THE OPEN CAREER

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 41, 17 August 1923, Page 8

THE OPEN CAREER

FOR P. AND T. OFFICERS

OPPORTUNITIES OVERLOOKED

MR. MARKMAN'S FRANK CRITICISM.

Mr. A.' T. Markman, the new Secretary of the Post Office, took the opportunity at the annual smoke concert o£ the P. and T. Officers' Association last night to speak very frankly of the career open to merit in the Postal Service, and the opportunities lost by officers in recent years for legitimate advancement. The large gathering of about 150 officers listened to the address with the closest attention, punctuated by applause when certain announcements were made, evidently appreciating the candour of the new- head of the administration. After a few preliminary remarks, in which he promised to rectify one or two outstanding grievances resulting from war service, Mr. Markman turned to some of the complaints made at the annual conference. In regard to the request for compulsory retirement of officers after forty years' service, he pointed out that many officers joined the Department at 12, 13, or 14 years of age, which meant that th^r would be retired, at from 52 to 54 years of age, after completing 40 years of service. "I regret," said the Secretary, "that at present I am not prepared to admit that it would be in the interests of the Department to compel efficient officers of such ages to retire immediately on completion of forty years' service; nor do I think that it would be fair to the Officers themselves: But where I am satisfied that an officer is not deserving of retention, I shall have no hesitation in recommending his retirement on superannuation." (Applause.) PROSPECTS OF PBOMOTION. ■" Complaint had often been made, he continued, that officers had very little prospect of promotion. "I am not by any means satisfied," he said, "that officers nave done all that they might have done in the direction of qualifying' forjpromotion.' Take,. for example, the • various vacancies .which have occurred in the junior • positions in the engineering branch. Almost • without exception the officers filling engineering .positions to-day, are extelegraphists, and it was expected that thefuture engineers'would come from'the ' telegraph branch. I find, however, that during the past three years only six officers m the telegraph branch have qualified for the engineering ...division.. .Thjs does not say very much for the ambition of the very large number of young men attached to the telegraph branch. As insufficient officers of the Department have qualified as engineering cadets or technical clerks, it has been necessary to obtain young men from outside. Approximately twenty of these young men , have been appointed in the last three years, and as they qualify they will supersede the many hundreds of officers in the Department who have not had sufficient interest in their own future welfajre to fit themselves for the engineering '• branch. It might be of interest to' officers to know that a year or two ago a vacancy in Class VI. could not be filled by the promotion of an officer, as none of the applicants had passed the neces-; sary telegraph technical'!exaniihation.".f Mr. Markman quoted many other instances of failure on the part of officers to take advantage of the opportunities for getting on in the Serviced Out ,of 1600 officers who were eligible.to sit for the Controlling Officers' Examination, less _than a quarter had qualified for promotion. It was difficult to account for such an unsatisfactory state of affairs. As any examination could be passed more easily while one was young than later it should be the endeavour of every officer to pass the examination at the 'earliest possible date. " j

"Some officers," said Mr. Markman, | 'have expressed the opinion that there is no use qualifying for promotion from the Seventh Class, because such promotion would involve an increase of salary of only £25. As there is no means whereby an officer can be promoted to one of the higher classes in the Depart-, men without first being promoted to Class VI;, officers should not be.discouraged "from qualifying for promotion on account of the salary of Class VI. being so little above the maximum salary of Class VII.. Every endeavour has been made in the past to arrange for a greater margin of salary between the two classes, and so far as I am concerned personally, I will use every effort to have a greater margin provided at the earliest possible date." (Applause.) AVENUE OF ADVANCEMENT. "As you are aware," he continued, "the clerical division is recruited almost entirely from the general division. In years gone by 'only a very small percentage of officers of the general division outside the construction branch was content to remain in that division. This is a subject I wish to stress, and to ask you to give the subject some thought at your leisure. About 90 per cent, of those who joined as message-boys looked for some higher position than that of postman, messenger, or exchange clerk. I am greatly disappointed to find that the position to-day is very different from what it was fifteen or twenty years ago. Unfortunately, 92 per cent, of the officers of classes VIII. and IX. of the general division have done nothing in the direction of qualifying for promotion to the clerical division. This means that only. 8 per cent, of those officers aspire to positions above that of postman, messenger, or exchange clerk. The position to-day is therefore the reverse of what it. was fifteen or twenty years ago. Those officers who do not qualify for' the clerical division will have only themselves to blame in the years to come if through, not qualifying they receive insufficient salary to enable them and their families to enjoy the comforts and luxuries which only a man in receipt of a good salary can expect to have." SPECIAL INCREMENTS. ! Mr. Markman dealt also with the opportunities for earning special increments for outstanding merit and ability '.combined with, good and diligent'con■duct. He would like'to urge;all officers to do their utmost in'the 'direction of trying to qualify for special increments of salary. .There was still scope for doing something better, and if they all made that their, slogan the' day's work would become a hobby and they .would all.be .more happy and contented. Conversely there was the stoppage of increments'to officers who failed to pass the competency' examination. He was at a loss •to understand why such a large number of officers were prepared to make" the Department a present of a portion; of their ealaries rather than' pass a by no means' difficult examination. , . EFFICIENCY FIRST. • In regard to complaints about . the Abolition of positions and the reduction in the grading of others, Mr. Markman was quite candid. "I should like officers to. understand," he said, "quite clearly that while I am in control of the Department any ■ position which is no longer required will, be abolished, and any position which should bo reduced

in grade will be reduced. One would gather from the" 'comments that are made from time to time that the Department did. not at any time create positions or raise the grade 1 of any position. It may be of some interest to you to know that since the Ist April, 1919, 64 positions above the rank and file of the clerical division or general division have been abolished, but during the same period 243 positions have been created, so that there are now 179 more positions above the rank and file of the two divisions than there were on the date referred to. ....

"So far as the reductions in grade of positions is concerned, since the Ist April, 1919, 44 positions have been reduced in grade, but 66 positions have been given higher grading. In a service such, as the Post and Telegraph, a number of positions either increase in importance and responsibility or de- j crease. While, owing to the acute financial position, it has not been possible ! during the last few years to improve the grading' of all those ' positions where higher grading is warranted, officers can rest assured that by the Ist April next, unless something unforeseen occurs, all those positions which warrant higher grading will be regraded." In conclusion, the- Secretary dealt trenchantly with the unfair criticism of the administration by the official organ of the association. There should be some endeavour to appreciate some of the difficulties with which the higherplaced officers of the Department were faced in the expenditure of public money. In the past grievances had been adjusted directly with the heads of departments, but, the tendency now seemed to be to look round for other means to bring pressure to bear, in case of a refusal. There was a growing tendency to take all grievances direct \o the association.' It was impossible to have a contented service if such; methods were followed, and in all sincerity he asked them to consider all that he had said ni the spirit in which it was said and the object of the good of the service. (Applause.)