected a management's ability to deal with employee social welfare needs.

The majority agreed, though, that unions had been directly responsible for

many of the benefits now enjoyed by the employees. In one firm that employed

seasonal workers, the management refused to support the union when i t wanted

help in publicizing a special government program dealing with seasonal work,

even though i t was a program of obvious benefit to the employees.

Any future study of "social welfare and personnel administration" should

include as a matter of priority a review of union policies and practices in

the social welfare field. In unionized firms social welfare programs are

often dependent upon, or are vitally affected by, the terras of the joint

agreement that governs the actions of both management and union in almost a l l

phases of employee-employer relations.

Personnel managers see the results of the "major contingencies" dealt

with by social welfare institutions in cases of individual hardship. A l l the

men interviewed had come across dramatic examples of the human misery caused

by sickness, disability, unemployment, old age and the breakdown of personal

self-control. They had a l l seen the effects of automation in their operations

as i t replaced men by machines. One firm employs 300 to UOO employees on a

part-time basis in full-time jobs because these jobs will, over a two to

three year period, be taken over by machines. These experiences cannot help

but make personnel men well disposed to the establishment of permanent, pro­

gressive social welfare policies, even though, as managers, their paramount

concern is bound to be with efficiency and profit.

Only two of the personnel men interviewed dealt directly with the

question of the similarities and differences of social work and personnel

administration. The fi r s t personnel manager, whose firm employed over 300

unskilled workers, thought the two types of work were similar. He f e l t that

3.13

the amount of time he spent on his social welfare responsibilities and the

importance of these responsibilities justified his comparing himself to a

social worker. This man felt also that many problems of the current

industrial scene, such as employee training and automation, were becoming

so important that they urgently needed more attention from him.

The second personnel manager felt that his overall goal of helping

the firm achieve maximum efficiency and profits precluded any possibility

of his being a social worker. He had to get the best possible people

into the positions for which they were best suited, and the welfare of the

employee had to be a secondary consideration that could not be allowed to

jeopardize the primary responsibility of his job. He felt that there was

much that a company could do to provide for the employee's welfare, but

asserted that a l l welfare provisions had to be justified in terms of increased

productivity. He felt his "work l i f e would be unbearable" i f he tried

to put employee welfare f i r s t while a l l other department heads put lower

costs f i r s t .

Though a l l of the personnel managers were clear about their

social welfare responsibilities, they were uncertain about the functional

unity of their departments. They found difficulty in giving succinct

expression to the purpose of the personnel department. Two of the

managers described their work as so many "joe" jobs.

The following table summarizes the answers received from the

personnel men who were interviewed for this thesis:

3.U*

Table A. Summary of Interview findings

Answers Given Interview Questions Yes No Undecided

The Personnel manager has social welfare responsibilities 7 -

Social welfare responsibilities are officially part of the personnel manager's job 7

There are conflicts between the social welfare responsi­bi l i t i e s and the objectives of the firm - 7

The social welfare actions are taken in order to improve employee productivity 7 -

Personnel men require special training for social welfare responsibilities 3 2 2

The personnel men and their companies are only "casually1* interested in the private lives of employees 7

Unions have a vital effect on the social welfare actions of an organization of which they are a part 6 1

The personnel managers are sufficiently informed of community social welfare resources to make referrals for employees 1 6

The personnel managers are sufficiently aware of the major social welfare problems in Canada - 7

The industrial management personnel are aware of the major social welfare problems in Canada - 7 -

3.15

Conclusions

Several important conclusions can be drawn from the interview

findings. Personnel managers have social welfare responsibilities as a

recognized part of their jobs. Many of the needs of their employees that

concern them most are the same kinds of needs that social welfare institutions

are also - i f more centrally - concerned with. These needs are the provision

of income protection, the provision of health services through insurance

plans, the retraining of workers for useful employment, and the provision

of assistance to employees suffering from crippling personality problems.

Personnel managers are in direct contact with the gross manifestations

of several serious social problems; (a) unemployment arising from economic

instabilities, (b) the disabling lack of education and training of many

workers, (c) the displacement of workers by automation, and (d) the problems

caused by sickness, disability, and old age. But personnel managers lack a

"social 1 1 perspective from which to view the human problems they encounter.

Their approach to human problems is what one might call an anecdotal one,

usually prompted by personal acquaintance with the employees in question.

This lack of "social" perspective is common to the majority of the executives

in the industries that were studied. A knowledge of the social welfare

resources of the community is lacking - perhaps seriously lacking - amongst

the personnel managers who were interviewed.

The social welfare work of the personnel managers questioned is

subject to the commitment-of the organization to efficiency and profits,

and in unionized firms, to the constraints implicit in the process of

collective bargaining. The personnel managers, however, experience no conflict

3.16

between the logic of efficiency and profit and their social welfare

responsibilities since, where conflict might develop, the firm's goals

of efficiency and profits are always sovereign. There is, though, a

wide scope for social welfare activities within the limits set by the

entrepreneurial orientation of most organizations, because employee needs

for security have a direct effect on the productivity of employees and

because there is always a distinction to be made between 'Uie service of

profit and the worship of profit. What we have already suggested on the

basis of essentially theoretical considerations is confirmed in our modest

empirically derived data: namely that even though industrial administration

may be governed by the principle of economic success, prudent rulers are

neither advised nor required to be despotic.

CHAPTER IV

CONTRADICTION AND AGREEMENT IH THE FIELDS OP

SOCIAL WELFARE AND PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

The Personnel Manager's Function Incorporates Many of the Values of Social Welfare

During the past forty years or so, there has been a growing

emphasis upon the personnel function i n management. The labour

shortages of the Two World Wars, the increasing attention being

given by management to the welfare of the employees, spurred not

a l i t t l e by the action of the trade unions and many other factors

dealt with more f u l l y elsewhere i n this study, have a l l led to

what we know today as Personnel Administration. With the r e a l i ­

zation, too, that good management was closely bound up with e f f i c i e n c y

and p r o f i t came many of the welfare services i n industry. There are

many de f i n i t i o n s of Personnel Administration, but the majority of

them stress the notion of c u l t i v a t i n g and encouraging each worker's

special talents and c a p a b i l i t i e s , and thereby making possible high

l e v e l s of personal and corporate e f f i c i e n c y and giving to the

enterprise of which the worker i s a part i t s determining competi­

t i v e advantage. 1

A f u l l y rounded personnel service program i s planned to help

i n three areas of the worker's l i f e : on the job, o f f the job but

i n the company, and outside the company i n the community at large.

It includes f a c i l i t i e s for promoting 1. health 2. safety provisions

3. "conveniences", such as rooms for rest and lunch 4. education

or i n non-competitive contexts, i t s special excellences.

IV. 2

and i n f o r m a t i o n 5. a g r e a t e r measure of economic s e c u r i t y ,

through such d e v i c e s as r e t i r e m e n t pensions, v a r i o u s forms of

insurance, c r e d i t unions and p r o f i t s h a r i n g 6. r e c r e a t i o n s (viewed

as the c o n s t r u c t i v e use of l e i s u r e time) 7. c o u n s e l l i n g i n con­

n e c t i o n with p e r s o n a l and f a m i l y problems and 8. community i n t e r e s t s .

The scope of personnel management i n c l u d e s the human and

s o c i a l i m p l i c a t i o n s of work and o r g a n i z a t i o n , recruitment and

s e l e c t i o n of employees, and t h e i r t r a i n i n g , promotion and develop­

ment. I t i s concerned with the r e l a t i o n s between employers and

employees and o f management wit h trade unions, i n t e r n a l communication

and c o n s u l t a t i o n and the terms and c o n d i t i o n s of employment

( i n c l u d i n g wages and s a l a r i e s as w e l l as the h e a l t h , s a f e t y and

g e n e r a l w e l f a r e of employees). Personnel management, t h e r e f o r e ,

cuts across many o f the r e c o g n i z e d areas of s o c i a l welfare.

