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is an increasing trend in the chemical industry toward the use of written instructions. This stems from a recognition of the need to coordinate operations and t? maintain more personal contact with the worlung force. The issuance of comany manuals is the most effective mea? to awomplish this. kowever, manuals are of little or no value if.improprly designed or not kept u t o date. The pukpose of thls writlng IS t o assist in the establisgment and maintenance of good company manuals by describing the manner in which chemical concerns have successfully converted fuadam?ntal information into written form. A manual is a 8 stematic Series of written instructions on duties policies an$ procedures. Because i t is often believed that the term lgmanual” lmphes arbitrary rulings and inflexible instructions, many concerns prefer to use such titlas m general instructions or standard practice information. Frequently attempts are made to ytablish pomple? manuals in concerns where only a few written instructions exlst. Tlus procedure is not recommended since it results in the issuan.ce of manuals which are usually outdated before they are u t into d e c t . The. development of a good company manua takes considerable time, and its maintenance re uires continuous change, It is difficult, and sometimea impossib?e, ,to keep altering instructions during the period of manual preparation. It is recommended that management outline the work which has t o be dona and pre are individual instructions whenever the need arms. To acceferate the establishment of the manual, management can make a group of executives responsible for its preparation. Company manuals are usually subdivided as follows: (1) general or company-wide instructions, (2) departmental instructions, (3) job instructions, and (4) employee handbooks. Since the proper preparation of job instructions has assumed new importance during the reconversion period, special em hasis is placed on a description of this part of the manual. Subchsions are discussed according t o organization, policy, and rooedure because most companies develop their manuals along tgese lines. HERE
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0d’This section of the manual should include orORGANIZATION. ganization charts and outline the responsibilities of officers and executives. The organization chart should indicate clearly where line staff, and functional controls are involved. The description of the responsibilit of officers and executives should indicate the extent of their autiority. POLICY.This part should cover all general policies of company-mde si nificance-for instance, in personnel relations, accounting, bu$geting, production, sales, and advertising. Those procedures, practices, and clerical routines PROCEDWR~. of a general nature which are necessary to operations throughout the compan should be included. This section may also describe proceiwes established by one division for the guidance of another.
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ORGANIZATION.Occasionally the responsibilities and the authority of department heads and sqpervisors are covered in the general or company-wide instructions. However, manufacturers sometimes prefer t o issue individual departmental organimtion charts and descriptions. The advantage is that minor functions usual1 not shown on the plant-wide organiration chart can be listed: and instructions can be issued to supervisors witkout revealing the confidential information which is usually contained in the general part of the manual. POLICY. Departmental instructions should contain only policies which are of interest t o employees. Failure to comply with this principle has caused more than one unnecessary and embarrasslng discussion between mhnagement and labor. De-
partmental policy instructions are commonly issued by the department head and should not conflict with established plantwide policies. It is coneidered good practice t o republish in this section the general lant-wide policies which the department head wishes t o revearto his em loyees. PROCEDURE. Standard proce8ures applying t o one department only should be included here. Often no distinct se aration can be made between departmental policies and certain p%ases of procedures. The writer considers instructions which appl to all jobs a standard departmental practice and therefore &es not cover such matters in his job instructions.
804 ’Ah ORGANIZAT~ON AND PoLrcy. Job instructions should never contain matters pertaining to organization and policy buf should be confined to rulings which apply to the work of employees. PROCEDURE. Many a good company manual was started with the revision of existing de artmental job instructions. The writer favors this approach k c a u s e it .not only encourages department heads to participate acbvel in the new lan, but also gives them the op rtumt to famiiarize themsefves with the technique employe%n wor&ng out the manual. Before departmental job instructions can be incorporated in the new lan, it is necessary (1) t o standardize instruction forms on a $anbwide basis and (2) to eliminate from existing ’ob instructions those rulings which have no connection with the execution of a job (cqmpany and department policies, time-keeping procedures req u m d by employees, etc.). Some difficulties are to be expected when the first attempt is made to standardize departmental instructions. Chiefs naturally believe that the manner in which they have issued their instructions is best suited for their departments; therefore they may be reluctant t o accept changes. They ma also feel that the der t u r e from existing forms will cause codusion amone employees. urthermore, opiniqns often v?ry aa t o what extent instructions should be issued; if too detctlled, they have to be revised frey t l y ; if not complete, they do not serve the purpose for which t ay are intended. The writer favors the iasuance of instructions in considerable detail, provided arrangements are made for quick and effective revisions when necessary. A job may be divided into three elements-tasks, operations, and key points. Instructions are issued for each operation in which the key points are described. A “task” i s considered a job erformance which is unrelated to others but contained in one jog, an “0 eration” is a job performance, and a ‘
