CONTACT: Autumn 1960 - Two Letters from Norman Goddard
I fear that the rise in blood pressure suffered by your correspondent
'JACK' caused him to make some hot-headed remarks about Mr Smith. It was unfortunate that he had cooled off by the time it came to
sign his name, for the use of a nom-de-plume makes it difficult to assess his competence to criticise the ability of other people.
Regarding
the Holiday Scheme, lack of discussion does not necessarily mean lack of understanding, and it could be that the Scheme was understood
and rejected as being too cumbersome. In any event if the Scheme is not easily understood that fact alone is valid criticism. I don't
know whether JACK was on the sub-committee but, if he was, he must become used to being treated ungraciously -- it is a privilege
accorded to all committees!
I remain open to correction but is there any good reason why JACK should not put forward the motion
under his own name at the next Annual General Meeting? An extensive use of CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation marks would, no doubt,
make everything clear to any member of the Staff who is either dim-witted or nearing senile decay.
I wonder whether
your correspondent "Vox et Praeterea Nihil" has drawn the right conclusion from the figures that he quotes? I agree that the pattern
of work has changed considerably since 1935, and that the volume of cash handled has increased, but I cannot agree that it has affected
the counter Staff only.
In 1935 the Direct Transfer Scheme was virtually non-existent, whereas in 1959 probably 500,000 or more
deposits came via the Clearing Department; this fact, together with the extra time taken to post the larger number of withdrawals
(which I think follows the D.T.S. and Standing Orders) is reflected in the work to be done on the ledgers.
While the cashier
in 1935 did not use many receipt stamps he had to use a different rubber stamp for each department, and there were five in those days;
he had to watch due dates for the possible cancellation of discount; his cheques were entered in detail in the register and a register
was kept of the various denominations of Bank Notes. I don't know whether "Vox etc" has ever opened a Home Safe full of silver threepenny
pieces, but the memories still fill me with horror.
Admittedly credits were only sent weekly, but this involved at the larger
Branches perhaps, writing out 15-20 credits and the envelopes for each Branch, keeping an Analysis Book which had to be cast and crosscast
monthly. Corporation Accounts were advised to Head Office once a week on Saturdays which meant a weekly balance.
Third Party
Forms were recorded on issue and payment, and there were other variations on work which make a comparison with the past extremely
difficult. Except for a minority of Branches the collection of money for School Meals and the Sale of Certificates is not in itself
a terrific burden.
The general question of staffing is a separate and complex problem, but if I had to ask a question it would
be: What is the basis of allocation of Staff to Branches and has that basis been altered between 1935 and 1959?
Finally, Sir,
may I thank you for reminding us in your "Answers to Correspondents" of the two quotations from the late Mr Hilton's book. Together
they should be taken as a key to our thinking on the future.
"Under
the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody but unbowed". I have forgotten who wrote that, but I can well understand how the poor
chap felt when he did write it.
This month's question: Are you all right, JACK? Through you, Mr Editor, may I tell JACK that,
at the time I wrote about "Old Codgers", I was the youngest member of the Staff ay my Branch bar the junior --- I still think it more
than a bit much to expect "Old Timers", some approaching their 65th birthday, to cope with more work than they were expected to do
in their heyday.
Oh, Mr Editor, you quote in reply to other questions (not all mine) from a book which was withdrawn from sale
nearly 30 years ago --- and why, Sir, do we have to go back to what was said and done in 1921? Have we not progressed at all? Your
searchings into the musty, dusty archives have evidently not been as thorough as one is led to believe; did you not discover that
already we have refused a service? -- during the war, mortgagors were told that DUE TO THE PRESSURE OF BUSINESS, Ground Rents could
no longer be paid by the Bank on their behalf.
Believe me, Mr Editor, I am all for giving service, cheerfully, willingly and
enthusiastically, but I see no reason why we should not try to streamline the effort so long as efficiency does not suffer. Some things
we can do, some might be done, some can't be done, some will have to be done, nothing can be done without whole-hearted co-operation
from top to bottom, and here, Sir, I would voice a humble opinion that the latest volume of Instructions is the best effort of that
nature that has ever been accomplished -- despite one real 'Howler'.
(Dear Mr Smith - The "Answers" were taken from the latest available information. Ground Rents - Touché - Ed.)
The
question for this issue is - which question? There are so many whys, whats and wherefores that a real problem of importance arises.
I
wonder, Mr Editor, I wonder quite seriously if depositors' account numbers could be quoted on Corporation Board accounts/demand notes
sent direct to us under the Standing Instruction Scheme, instead of the present branch identity number; what a lot of sorting and
re-sorting would be saved - time also would be saved and, Sir, are we not told that time is money? (goodness knows we are short of
that).
Yours etc,
TIPS FROM THE SMITHY.
(A good tip! It's a good thing that the Deduction from Salaries Scheme didn't start off
with reference numbers - Ed.)
To say that I was surprised when
I read Mr Goddard's attack on my anonymity is to put it mildly. After all there are precedents - Mark Twain and Lewis Carroll - but
let me hasten to assure Mr Goddard that my genuine regard for Jim the Penman is not dimmed by his many and varied efforts at correspondence
both in "Contact" and other media, - if he is allowed to say what he likes, why shouldn't I who am not so bold and must cloak my shyness
with a pseudonym?
The Holiday Scheme, after a number of resurrections, must surely now be finally interred. Many of the points mentioned in the referendum have been granted and a promise given by a generous Management that the reduction of periods is to be considered. This refreshing Management attitude, which has resulted in a happier Staff, makes me feel that our future lies in understanding hands.