The I n f l u e n c e of Trade Unionism on the Personnel F u n c t i o n o f Management

"Management" i s not a homogeneous category and g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s

about i t , a t best, are n e c e s s a r i l y s i m p l i f i c a t i o n s . The emphasis

must be on trends r a t h e r than on absolute p o s i t i o n s a t g i v e n p o i n t s

o f time. A l l o w i n g f o r these q u a l i f i c a t i o n s , however, i t has seemed

c l e a r to us from our examinations of i t s l i t e r a t u r e and from per­

sonal i n t e r v i e w s w i t h some r e p r e s e n t a t i v e f i g u r e s i n the f i e l d ,

t h a t personnel management today can be s a i d to r e s t on many of the

same value assumptions which inform the f i e l d o f s o c i a l welfare;

not l e a s t i t s p o s i t i v e view of the c r e a t i v e p o t e n t i a l s of each

human being.

IV. 3

I n c r e a s i n g l y , q u i t e apart from the more f o r m a l i z e d p l a n s of

union-management cooperation and "suggestion" systems, the i d e a

has gained ground t h a t employees may have something to c o n t r i b u t e

to the improvement of the p r o d u c t i v e process, over and above the

performance o f t h e i r s p e c i f i c a l l y assigned t a s k s .

Managerial approaches to employees and unions have changed

from a s o r t of w e l f a r e p a t e r n a l i s m to a d y n a m i c a l l y - o r i e n t e d

concern w i t h communication, p a r t i c i p a t i o n and the acceptance of

u n i o n i s m . 1

I t i s c l e a r t h a t personnel a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , as a b a s i c manage­

ment f u n c t i o n , has to be geared to the e x i s t e n c e of unionism.

The most obvious f a c t i s that managements have recognized unions

and are d e a l i n g w i t h them to an extent, as measured e i t h e r by the

numbers o f employees represented by unions or by the s u b s t a n t i v e

matters over which b a r g a i n i n g takes p l a c e , t h a t would have been

undreamed of twenty-five years ago. The growth of trade unionism

has been a most potent f o r c e i n i n f l u e n c i n g management to modify

i t s methods of d e a l i n g with employees. Often these adjustments

have been made grudgingly, sometimes t a k i n g p l a c e only a f t e r s e r i o u s

economic c o n f l i c t ; and t h a t they are by no means u n i v e r s a l today i s

shown by the p e r i o d i c occurence of i n d u s t r i a l b a t t l e s t h a t are

waged wit h old-time f e r o c i t y . Furthermore, i t has been b l u n t l y s a i d

t h a t the change i n management i s o f t e n one of t a c t i c s r a t h e r than

b a s i c philosophy. As a trade u n i o n i s t has put i t :

1 P i g o r s , Paul et a l . Readings i n Personnel A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1959, p. 1. I n t r o d u c t i o n .

IV. 4

Tr a d i t i o n a l l y , a personnel program i s simply one of management's tools for the control and di r e c t i o n of the enterprise. Like the others i t seeks greater e f f i c i e n c y and higher p r o f i t s . Personal values do affect the application of t h i s guide, but the ultimate ends are the same. As a result plant e f f i c i e n c y i s the basic unit for testing conduct. x

It i s obvious that personnel management must seek to accom­

modate the goals of both management and the trade union. As

long as we have a private-enterprise economy, these ends must be

s a t i s f i e d through the same mechanisms. And i f our economic system

i s to survive i n an era of strong trade unions, neither union nor

management can operate independently of the other. It i s a

weakness, perhaps, of t h i s study, that we did not investigate the

attitudes of the unions towards personnel management and i t s

welfare functions but our findings made i t clear, even so, that

those attitudes are an i n t e g r a l part of the personnel manager's 2

concerns.

The Projected Tasks of Welfare i n Industry

It was discovered from personal interviews that the personnel

o f f i c e r was involved i n many welfare functions. It i s commendable,

we believe, that many of these services were regarded as a natural

part of the employee's rights and that the t r a d i t i o n a l concept of

1 Barkin, Solomon, "A Trade Unionist Appraises Management Person­nel Philosophy," Readings i n Personnel Administration, McGraw-Hill Book Co., p. 2 3 .

2 An e a r l i e r study did explore the attitude of the trade unions to

some aspects of welfare r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s i n the community, v i z . Pennington, Edward James and Ian Walker, The Role of Trade Unions i n Social Welfare, Master of Social Work Thesis, University of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1 9 6 2 .

IV. 5

"welfare" as a form of patronage seems to have disappeared. In

fact, when the word "welfare" was used, i n t h i s study, i t was

expressly projected to our informants i n terms of those contingencies

which the s o c i a l worker might deal with, such as loss of income,

unemployment, sickness, d i s a b i l i t y and personal problems.

The personnel manager sees many of these problems i n his d a i l y

work with employees. There are many s i m i l a r i t i e s between his job

and those involved i n s o c i a l welfare. For t h i s reason, perhaps,

those engaged i n so c i a l welfare work have been remiss i n overlooking

the personnel manager as a natural l i n k between industry and

s o c i a l welfare. I f the s o c i a l worker i s not going to take an

appointed place i n industry (and there seems to be l i t t l e evidence

to indicate that he w i l l ) i t i s perhaps an obligation of those

engaged i n welfare work to help the personnel manager deal more

ef f e c t i v e l y with the tasks of detecting and changing the pathogenic

conditions which occur i n industry. In time, perhaps, he could be

persuaded to a more e x p l i c i t concern with preventive rather than

curative treatment and with benefit not only to industry but to

the community i n general.

Limitations Facing the Personnel Manager i n Dealing With Employee 1s Welfare

(a) The Personnel Manager Ide n t i f i e s with Management

The personnel manager, by the very l o g i c of his position, i s

faced with a number of l i m i t a t i o n s which may prevent him from

dealing adequately with the problems of employee welfare. In

the f i r s t place, there i s no doubt that he sees himself as part

IV. 6

of management, and i n doing so, assumes as his foremost concern

the e f f i c i e n t operations of the industry or business he works for.

Thus although i t i s true that i n attaining this objective the

employees' welfare must be a consideration, i t i s a consideration

which places second, not f i r s t . I f the personnel manager betrays

a clumsy "expedience" i n balancing these dual claims upon him,

i t i s unlikely that the workers w i l l think of him as anything

other than a representative of management. Since the worker r e l i e s

on his job as a means of l i v e l i h o o d for himself and for his family,

he i s not l i k e l y to discuss with somebody seen i n t h i s l i g h t any

concerns, personal or otherwise, that might tend to jeopardize

his employment. Several of tie personnel managers interviewed i n

the course of t h i s study i d e n t i f i e d this conceptual dichotomy of

"management" and "labour" as a serious impediment to the job that

they were expected to do. They reported that they would l i k e to

think that employees would approach them whenever necessary; but

they knew that the r e a l i t y of the situation was that the workers

were quite reluctant to do so and f o r the reasons that we have

given.

(b) The Personnel Manager Is Concerned Primarily with His Job Supremacy

As a salaried employee with his own career aspirations, the

personnel manager has an obvious personal investment i n his job.

It would be naive to suppose that the personnel manager i s not

concerned with his own advancement i n the organization. It i s

unlikely, therefore, that the personnel man i s going to engage

IV. 7

i n unremitting advocacy of the claims of the workers i n dealing

with management. He i s , by the same token, unlikel y to he

entirel y objective i n his thinking about alternative methods of

coping with the problems of "organizational behaviour." In

theory, the personnel manager i s supposed to be concerned, d i s ­

interestedly and impartially, about the well-being of each employee.

In practice, however, his attitudes cannot always be characterized

i n t h i s way. Such comments as, " I f they are not happy people, you

cannot get the work out of them," were common i n the interviews

we conducted; and they would seem to suggest that the concern with

employee welfare l i e s under the poised axe of i t s demonstrated

usefulness to the firm, and that execution would be summary i f

the demonstration f a i l e d .

(c) The Personnel Manager Cannot Be I n f i n i t e l y V ersatile

In theory and i n practice a l i k e , the m u l t i p l i c i t y of the

tasks the personnel manager i s expected to perform i s extreme.

In addition to his regular and assigned tasks, i t was found that

he frequently had r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s that bore no relationship to

matters of personnel policy. Several personnel men made reference

to t h i s aspect of their job by r e f e r r i n g to themselves as "Joe boys."

In circumstances l i k e these, i t i s quite l i k e l y that some areas

of t h e i r r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s w i l l receive no more than scant attention.

