Basic Principles of Personnel Management in Government Economy
| Date | 01 May 1924 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271622411300144 |
| Published date | 01 May 1924 |
| Author | Henry S. Dennison |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
328
THE
ANNALS
OF
THE
AMERICAN
ACADEMY
Even
an
established
salary
rate
at
a
fairly
satisfactory
level
is
not
enough,
however,
for
the
development
of
the
profession
of
factory
inspection.
It
is
essential
that
there
should
also
be
a
system
of
promotion
which
shall
hold
out
a
prospect
of
advancement
and
increased
responsibility.
The
Wom-
en’s
Bureau
has
found
that
with
a
salary
of
$1,800,
and
$4
a
day
while
in
the
field,
it
has
been
possible
to
se-
cure
satisfactory
agents,
but,
because
Congress
has
imposed
a
salary
restric-
tion
which
does
not
permit
of
any
ad-
vancement
above
this
rate,
there
has
been
a
very
considerable
turnover
among
the
agents,
who,
as
their
expe-
rience
increases
and
they
become
of
greater
value
to
the
bureau,
find
more
remunerative
positions
outside
of
the
Government.
In
this
way
the
bureau
really
serves
to
a
certain
extent
as
a
training
school
for
this
type
of
worker,
which
is
a
valuable
function,
to
be
sure,
but
not
the
one
for
which
the
bureau
was
created.
In
the
state
of
New
Jersey,
there
are
four
grades
of
factory
inspector,
each
grade
carrying
a
somewhat
higher
rate
of
pay.
Promotion
through
these
grades
is
attained
by
length
of
service,
examination,
and
generally
efficient
work.
Such
a
system
as
this,
which
guarantees
under
the
Civil
Service
permanency
and
freedom
from
political
pressure,
which
provides
training,
and
which
holds
out
a
future
of
widened
responsibilities
and
increased
salary,
is
the
only
system
which
will
ensure
for
factory
inspection
a
personnel
equip-
ment
adequate
for
this
work,
which
is
the
vital
part
of
any
program
for
the
betterment
of
industrial
condi-
tions.
Basic
Principles
of
Personnel
Management
in
Government
Economy
BY
HENRY
S.
DENNISON
Dennison
Manufacturing
Company
THE
consideration
given
by
citizens
to
the
management
of
their
gov-
ernments
almost
always
starts
with
several
comfortable
assumptions
based
only
partially
upon
fact:
(1)
that
private
undertakings
are
efficiently
managed,
free
from
internal
politics,
sudden
changes
of
policy,
and
in-
competent
office-holding;
(2)
that
gov-
ernmental
departments
are
full
of
incompetents
and
loafers;
(3)
that
economies
can
practically
always
be
efFected
by
appropriating
less
money
and
discharging
more
people;
and
(4)
that
government
and
private
business
are
in
all
respects
opposite.
As
a
matter
of
fact,
men
who
have
had
a
fair
chance
to
study
both
private
and
public
activities,
and
who
have
open
minds
to
make
the
proper
analyses
and
scientific
comparisons,
usually
discover
that
the
difference
between
a
large
organization
and
a
small
one
is
much
greater
than
the
difference
between
a
governmental
organization
and
one
under
private
control;
and
that
between
government
and
private
enterprises
of
comparable
management
and
nature
there
are
more
significant
resemblances
than
differ-
ences.
APPEAL
OF
FALSE
ECONOMIES
It
is
well
known
in
private
industry
that
it is
possible
to
be
penny
wise
and
pound
foolish;
to
make
economies
of
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