COUNTRY RAILWAY OFFICERS

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25517, 10 June 1948, Page 6

COUNTRY RAILWAY OFFICERS

LIAISON VISITS TO CHRISTCHURCH

In an effort to foster greater cooperation among members of the staff, and to increase the efficiency of the department, the Railways Department at Christchurch has introduced a system of conducted tours of the Christchurch offices and yards by members of the staff stationed in the country. Explaining the scheme yesterday, the District Traffic Manager (Mr W. A. Breach) said that once a fortnight a party of country members of the staff spent a day in town. Before they came they were issued with a booklet in which the men who would explain the workings of the various branches of the service were introduced. They were shown the workings of the departments dealing with staffing arrangements, transport, road operations, and waggon control, commercial activities, claims, and the goods sheds.

The size of the parties varied from six to 12, Mr Breach said. The idea was to create a co-operative spirit and instil a personal touch into the relations of tiie widely-scattered staff. The scheme would be enlarged later. Already its effects were being felt, in a reduction in the amount of official correspondence which had formerly been necessary.

“An important point to remember is that the scheme is a voluntary one, and entails sacrifices on the part of other members of the staff,” Mr Breach said. “Those in the visiting party have their shifts woiked for them by their colleagues, and no over-time payment is involved. So far, between 40 and 50 men have visited Christchurch, and I feel that nothing but good can result from country workers meeting their colleagues in town and from other country districts.” To supplement the scheme, Mr Breach and senior officers from the various departments have recently visited Ashburton, Grey mouth, and Westport, where they have met members of the staff for a free and frank discussion of railway problems, both present arid future. It was hoped that the need for co-operation antong the staff had been emphasised, and the discussion had taken a question-and-answer form, members of the staff being invited to bring forward any matter they thought required attention.