For example, i t was found that "exit" interviews were frequently

not held. Yet t h i s might be considered the very point at which

the worker s h i f t s from being an independent and employed ind i v i d u a l

to a jobless and dependent member of society. The fact that t h i s

IV. 8

task has to he placed low on the scale of p r i o r i t i e s suggests

that the personnel man's excessively miscellaneous duties have

imposed serious l i m i t s on the p r a c t i c a l scope of his concern with

the welfare of employees.

(d) The Personnel Manager Lacks Specialized Training for His Role i n Industry

The personnel manager's own lack of special training l i m i t s

him i n planning for and dealing adequately and e f f i c i e n t l y with

the welfare aspects of his job. This problem i s discussed ex­

tensively i n the l i t e r a t u r e and i t was much i n evidence during

the personal interviews. Few of our informants f e l t that they had

had adequate preparation f o r t h e i r d i f f i c u l t and responsible jobs.

They were not s k i l l e d i n "human relations" and did not have the

training to do counselling. They had l i t t l e knowledge, i f any,

of community resources, and r e f e r r a l s to outside sources were

the exception rather than the rule. Even with the best w i l l i n

the world, one cannot "help" unless one knows "how to help"; and

i t i s apparent that many personnel managers do not, and know that

they do not.

(e) The Tasks of the Personnel Manager Are Hot Clearly Defined

The way i n which industry i s organized with i t s h i e r a r c h i c a l

structures of authority and r e s p o n s i b i l i t y w i l l also determine

how many and what problems come to the attention of the personnel

manager. In our interviews, i t was found that i t was frequently

the supervisors i n l i n e positions below the personnel man who

handled employee problems, both those of a personal nature and

IV. 9

those r e s u l t i n g from the working s i t u a t i o n . In p r a c t i c e , the

personnel managers seem to f e e l t h a t i f a l i n e s u p e r v i s o r i s

doing h i s job w e l l , he can handle these problems b e t t e r because

he i s l o c a t e d hearer t h e i r source. But i t seems to us that t h i s

procedure might tend to deepen the d i v i s i o n between "management"

and "labour" r a t h e r than serve to u n i t e them i n the c o o p e r a t i v e

e f f o r t of a t t a i n i n g a common g o a l . In Chapter Two, we drew

a t t e n t i o n to the f a c t t h a t persons other than personnel managers

o f t e n assume personnel r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s . The o b j e c t i o n i n t h a t

i n s t a n c e was not that i t widened the gap between workers and

employers, but that i t downgraded the s t a t u s of the personnel

manager by making i t appear as though he were o t i o s e and d i s ­

pensable. The assumption would be that the s p e c i a l s k i l l a

personnel manager possessed (at l e a s t i n theory) i n d e a l i n g w i t h

human r e l a t i o n s and human welf a r e , might tend to be d i s r e g a r d e d ,

a t r i s k of damage to the employees' welfare.

( f ) The Dangers of P a t e r n a l i s m

No d i s c u s s i o n of managerial concern f o r the welfare of workers

can p r o p e r l y a v o i d the s u b j e c t of p a t e r n a l i s m . In the l i t e r a t u r e

o f personnel management, i t i s c l e a r that few students of the p r o b l

b e l i e v e t h a t p a t e r n a l i s m s u r v i v e s i n n o t i c e a b l e p r o p o r t i o n s . But

nobody could d i s p u t e that i t would s t i l l be o b j e c t i o n a b l e i f i t

d i d s u r v i v e . I t i s c h a r a c t e r i z e d by managerial a t t i t u d e s t h a t

they w i l l p r o v i d e s e r v i c e s and b e n e f i t they c o n s i d e r to be "good"

f o r the employees. They re s e r v e the r i g h t to withdraw such b e n e f i t

a t any time, and the employees do not p a r t i c i p a t e i n p l a n n i n g f o r

I V . 10

s u c h s e r v i c e s . I n s u c h a n i n s t a n c e t h e company m i g h t c o n s i d e r i t

h a s a r i g h t t o i n t e r f e r e i n t h e p r i v a t e l i v e s o f t h e w o r k e r s .

T h i s m i g h t l e a d t o t h e w o r k e r h a v i n g t o f u l f i l c e r t a i n c o n d i t i o n s

i n h i s p r i v a t e l i f e i n o r d e r t o r e m a i n i n t h e g o o d f a v o u r o f

managemen t . P a t e r n a l i s m m i g h t a l s o h a v e t h e t e n d e n c y t o " s p o i l "

e m p l o y e e s — t o go t o o f a r i n p r o v i d i n g f o r t h e m — w i t h t h e

r e s u l t t h a t e m p l o y e e s m i g h t a s s u m e p r o g r e s s i v e l y l e s s r e s p o n s i ­

b i l i t y f o r t h e m s e l v e s . T h e r e w o u l d be no r o o m f o r t hem t o make

i n d i v i d u a l d e c i s i o n s o r t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n p l a n n i n g f o r t h e m s e l v e s .

I n t h i s l i g h t , p a t e r n a l i s m i s a n enemy r a t h e r t h a n a n a l l y o f t h e

i n d i v i d u a l e m p l o y e e ' s w e l f a r e , h o w e v e r b e n i g n t h e m o t i v a t i o n s

b e h i n d i t .

I n o u r i n t e r v i e w , we d i d n o t f i n d a n y c l e a r e v i d e n c e o f

company p a t e r n a l i s m . H o w e v e r , i n a t l e a s t one i n s t a n c e , t h e r e

was some i n d i c a t i o n t h a t t h e management i n q u e s t i o n w o u l d p r e f e r t o

be p a t e r n a l i s t i c e v e n t h o u g h i n f a c t i t was n o t . Management a p p e a r e d

t o r e s e n t t h e c o n t r a c t e d b e n e f i t s a n d s e r v i c e s t h a t h a d a c q u i r e d

t h e s t a t u s o f r i g h t s f o r t h e e m p l o y e e s , l a r g e l y t h r o u g h t h e a c t i v i ­

t i e s o f t h e u n i o n s . B u t i f a p e r s o n n e l m a n a g e r h a r b o u r s u n s p o k e n

t h o u g h t s l i k e t h e s e , t h e y w i l l s u r e l y u n d e r m i n e h i s e f f o r t s t o

p r o m o t e s a t i s f a c t o r y r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n management a n d l a b o u r ,

p a r t i c u l a r l y i n so f a r a s t h e y i m p i n g e u p o n t h e m a n n e r i n w h i c h

t h e c o m p a n y ' s w e l f a r e p r o g r a m s a r e a d m i n i s t e r e d . The f a i l u r e o f

many i n d u s t r i e s t o d e t e r m i n e t h e e x t e n t t o w h i c h t h e y a r e r e s p o n ­

s i b l e f o r t h e h e a l t h a n d w e l f a r e o f t h e i r e m p l o y e e s , a n d t h e i r

f a i l u r e s a t i s f a c t o r i l y t o s e t o u t a c o d e o f m u t u a l o b l i g a t i o n s

IV. 11

between labour and management have resulted i n needless f r i c t i o n s

which carry a heavy price i n i n e f f i c i e n c y and i l l w i l l . These

undertakings, however, can never be carried out successfully so

long as they are i n i t i a t e d i n an atmosphere of ambivalence and

suppressed resentment.

(g) The Discrepancies Between the Personnel Manager's Intentions and His Practice

Personnel managers are aware of the problems that arise from

the operations of industry. They are aware too of the implications

that these problems have f o r the individual worker's well-being.

But the l i m i t a t i o n s — both structural and accidental — of the

settings i n which they work have created a gap between i d e a l and

r e a l i t y , profession and practice, intention and achievement, which

leaves most personnel managers with a sense of something l i k e

moral unease. It may leave the student of s o c i a l welfare with

a sense of wasted resources. I t i s i n acknowledgement of both

of these that we now off e r some modest recommendations f o r action.

Recommendations

(a) Liaison Between Social Workers and Personnel Administrators

Social workers as individuals and through t h e i r professional

associations should try to establish working relationships with

personnel men i n both capacities and at both l e v e l s . Social

workers should also take proper note of the fact that personnel

men are well q u a l i f i e d for inc l u s i o n on s o c i a l welfare agency

boards. Social welfare research and action projects requiring

I V . 12

l a y p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f f e r e x c e l l e n t o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r b r i n g i n g

p e r s o n n e l men m o r e f u l l y i n t o t h e f i e l d o f s o c i a l w e l f a r e .

