The Personal Element in Staff Administration

What you have done to another, you may expect from another.—Syrus.

The above subject was introduced at the recent General Officers’ Conference by Mr. Dennehy, Law Officer of the Department, in a carefully prepared résumé of this phase of management.

Speaking on the subject, Mr. Sterling (General Manager) said that the ideas presented to the Conference were along the lines of modern industrial thought. “In other words,” he continued, “we must pay as much attention to the man as to the machine.” Personnel management was the line along which he intended to work. Mr. Sterling said that he hoped to bring about close co-ordination between the personnel manager and the heads of staff. It was necessary to get the confidence of the staff, and he was appreciative of the need for doing everything possible along this line. Mr. Sterling went on to say that if you give confidence you will get it. Most men responded to it. “I have followed that line pretty consistently, and right through my association with business have never hesitated to discuss with any members of the staff anything I have been thinking about. I have found this helpful in every direction.”

Mr. Sterling then went on to make an appeal to those present to take the staff into their confidence. “There is very little I do here,” he continued, “that I am not prepared to tell anyone about. I intend to move about freely and exchange confidences with the men. That is the way to gain their confidence. Some men, I know, are not amenable to any kind of treatment, but these are the exception rather than the rule.”

In the matter of gaining confidences, everyone must work the problem out for himself, knowing

Edison electric storage battery rail car on the Christchurch-Little River Line. The car is 56 ft. 6 in. long, 8 ft. 5 in. wide, and has seating capacity for 60 passengers.

that others would act along similar lines. He himself would not have come back to the Department had he not felt that this confidence would be forthcoming. “I believe men appreciate frankness. After joining the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company Limited, I was told that I was going to have 9,000 bosses! Well, that did not disturb me, because I went on the principle that I would never do anything that I could not justify, so that when any decision was taken I made it a rule to go out and tell the shareholders. As you know, it is the farmer's privilege to criticise, but I found they would always accept a reasonable explanation for any action taken. This method of going out and discussing matters subject to criticism gained the confidence of the farmers. I found, as time went on, that I was troubled less and less by criticism. They trusted our judgment.

In the Railways I intend to adopt similar lines for dealing with some problems, and I want you to practise the habit of discussing any problems you have with those either above or below you. Consult them as man to man. “It is better,” he declared, amidst laughter, “to have your people with you before a decision is made, than to have a thundering row after!”

Mr. Sterling concluded by saying that by co-ordinated action they would be able to effect certain economies, but these were only to be obtained after the men had been brought to view them with favour. He found that in dealing with men, they invariably responded to a free and frank discussion of the subject.

(Photo Leslie Hinge)
Drafting 2,300 Hereford cattle at Mr. W. Barton's Whiterocks Station, Wairarapa, North Island, New Zealand.