I submit herewith WITHOUT COMMENT!!!!, quotes from the
January issue of the Savings Banks Institute Journal:
Page 140 - A Bank having 50% of the population as its depositors might
be excused for resting on its laurels but by advertising to a plan and with purpose he is showing that saturation point is nothing
short of 100%.
Page 144 - It is important to steer awkward customers away from the scene of general activity in case their protestations
should be heard by other depositors ............. Inviting him into a private office, as well as being of strategic importance, shows
a personal interest in him ........... Having made the invitation .... open the door of the office and shake him by the hand ... LEAD
HIM TO THE CHAIR IN WHICH HE IS GOING TO SIT and without fuss create a calm atmosphere.
Page 147 - The management must place
less reliance on standard procedure and theory and more on personal contact and practical knowledge.
Page 149 - Wasteful practices
and unnecessary duplication of effort are decried in no uncertain terms.
Page 157 - .... it was a proven fact that clerical systems
which had been in operation for more than three years ought to be re-examined because during that time much that is unnecessary
and wasteful has crept in.
A. READER.
I have been
in conversation with one of our former colleagues who left the service of the Bank for duties in another Department, primarily for
more pay, some years ago.
This same colleague helped at the Balance for the two days March 30th and 31st and also on April 4th
(the first day of opening after the Balance) and, of course, received pay at the stated hourly rate and was quite pleased with the
'pick-up'. When asked for a comment on a possible return to the Bank's service, however, the reply was an emphatic "NO! I couldn't
work at the pressure required now that I've got used to a more leisurely pace". Is there a moral here?
(Moral - Working at the
Bank keeps you young and energetic? - Ed.)
The last
month or so has made me feel rather sad and despondent.
In the early 1920s I was a junior and performed all sorts of menial and
manual tasks such as re-wrapping gigantic parcels covered with rotting brown paper (which others had unwrapped), delving into the
dark recesses of dingy cupboards and into the archives in strongrooms festooned with cobwebs and the dust of ages, all the time overseered
by AUTHORITY in the shape of a Manager who told me exactly how the job was to be done.
Now I am a Manager - I am AUTHORITY and
I am sad and despondent; I have just completed the self-same tasks because there is no junior to whom my vast experience in these
matters can be passed on. What of the future? Will this curious and exciting pastime be lost to our future generations through lack
of learning?
Archimedes, Plato, Einstein and perhaps Wells would have found their theories of relativities much easier to put over had they had experience with this Bank. Life does turn full circle - or does it?
FROM THE FILES OF THE SMITHY
Random jottings for this issue, Mr Editor. The Smithy,
in common with many other institutions, has suffered from the attentions of vandals; the Anvil is overturned, the Hammer is lost and
the Fire is out. Unless the stock of iron is replaced I do not suppose the fire will be rekindled.
Pay Pause, Productivity, Progression,
Procrastination. How can these be correlated? Civil (and Uncivil) Servants, L.G.O.s, Black-coated Workers (not prunes) - how are they
to be fitted in? ...... most certainly they must NOT be left out. Take us --- if we provide a new service whilst retaining the old,
is not our Productivity increased? Yet some people get paid whether they work or not -- Doctors on the National Health never, please
note, on the National Assistance. Firemen -- now the most efficient Brigade is said to be the one that has no fires, yet if there
are no fires for them to put out, what are they paid for? It is obvious, then, that the more they are called upon to do what they
are paid for? It is obvious, then, that the more they are called upon to do what they are paid to do, the more pay they deserve, and
if they DO happen to get a job they pour cold water over it.
From April last, 2½% increase, what is that? Nothing but a mere
6d. in the £1 gross, about 3d. net and the General Rates increased by 3/- in the £1. Now I begin to realise what is meant by an Irishman's
rise.
And what of our General Rates? Now, tall lamp standards are being erected along one of our main roads, they are in their
PRIME coat of dull, red paint. When they are put up along comes the 'Tower' wagon -- you know, one of those extending things -- and
the lamp posts are painted. Why not paint them on the ground? Saving cost, surely; certainly saving traffic congestion.
What to do about it all ----------- I don't know ------------ yet. We have strikes for more pay, strikes because people work, strikes to go fishing --------- strike a light. It's funny for when I strike in the Smithy I am at work. What's in a name? Could the Prime Minister be correctly called a Cabinet Make or the War Minister a Scrap Dealer?
Is it fantasy that the thought of Municipal elections
strikes one again? (yet another strike, you see). Mr X puts up for Ward Y; he lives, perhaps, in Ward Z miles away or even further.
What real interest or knowledge of his adopted Ward does he really possess? -- yet, from the election literature, we are supposed
to believe that Mr X has only one concern in life - - Ward Y. I think Walt Disney could make a good film on this theme.
Some
things are really beyond description. Our local footpath is an asphalt one; it had just been resurfaced when along came the M.E.B.
who dig a trench along the middle of it and lay a cable. The trench is filled in and dressed with black ashes (good for carpets, you
know). After a time it is topped with asphalt and Lo and Behold! in just three weeks the G.P.O. dig it all up again. Believe it or
not, when that has been patched up, the Gas Board find a leaking main and up it comes again. The number of tea breaks while all this
is going on would need an electronic computer to compute.
The Grapevine informed us, on the 10th February, what hours were to
be worked on the Saturday and Sunday of the Balance. "If you want to know the time, ask a Temporary".
THE SMITHY
(Dear Smithy.
- You make some striking points but beware - you could get over-wrought. - Ed.)
[NOTE: the 'Holiday Scheme' consisted on
ten consecutive fortnights ('Holiday Periods' commencing on a Monday) from May to September. Each year a member of staff's Holiday
Period was advanced four - eg: Period 1 to Period 5 to Period 9, then to Period 3 in the following year, etc. The system was eventually
replaced by staff nominating their first choice, second choice etc.]