S o c i a l w o r k e r s c o u l d make t h e m s e l v e s a v a i l a b l e a s s p e a k e r s

t o g r o u p s o f p e r s o n n e l men . Two o f t h e p e r s o n n e l m a n a g e r s i n t e r ­

v i e w e d f o r t h i s s t u d y e x p l i c i t l y s a i d t h a t t h e y w o u l d be i n t e r e s t e d

i n h e a r i n g t h e s o c i a l w o r k e r ' s v i e w o f w h a t a n e m p l o y e e n e e d s a n d

e x p e c t s f r o m h i s e m p l o y e r . S o c i a l w o r k e r s c o u l d a l s o w i t h p r o f i t

a t t e n d p e r s o n n e l c o n f e r e n c e s a n d p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e w o r k s h o p s o f

s u c h c o n f e r e n c e s .

C e r t a i n p r o b l e m s ( e . g . t h e d i s a b l e d a n d t h e o l d e r w o r k e r )

a r e o f s u c h i m p o r t a n c e t o b o t h g r o u p s t h a t t h e y c o u l d c o - s p o n s o r

d i s c u s s i o n s o f t h e s e p r o b l e m s . A g a i n , b o t h s o c i a l w o r k a n d p e r ­

s o n n e l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n h a v e a c c e s s t o k n o w l e d g e t h a t i s e s s e n t i a l

t o a t h o r o u g h d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e p r o b l e m s a r i s i n g f r o m a u t o m a t i o n .

( b ) T r a i n i n g i n S o c i a l W e l f a r e S e r v i c e s a n d P o l i c y

A c t i o n s h o u l d be t a k e n b y t h e o r g a n i z e d s o c i a l w o r k p r o f e s s i o n

t o e n c o u r a g e p e r s o n n e l men t o t a k e a n a c a d e m i c c o u r s e i n " s o c i a l

w e l f a r e s e r v i c e s a n d p o l i c y " . T h i s c o u l d be s e t u p e s p e c i a l l y f o r

t h e p u r p o s e ( e . g . i n c o l l a b e r a t i o n w i t h a u n i v e r s i t y e x t e n s i o n

d e p a r t m e n t ) o r s y n t h e s i z e d f r o m e x i s t i n g a c a d e m i c p r o g r a m s i n

u n i v e r s i t y s o c i a l s c i e n c e d e p a r t m e n t s o r p r o f e s s i o n a l s c h o o l s o f

s o c i a l w o r k . A c o u r s e o f t h i s k i n d , i f p r o p e r l y c o n c e i v e d a n d

c a r r i e d o u t , c o u l d h e l p p e r s o n n e l men i n s e v e r a l a r e a s o f t h e i r

j o b s . I t w o u l d g i v e t hem a s o c i a l p e r s p e c t i v e f r o m w h i c h t o v i e w

t h e i n d i v i d u a l p r e d i c a m e n t s o f t h e i r e m p l o y e e s . T h i s s o c i a l p e r s -

IV. 13

pective would promote a better understanding of the predicaments

themselves and suggest hitherto untried solutions. A s o c i a l

perspective might also prompt personnel men to in t e n s i f y t h e i r

efforts to prevent and solve the ind i v i d u a l troubles that

compositely go to make up many of Canada's most serious s o c i a l

problems, such as unemployment and retraining. It i s not im­

possible, for that matter, that these enriched undertakings should

be transmitted from the personnel man to his management group, so

that both he and the management group would have a larger view of

the s o c i a l problems that exist i n Canada and of the complex and only

half-perceived causes of these problems. As c i t i z e n s , and as people

often d i r e c t l y charged with the costs of s o c i a l policy, management

people both require and are e n t i t l e d to t h i s measure of enlighten­

ment.

An ef f e c t i v e course on s o c i a l welfare services and po l i c y

would give the personnel man knowledge calculated to help him

understand the attitudes and behaviour of his employees, and of

the unions he works with. This knowledge would include the dominant

cul t u r a l values influencing employees, the h i s t o r i c a l development

of the major economic philosophies, and the growth of present-day

so c i a l welfare services and p o l i c i e s . It should also include

analysis of the behavioural and philosophical premises underlying

these services and p o l i c i e s .

(c) C l a r i f i c a t i o n of the Welfare Function i n the Light of Organizational Objectives

As long as the overall objective of the firm i s ess e n t i a l l y

IV. 14

that of economic ef f i c i e n c y , the personnel manager should keep

his personnel functions as primary and only work for the welfare

of his employees when thi s action i s compatible with the o v e r a l l

purpose of the organization. 1 Painless and f r u i t l e s s c o n f l i c t s

w i l l develop i f the personnel man t r i e s to make his so c i a l welfare

r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s his chief concern. The immediate needs of the

employees and the needs of the organization are often incompatible

and often a choice of one or the other must be made. Unless a

clear, consistent policy i s established for making such choices,

the personnel manager could be immobilized by the re s u l t i n g dilemma.

The personnel function i s a v i t a l one i n any organization and must

be performed e f f e c t i v e l y and consistently. It i s a d i f f i c u l t

function and requires extensive tr a i n i n g and experience. It i s a

time-consuming job and requires close attention. A l l of these

reasons make i t impossible for the personnel man to be both a

soc i a l worker and a personnel manager. He may perform many s o c i a l

welfare functions but these must be subject always, i n an ultimate

way, to the demands of the organization f o r maximum ef f i c i e n c y and

p r o f i t s .

1 Two things should be said i n elaboration of t h i s statement: f i r s t , that "economic e f f i c i e n c y " i s not the same as p r o f i t i b i l i t y f o r some p a r t i c u l a r person or persons; second, that there i s an important difference between respecting the proper boundaries of one's concern with something ( i n t h i s case "employee welfare"), and having a concern the boundaries of which can be a r b i t r a r i l y and u n i l a t e r a l l y contracted. We think i t better that the per­sonnel manager have a s t r i c t l y defined but unequivocally sincere interest i n the welfare of hi s firm's employees than that he have an all-encompassing one which stands under perpetual threat of revocation!

IV. 15

The statutory position i n India of a Welfare O f f i c e r i s a

good example. Berkowitz i n h i s study of t h i s position has pointed

out that i t i s almost impossible for one person to carry the two

r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s of employee welfare and the personnel function of

a s s i s t i n g operating management to select, t r a i n , place, motivate

and document workers. One of these r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s must be

considered primary and the other secondary. The secondary responsi­

b i l i t y i s then neglected. Berkowitz concludes that both employee

welfare and personnel a c t i v i t i e s are suffering because of the

statutory creation of the p o s i t i o n of Welfare O f f i c e r . He f e e l s

that India needs urgently i n i t s i n d u s t r i a l organizations the

progressive personnel theories and practices of Great B r i t a i n and

the United States. But these are not being developed by the

Welfare Officers because of the impossible task they face of

trying to become personnel experts while carrying the r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s

of s o c i a l workers. Berkowitz also states that the s o c i a l welfare

of the employees suffers because too much r e s p o n s i b i l i t y i s given

to the indvidual firm for s o c i a l welfare actions and not enough

re s p o n s i b i l i t y assumed by the government. The larger, more suc­

cessful firms are able to meet adequately the s o c i a l welfare needs

of th e i r employees, but the majority of workers benefit l i t t l e from

the fact that t h e i r company i s l e g a l l y compelled to employ a wel­

fare o f f i c e r . The firm i s unable to s a t i s f y the needs of the

workers for decent homes and extensive health care. 1

Berkowitz, M., "Social Workers i n Indian Industry", Social Service Review. Vol. 36, Dec. 1962, pp. 412-420.

IV. 16

(d) Nationalized Industries

It i s probable that i n nationalized industries the personnel

manager would experience l e s s c o n f l i c t i f he put the employee's

welfare on something nearer an equal footing with the need f o r

efficiency. The subject of nationalized industries, however,

raises so many serious p o l i t i c a l , economic, and administrative

questions that the effect i t would have on the functions of person­

nel managers cannot be r e a l i s t i c a l l y considered i n i s o l a t i o n . 1

(e) Social Welfare L e g i s l a t i o n

The p o s s i b i l i t y of the personnel manager and his organization

being able to provide for the major s o c i a l welfare needs of t h e i r

employees should not lessen e f f o r t s to develop pro v i n c i a l and

federal programs that w i l l provide for the major contingencies

faced by a l l c i t i z e n s . This study indicates, on the contrary, a

need to strengthen government s o c i a l welfare a c t i v i t i e s , i f only

because of the limi t a t i o n s surrounding the personnel manager's

and his organization's implementation of s o c i a l welfare p o l i c i e s

and practices. The s o c i a l welfare rights of Canadians cannot be

l e f t to the whims of private enterprises and to the weaknesses of

col l e c t i v e bargaining for s a t i s f a c t i o n . A l l c i t i z e n s through t h e i r

respective governments must guarantee that s o c i a l rights are

acknowledged and that e f f e c t i v e e f f o r t s are being made to supply

the needs these rights represent; t h i s acknowledgement and the

1 But the differences would i n any case l i e c h i e f l y i n the margins of decision-making. No modern businesses operate on cut-throat Malthusian p r i n c i p l e s ; and no nationalized industries can abandon a l l thought of eff i c i e n c y .

IV. 17

r e s u l t i n g actions must be based on l e g i s l a t i o n . The programs

projected i n thi s l e g i s l a t i o n would be and are of such magnitude

and importance that public control would be e s s e n t i a l . 1

The l e g i s l a t i v e approach to s o c i a l welfare needs recommended

here does not lessen the contribution to .social welfare that can

be made by private enterprise and personnel administration. A l l

citi z e n s need regular, meaningful work that gives them the opport­

unity to contribute ( i n keeping with t h e i r potential) to the

productivity of the i r country and the world. Personnel managers

can help supply t h i s meaningful work and the tr a i n i n g required by

the i r employees to do i t . They can also be instrumental i n the

early detection of serious personality problems and the application

of the prevention and treatment resources of t h e i r organizations

or of the general community. These tasks o f f e r almost unlimited

scope and challenge to personnel managers.

(f) Industrial Social Work

Industrial s o c i a l work has had i t s greatest development i n

Europe. In 1959 personnel s o c i a l workers representing the countries

of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, I t a l y , Netherlands, Scotland,

Sweden, and Switzerland met i n Germany to further the development

of the profession of personnel s o c i a l work i n Europe, through

1 "Everyone has the right to a standard of l i v i n g adequate fo r the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care and necessary s o c i a l services, and the right to security i n the event of unemployment, sickness, d i s a b i l i t y , widowhood, old age or other lack of l i v e l i h o o d i n c i r ­cumstances beyond his control". Proclamation of the United Nations General Assembly, Dec. 10, 1948, A r t i c l e 25, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

IV. 18

c l a r i f i c a t i o n of aims, basic p r i n c i p l e s , tasks, l i m i t s , methods

and conditions, peculiar to the working situation of the

specialization. They defined personnel s o c i a l work as part of

so c i a l work i n general and adhering to i t s general aims and

pri n c i p l e s . However, personnel s o c i a l work i n pr i n c i p l e i s

limited to a s s i s t i n g i n solving problems which are connected with

the working situation. These problems might —

1. be caused by and occur i n the work environment

2. have unfavourable effects i n the work situation, although not caused there

3. be due to general a r b i t r a r y regulations i n industry, the results of which aff e c t the l i f e of the-workers outside t h e i r work.

Just as i n s o c i a l work i n general, personnel s o c i a l work

has a threefold aim, namely:

1. to help any Individual or group to adapt to the work situ a t i o n and to meet the work requirements,

2. to stimulate management to adapt the work situation to the s o c i a l needs of the employees,

3. to a s s i s t the work "community" as a whole to function i n a better way.

It was f e l t that problems not connected with work should be

referred to the appropriate s o c i a l work agency, just as these

agencies would i n turn r e f e r work problems to the personnel

soc i a l worker.

Industrial s o c i a l work i n Europe has i t s primary task i n

representing and i n protecting many basic needs which are not

only material ones but emotional ones also. It would appear that

i n t h i s setting, the personnel s o c i a l worker functions as an int e g r a l

IV. 19

part of the personnel department either under the personnel

manager or on the same l e v e l as the personnel manager.1

By now, management, unions and s o c i a l welfare o f f i c i a l s i n

Europe are thoroughly f a m i l i a r with i n d u s t r i a l s o c i a l work and

recignize i t as one branch of professional s o c i a l work. Since

the i n d u s t r i a l s o c i a l worker i s le s s overwhelmed with cases of acute

material need, she has more time for preventive work.

It has been said that i n d u s t r i a l s o c i a l work did not become

established i n the United States because of the current b e l i e f that

i t i s not the task of industry to establish i t s own s o c i a l services,

but rather to support the community i n i t s attempt to supply and

to extend i t s s o c i a l agencies according to the need and the demand

for them. This viewpoint i s shared by management and union a l i k e ,

and i s also widely held i n s o c i a l welfare c i r c l e s . It i s f e l t

that the employee, f i r s t of a l l , i s a member of his community l i k e

everybody else. I f he becomes troubled and wants tie help of a

s o c i a l worker, i t i s not the job of his employer to furnish the 2

service he needs.

Professor Herman D. Stein of the Columbia School of Social

Work presented a paper at the School's Alumni Conference of 1958

i n which he outlined some of the d i f f i c u l t i e s that stand i n the

way of doing s o c i a l work i n industry. They are as follows

1 "Function and Working Methods of the Personnel Social Worker", i n International Social Work, 1959.

2 Miro, Annelise, Industrial Social Work, Its Pr i n c i p l e s and

Its Practices, Master of Social Work Thesis, Wayne University, Detroit, Mich. 1956.

IV. 20

1. Social work i s e s s e n t i a l l y agency based. Even i f there could be a s p e c i f i c function f o r a s o c i a l worker i n industry, the s o c i a l worker would have to perform as a kind of entrepreneur, unrelated to the mainstream of s o c i a l work a c t i v i t y which goes on within agency structures. Unlike the doctor who can practice medicine i n industry and remain a doctor, the s o c i a l worker i n industry would be r e l a t i v e l y isolated from the main­stream of h i s profession.

2. The s o c i a l objectives of s o c i a l work are much more closely related to programs supported by organized labour than those of organized industry. As an employee of an i n d u s t r i a l organization, the s o c i a l worker can easily f i n d himself i n a business which does not value the things that s o c i a l work stands f o r . The p o s s i b i l i t y of e t h i c a l c o n f l i c t i s a very r e a l one.

3. Industry has shown no special desire f o r s o c i a l workers. It has tapped many other f i e l d s , but has not defined any of i t s needs i n terms which would suggest s o c i a l workers as a l o g i c a l resource, nor has s o c i a l work i d e n t i f i e d a service that has significance to industry.

4. There may be a future for s o c i a l workers i n the devel­opment of c l i n i c a l treatment but as of now, one can see t h i s only i n r e l a t i o n to psychiatry as the dominant d i s c i p l i n e .

While the s o c i a l worker has no monopoly on concern with human

relations, he does o f f e r certain assets to industry. These include

a professionally d i s c i p l i n e d approach to his work, a capacity to

work i n n o n - c l i n i c a l settings and relationships, an understanding

of group and community process as well as i n d i v i d u a l treatment,

and an understanding of supervisory process.

I f the s o c i a l worker were to work i n industry, he would require

additional knowledge with regard to organizational theory. He

would require a strong sense of professional i n t e g r i t y and security,

and would have to be both able and w i l l i n g to work outside his

t r a d i t i o n a l setting and yet remain within the framework of s o c i a l

IV. 21

work. It would mean also c l a r i f y i n g an area of service for industry

that meets a genuine organizational need. 1

It would appear that i n d u s t r i a l s o c i a l work i s not on the

immediate horizon i n Great B r i t a i n , the United States or Canada.

It i s apparent, however, that s o c i a l agencies are not always

equipped to meet the many demands placed on them and that there

are many problems closely related to the i n d u s t r i a l scene which

could he discovered e a r l i e r and treated more e f f e c t i v e l y at t h e i r

onset, on the i n d u s t r i a l scene. It would appear that the person­

nel manager, who already has wide i n d u s t r i a l acceptance and who i s

located i n the most strategic position, would be the most l o g i c a l

person at the present time to be responsible f o r the supervision

of i n d u s t r i a l s o c i a l work.

The s o c i a l work profession should explore with the personnel

profession the p o s s i b i l i t i e s of having selected firms experiment

with the establishment of s o c i a l work positions i n th e i r organi­

zations.

(g) Future Studies

Future studies of the subject of " s o c i a l welfare and per­

sonnel administration" should include attempts to determine:

(a) how employees view the s o c i a l welfare a c t i v i t e s of t h e i r

employers, (b) how union representatives view the s o c i a l welfare

1 Stein, Herman D., Is There A Place for Social Work i n Industry? Statement given at the 1 9 5 8 Alumni Conference of the Columbia University School of Social Work, New York, New York.

IV. 22

n e e d s o f C a n a d i a n s , w h a t s o l u t i o n s u n i o n s o f f e r t o s a t i s f y t h e s e

n e e d s , a n d how u n i o n s r e a c t t o t h e s o c i a l w e l f a r e a c t i v i t i e s o f

e m p l o y e r s , a n d ( c ) how t h e o p e r a t i o n a l m a n a g e r s v i e w t h e s o c i a l

w e l f a r e a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e i r p e r s o n n e l m a n a g e r s .

F u t u r e s t u d i e s s h o u l d make u s e o f w r i t t e n q u e s t i o n n a i r e s ,

( s i m i l a r t o t h e one i n A p p e n d i x A ) , t o p r o v i d e a l a r g e r s a m p l e

o f p e r s o n n e l m a n a g e r s ' o p i n i o n s a n d p e r h a p s a m o r e o b j e c t i v e

r e c o r d o f t h e s e o p i n i o n s .

Appendix A. A NOTE ON METHODS USED TO OBTAIN RESEARCH DATA

On the recommendation of Dr. John T. Montague, Director of

the Institute of Industrial Relations, University of B r i t i s h

Columbia, an interview was held with Mr. 1. Prost, a member of

the Educational Committee of the Vancouver Personnel Manager's

Association. Mr. Frost had expressed the interest of the l o c a l

Association, i n our project and h i s views as to a feasible and

desirable approach for our undertaking were explored. Similar

interviews were held with Dr. N. A. H a l l of the Faculty of

Commerce and Dr. S. Jamieson of the Faculty of Economics,

University of B r i t i s h Columbia. The interviews were designed

to e l i c i t t h e i r opinions on the relationship between personnel

management and s o c i a l welfare and to acquire information as to

pertinent resources which could be used i n the c o l l e c t i o n of our

data.

A form l e t t e r requesting: c r i t e r i a of e l i g i b i l i t y for

membership i n the personnel association, job descriptions of

personnel managers, tr a i n i n g i n s t i t u t i o n s f o r personnel managers,

and welfare programmes involving personnel managers were sent to

a number of personnel associations i n the United States, Great

B r i t a i n and Canada. These sources were obtained from: a l i s t

contained i n "1962 Directory of Local Personnel and Training

Groups", Personnel, Vol. 39, No. 2, March, A p r i l , 1962, Journal

of The American Management Association, Concord, N.H., from which

certain associations were selected which we had reason to believe

2

would be representative of the associations i n the United States

and Canada, the B r i t i s h Institute of Personnel Management, and

the B r i t i s h Information Service i n Vancouver. These included:

American Management Association Public Personnel Association American Personnel and Guidance Association,

Washington, D.C. Personnel Management Association Anaheim Industrial Management Club Federal Personnel Council of San Francisco Fresno Personnel Management Association Inland Personnel Association Personnel Testing Council of Los Angeles Stockton Area Personnel Council Connecticut Personnel Association Employment Managers Association of Meriden

and Wallingford Greater Bridgeport Personnel Association Hartford Manufacturers Personnel Group Personnel Management Group, Manufacturers'

Section, Delaware State Chamber of Commerce Central F l o r i d a Personnel and Management

Association Personnel Association of Greater Miami Personnel Council, Planning Department, City

and County of Honolulu Central I l l i n o i s Personnel Club East Side Industrial Relations Association Industrial Relations Association of Chicago Industrial Relations Association of Decatur Personnel Association of Springfield Personnel Association of Indianapolis Personnel Administration Association of

Baltimore New England Society for Personnel Management American Society f o r Personnel Administration,

East Lansing, Michigan Professional Society i n Industrial Relations,

Minnesota Industrial Relations Workshop, Management Institute,

D i v i s i o n of General Education, New York University, New York

Cleveland Personnel Association V i r g i n i a Personnel and Guidance Association Fort Worth Personnel and Management Association P a c i f i c Northwest Personnel Management Association Society for Personnel Administration, Washington,

D.C.

3

Personnel Association of Toronto, Ontario Personnel Association of London and D i s t r i c t ,

London, Ontario Montreal Personnel Association, Montreal, P.Q. Calgary Personnel Association, Calgary, Alberta.

Similar l e t t e r s were sent to u n i v e r s i t i e s and t r a i n i n g

centres which were well-known fo r having conducted research i n

Industrial Relations. These sources were obtained from: a

pamphlet, Personnel Research Contributions by TJ. S. Universities

by Frank B. M i l l e r , a pamphlet, The Committee of University

Industrial Relations Librarians, containing information regarding

the Industrial Relations sections i n colleges and u n i v e r s i t i e s i n

North America, which was sent to us by the American Management

Association; and the B r i t i s h Information Service i n Vancouver.

These sources included:

University of C a l i f o r n i a , San Diego University of Michigan New York University Harvard University Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations, New York School of Social Work of Columbia

University Bureau of Business Management, College of

Commerce and Business Administration, University of I l l i n o i s

University of C a l i f o r n i a , Institute of Industrial Relations, Los Angeles

C a l i f o r n i a Institute of Technology, Industrial Relations Section, Pasadena

Princeton University Industrial Relations Section University of Michigan, Bureau of Industrial

Relations, Ann Arbor London School of Economics and P o l i t i c a l Science Manchester College of Science and Technology University of Liverpool University College of South Wales and

Monmouthshire University of Manitoba University of Alberta McGill University, Industrial Relations Centre,

Montreal, P.Q.

4

Periodicals, journals and texts i n the f i e l d of personnel

management were surveyed to assemble data concerning the role of

the personnel manager i n i n d u s t r i a l society, and the welfare

dimensions of h i s tasks.

Personal interviews were held with seven members of the

Vancouver Personnel Manager's Association. These men held positions

involving the personnel function and were employed by firms rep­

resentative of a variety of industries i n the Vancouver a r e a .

Information was compiled during the interviews r e l a t i n g to the

nature of t h e i r r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s and t h e i r opinions as to the

aspects of t h e i r job which might contain "welfare elements".

5

APPENDIX B. JOB DESCRIPTION*

Position T i t l e : Personnel Director Date: February 1961

Department: Personnel Exempt

Supervision Received:

T i t l e of Supervisor: President, General Manager, or Vice-President

Overall Responsibility and Authority:

The Personnel Director i s responsible f o r advising top management and furnishing functional guidance to Department Heads by developing • and applying sound plans and practices f o r personnel administration and labor relations and with conducting such a c t i v i t i e s i n a manner which w i l l enable the Company to accomplish i t s objectives through an e f f i c i e n t work force with good morale.

Specific R e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s :

Formulates or receives and recommends f o r approval proposals f o r p o l i c i e s of, personnel administration and labor relations, and administers a l l such p o l i c i e s establishing appropriate procedures:

1. Recruits, screens, tests and recommends f o r employment the best q u a l i f i e d candidates f o r open positions within the Company.

2. Prepares, guides, coordinates, the employee relations, evaluation and development and tr a i n i n g programs.

3. Administers the Company Fringe Benefit program.

4. Assists and supervises recreation and other special personnel programs of the Company.

5. Directs and administers the Safety and Health Program of the Company.

6. Establishes and administers wage and salary program of the Company.

7. May direc t and administer Industrial Security within the Company.

8. May conduct communication program such as house organ, news bu l l e t i n s , etc.

9. May administer in-plant feeding program.

6

10. May participate i n the public relations program of the Company.

11. May coordinate and supervise employee suggestion system.

12. Administers company's compliance with a l l pertinent Labor l e g i s l a t i o n .

13. May prepare, conduct or supervise, or a s s i s t i n union-manage­ment contract negotiations and administers the provisions of agreements.

May Supervise:

Employment Supervisor, Wage and Salary Administrator, Chief Guard, Personnel Secretary and Clerks, Training Supervisor, Cafeteria Manager and Recruiters.

Education Requirements:

College Degree

Work Experience:

Approximately ten (10) years i n the personnel f i e l d .

7

APPENDIX G

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

Beveridge, S i r William, Social Insurance.and A l l i e d Services Report. The Macmillan Company, New York, New York, 1944.

Biggers, John David, Human Relations i n Modern Business. Prentice-H a l l , New York, 1949.

Breckinridge, Elizabeth L., E f f e c t i v e Use of Older Workers. Wilcox and P o l l e t t Company, Chicago, 1953.

Carlton, F. T., Labor Problems. D.C. Heath and Company, New York New York, 1933-

Dublin, Robert, Human Relations i n Administration, 2nd edition, Prentice-Hall Incorporated, Englewood C l i f f s , New Jersey, 1961.

Evans, J. J., A Program f o r Personnel Administration. McGraw-Hill Book Co. Inc., New York, 1945.

Fink, Arthur E., The F i e l d of Social Work. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1942.

Friedlander, Walter A., Introduction to Social Welfare, Prentice-H a l l Incorporated, Englewood C l i f f s , New Jersey, 1961.

Harbison, F. H. and Coleman J. R., Goals and Strategy i n Co l l e c t i v e Bargaining, Harper and Brothers, New York, 1951.

Jones, E. M. Hugh, edition, Modern Management, Quadrangle Books, Chicago, 1959.

K i n d a l l , Alva, Personnel Administration, Richard D. Irwin Inc., Homewood, I l l i n o i s , 1961.

Lucius, Michael L., Personnel Management, Richard D. Irwin Inc., Chicago, 1949.

Maier, Norman R. F., Pri n c i p l e s of Human Relation, John Wiley and Sons Incorporated, New York, 1952.

Miro, Annelise, Industrial Social Work: Its Pr i n c i p l e s and Practices Master's Thesis, Wayne State University, Detroit, 1956.

8

Northcott, C. H., Personnel Management Pr i n c i p l e s and Practice, Philosophical Library, Incorporated, New York, 1956.

Pennington, Edward James and Ian Walker, The Role of Trade Unions i n Social Welfare. Unpublished Master of Social Work Thesis, University of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1962.

Pigors, Paul and Charles A. Myers, Personal Administration: A Point of View and A Method. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, Toronto, London, 1956.

Pigors, Paul and Charles A. Myers, Readings i n Personnel Administration, McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc., New York, 1959.

Roethlisberger, F r i t z J ., Management and the Worker, An account of a research program conducted by the Western E l e c t r i c Company, Hawthorn Works by F r i t z J. Roethlisberger and William J. Dickson, Cambridge Harvard University Press, 1939.

Scott, Walter, Robert C. Clothier and William R. Spriegel, Personnel Management, Pr i n c i p l e s , Practices and Point of View, McGraw-H i l l Book Company, Incorporated, New York, 1954.

Strauss, George and Leonard R. Sayles, Personnel: The Human Problems of Management, Prentice-Hall Incorporated, Englewood C l i f f s , New Jersey, I960.

Taylor, James M., Personnel Administration, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1959.

Tead, Ordway and Henry C. Metcalf, Personnel Administration: I t s Principl e s and Practices, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Incorporated, New York, 1920.

Watkins, Gordon et a l , The Management of Personnel and Labor Relations, McGraw-Hill Book Company Incorporated, New York, 1950.

Wilensky, Harold L. and Charles N. LeBeaux, Industrial Society and Social Welfare, Russel Sage Foundation, New York, 1958.

Worker-Priests, The, A Collective Documentation, Translated from the French by John Petrie, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1956.

Yoder, Dale, Personnel P r i n c i p l e s and P o l i c i e s , 2nd edition, Prentice-Hall Incorporated, Englewood C l i f f s , New Jersey, 1959.

9

A r t i c l e s

Appley, Lawrence A., "The War Is Over". Personnel, Journal of the American Management Association, Vol. 40, No. 3, Concord, New Haven, June, 1963.

Appley, Lawrence A., "Emergence of a New Management Era", i n Personnel, Vol. 25, 1948-1949, Concord, New Haven.

Aronson, Albert H., "Human Dynamics i n Administration: The Social Work and Personnel Approaches, "Social Work i n the Current Scene, Selected Papers, National Conference of Social Work, Columbia University Press, 1950, p. 214.

Barbash, J . , "The Unions and Negotiated Health and Welfare Plans", New Dimensions i n Collective Bargaining, Harper and Brothers, New York, 1959.

Barkin, Solomon, "A Trade Unionist Appraises Management Personnel Philosophy", Readings i n Personnel Administration, edited by Paul Pigors and Charles A. Myers, McGraw-Hill Book Company, N.Y., 1956.

Belcher, A. L., "How Top Management Views the Industrial Relations Function", Personnel, Vol. 34, No. 5, March-April, 1958, p. 65.

Berkowitz, Monroe, "Social Workers i n Indian Industry", Social Service Review. Vol. 36, December, 1962, pp. 412-420

Blomstron, Robert L., " S e l l i n g a Personnel Program", Personnel, Vol. 41, No. 9, October, 1962.

"Company Counselling Programs", Personnel, January, February, 1962.

Coyle, John B., "Executive Development Plan for Personnel Directors", Personnel, Vol. 40, No. 6, May 1961.

Daly, C. E., "Retraining f o r What? Personnel, Vol. 40, No. 6, November-December, 1963.

Directory of Local Personnel and Training Groups, 1962. Personnel, Vol. 39, No. 2, March, A p r i l , 1962. Journal of the American Management Association, Concord, N.H.

E i l b i r t , Henry, "A Study of Current Counselling Practices i n Industry", Journal of Business, January, 1958.

F i l l e y , Alan C., "Human Relations i n the Growing Company", Personnel ?

Vol. 34, No. 2, September-October, 1957.

10

Ford, Guy B., "Why Doesn't Everyone Love the Personnel Man", Personnel, January-February, 1963.

Fried, Jerry, ;"Retraining Does Pay Off", Personnel, Vol. No. 40, No. 6, November-December, 1963.

French, Wendell L., "Predictions for Personnel and Industrial Reflections for 1985," Personnel. V o l . 40, No. 6, November, 1961.

"Function and Working Methods of the Personnel Social Worker", Report of a meeting held i n March 1959, under the auspices of the International Federation of Social Workers, International Social Work, I960.

Hopper, Jerry R., "Some C r i t i c a l Reflections on the New Paternalism," Personnel, Vol. 34, No. 3, November-December, 1957, p. 31.

"Industrial Medicine", Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. 12, William Benton, Chicago, London, Toronto, 1957.

Kennedy, James, " The Personnel Director's Changing Character", Personnel, Vol. 41, No. 8, September, 1962.

Knudsen, Harry R. J r . , "Enter The Personnel Generalist", Personnel, Vol. 37, March-April, I960.

Lundberg, Craig C., "New Directors for Personnel Research", Personnel, Vol. 41, No. 10, November, 1962.

Lundberg, Donald E., "Why C a l l i t Industrial Relations", Personnel, May 1948, Vol 27, p. 21.

Lynch, Edith, "The Personnel Man and His Job", an American Manage­ment Survey. Personnel, Vol. 32, No. 6, May, 1956.

McFarland, D. E., "Basic Aims i n Teaching Personnel Administration", Personnel, Vol. 30, No. 1, July, 1953-

McFarland, D. E., "The Scope of the Industrial Relations Function", Personnel, Vol. 36, No. 1, January-February, 1959, p. 42.

Meyer, Gladys D., "A Primer f o r Counselling", Personnel, A p r i l , 1959.

Odiorne, George, "Company Growth and Personnel Administration", Personnel, Vol. 37, No. 1, January-February, I960.

Patin, James T., "How to Pick a Personnel Man", Personnel, Vol. 37, November-December, I960.

11

"Public Health", Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. 18, 1957 ed. William Benton, Chicago, London, Toronto.

"The Qualified Personnel Director", Personnel, Vol. 22, No. 3, November, 1945.

Report, "What the Personnel Man Does", Personnel• March, 1963, Vol. 42, No. 3, p. 145.

Scheer, Wilbert E., "What's Ahead i n Personnel and Training", Personnel, Vol. 39, No. 4, September, I960.

Schleh, Edward 0., "Personnel Policy", Personnel, May, 1954, Vol. 30, No. 6, P. 453.

Scanlan, Burt K., "Personnel Management i s Growing Up", Personnel, Vol. 41, No. 2, February, 1962.

Strother, George B., "Personnel Management i n Theory and Practice", Personnel, Vol. 36, No. 2, March-April, 1959, p. 63.

Teplow, Josef E. and Reuben J. Margolin, "The Former Mental Patient: An Untapped Labor Source?", Personnel, Vol. 38, No. 1, January-February, 1961, Concord, N.H.

Titmuss, Richard M., " I n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n and the Family", i n In d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n and Social Work, Munich, 1956. Carl Heymanns Verlag Kg, Koln, B e r l i n , p. 35.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, A r t i c l e 25. Proclamation of the United Nations General Assembly, December 10, 1948.

Williams, Edgar G. and Keith Davis, "Desirable Characteristics f o r Personnel Directors", Personnel, November, 1953, Vol. 32, No. 6.

12

Pamphlets

A l l India Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management* The Director's Report, 1953-1956, College Square West, Calcutta, India.

A l l India Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management. The Director's Report, 1956-1957, College Square West, Calcutta, India.

Committee of University Industrial Relations Librarians. Information regarding Industrial Relations Sections in. colleges and u n i v e r s i t i e s i n North America, Revised L i s t — A p r i l , 1962.

Diploma i n Industrial Administration. The University of Liverpool, Liverpool, England.

Hunter, Guy. The Role of the Personnel O f f i c e r . A Group Review. Occasional Papers No. 12, Institute of Personnel Manage­ment, Management House, London, England,- 1957.

Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management. Annual Report, 1958-1959, College Square West, Calcutta, India.

Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management. Annual Report, 1960-1961.

Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management. Annual Report, 1961-1962.

Industry's Interest i n the Older Worker and the Retired Employee. Proceedings of a Conference, Edited by Michael T. Wermel and Geraldine M. Beideman, Benefits and Insurance Research Centre, Industrial Relations Section, C a l i f o r n i a Institute of Technology, Pasadena, C a l i f o r n i a , I960.

Institute of Personnel Management. 80 Fetter Lane, London, E.C. 4. Pamphlet outl i n i n g Institute Services; e.g. Publications, Information, Library, Research, Conferences and Meetings, Appointments Service and Careers Advice, Training, etc.,

13

Institute's Examination Regulations, Syllabuses and Book L i s t s . Institute of Personnel Management, London, England.

Labour Relations and Conditions of Work in Bri ta in . Br i t i sh Information Services, Canada, Revised, March 1962.

Membership and Training for Personnel Management. Institute of Personnel Management, London, England.

M i l l e r , Prank B . , Personnel Research Contributions by U.S. Uni v e r s i t i e s . A Project Sponsored by the American Society fo r Personnel Administration and the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., I960.

Personnel Industrial Relations. Session 1963-1964* Three Year Certificate Course, Sponsored by the Personnel Association of Greater Winnipeg and Department of University Extension and Adult Education, The University of Manitoba.

Personnel Management. Journal of the Institute of Personnel Management, March, 1963, Vo l . XIV. No. 363, London, England.

Personnel Management Course, The University of Alberta, Banff Centre for Continuing Education in cooperation with the Western Canadian Personnel Association, October 28th to November 9th, 1963.

Personnel Management Salaries. Report of a Survey undertaken in February/March, 1961, Institute of Personnel Management, London, England.

Personnel Officer's Guide. Institute of Personnel Management, January, 1961, London, England.

Personnel Techniques Seminars. Bureau of Industrial Relations, Graduate School of Business Administration, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, September-December, 1963.

Publications. New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, 1963.

14

Publications of the Institute of Personnel Management, f o r Directors, Executives, Personnel O f f i c e r s , London, England•

Social Security i n B r i t a i n . Prepared f o r the B r i t i s h Information Services, Revised, August, 1962.

Stein, Herman D., "Is There a Place f o r Social Work i n Industry?" Statement given at the 1958 Alumni Conference of the Columbia University School of Social Work, 1958, Unpublished.

The Story of the American Society f o r Personnel Administration. American Society f o r Personnel Administration, East Lansing, Michigan•

Training for Personnel Management Pull-Time Courses. Institute of Personnel Management, London, England.

Troubled People on the Job. Prepared by the American Psychiatric Association Committee on Occupational Psychiatry, American Psychiatric Association, Washington, D.C, 1959.

University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire. Diploma i n Personnel Management.

University of Michigan. Bureau of Industrial Relations. A selected l i s t of books and periodicals i n the f i e l d of Personnel Administration and Labor-Management Relations, School of Business Administration, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1962.

- 15 -

APPENDIX D

Questionnaire

Social Welfare Responsibilities of Personnel Managers

Part I

Would you please indicate with a check ( ) which of the functions listed below are included in the responsibilities of your position.

1. Seeing that employees have had pre-employment medicals

2. Bringing to management's attention conditions affecting employee's health and safety

3. Advising and training management members on the basic factors involved in employee morale; such as: security challenging work, opportunity to develop ability, grievance procedure, union relations, cooperative supervision, etc.

it. (a) Advising management about desirable benefit plans (Sickness Pay

(Severance Pay (Hospital and Medical Insurance (Retirement Pay (Etc.

(b) Administering Benefit Plans

5. Helping management operate a formal employee development program

6. Helping management and the employees provide a recreation and social program

7. Helping employees get proper housing

8. Helping employees establish a credit union

9. Assisting management in its public relations activities with social welfare agencies, such as Community Chest, etc.

10. Advising management on organizational relationships, (such as job placement, etc.) that affect employee morale

- 16 -

Part II

11. Do you have a responsibility that could be called Employee Counselling?

(3h a sentence or two, please describe this responsibility.)

12. If you are responsible for dealing with the personal problems of employees, such as alcoholism, indebtedness, etc., please indicate which of the following methods you use:

(a) Counselling to help employee control problem

(b) Refer employee to other sources for help, such as

family doctor, lawyer, social welfare agency, etc.

(c) Refer employee to his supervisor for counselling

(d) Advise supervisor to talk to employee about personal problem

(e) Help train supervisors to deal with personal problems

13. Indicate those problems dealt with by Personnel Department and/or Supervisors; and the methods used:

Dealt with Dealt with Formal Informal Problem by Personnel by Sup'vr. Counselling Talk Referral

Alcoholism Dope Addiction Pregnancy Indebtedness Housing Marital Conflict Parent-Child Conflict Uncooperative Behavior Mental Illness Criminal Behavior Legal Problems Education Problems Retirement Adjustment Family Stress

FIGURE I. FUNCTIONAL CHART*

PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT

EMPLOYMENT AND

PLACEMENT

REMUNERATION AND

INCENTIVE

BENEFITS (WELFARE & SERVICE)

TRAINING AND

EDUCATION

HEALTH AND

SAFETY

LABOUR

RELATIONS

H

Recruiting

Interviewing

Selection

Placement

Records

Wage Plans

Job Rating

Wages Surveys

Vacation Plans

Suggestion Schemes

Services:

Canteen

Recreation

Counselling

Legal

Welfare:

L i f e

Insurance

Pension Plan

Medical Plan

Loans Educational a i d

Training:

New Employees fo r Promotion

Instructors

Supervisors

Education:

Day Schools

Evening Classes

Lectures

Films

Work Tours

Library

s Accident Prevention Sick V i s i t i n g

Working Conditions:

Heat

Light

V e n t i l a t i o n

Noise

Cleanliness

Studying Labour Law

Negotiating Contracts

Handling Grievances

Interpreting P o l i c i e s

A Pamphlet f o r Young People Interested i n the F i e l d of Personnel Management. Issued by the Federation of Canadian Personnel Associations, Toronto, September 1963 .