College and Research Libraries Staff Retention By W I L L I A M H . JESSE SO M E T I M E S T H E B E S T W A Y to define or describe something is to say w h a t it is n o t . T h i s is n o t a n entirely unscien- tific procedure, a n d w o u l d seem to ap- ply to t r e a t m e n t of the subject of staff r e t e n t i o n . T h e s e remarks 1 will be b e t t e r u n d e r s t o o d a n d p e r h a p s m o r e readily accepted if you will keep in m i n d t h a t this is n o t a p a p e r o n r e c r u i t m e n t of l i b r a r i a n s n o r even p r o c u r e m e n t of staff, b u t o n r e t e n t i o n of staff, a n d is f u r t h e r d e l i m i t e d to include only professional staff. F o r n o t all of the comments I shall make w o u l d apply to the nonprofes- sional, a n d certainly if this p a p e r were to i n c l u d e nonprofessionals, there w o u l d have to be some changes a n d m a n y ad- ditions. T h i s is n o t to say t h a t I neces- sarily consider staff r e t e n t i o n to be m o r e i m p o r t a n t t h a n r e c r u i t m e n t for the pro- fession or p r o c u r e m e n t . It is to say t h a t I a m t r e a t i n g only the one facet of a larger p r o b l e m , one, however, which seems t o be of great i m p o r t a n c e a n d vital interest today. I will n o t a t t e m p t to r a n k in o r d e r of i m p o r t a n c e the factors conducive to staff r e t e n t i o n . T h i s w o u l d be a f u t i l e exercise, since all the factors treated are considered i m p o r t a n t . However, I d o believe the most i m p o r t a n t to be t h a t of w o r k i n g relationships, f o r it seems to me this has caused m o r e resignations in the library profession t h a n any single factor. I n o r d e r to create a situation which will be conducive to good w o r k i n g re- lationships, a n old r u l e of t h u m b of personnel a d m i n i s t r a t i o n must be ob- served: everyone must be responsible to 1A talk given before the College and University Section of the Alabama Library Association meeting, Tuscaloosa, April 12, 1957. Mr. Jesse is Director of Libraries, Uni- versity of Tennessee. someone a n d n o o n e must be responsible to m o r e t h a n one person. I n t u r n , t h a t person m u s t be someone w h o is com- p e t e n t to supervise the i n d i v i d u a l ' s work to a degree that will be observable to the i n d i v i d u a l . W h e n this is n o t the case, an e x a m i n a t i o n of the situation will p r o b a b l y reveal t h a t the w r o n g per- son is in charge or t h a t the staff m e m b e r is u n a b l e t o recognize a d e q u a t e super- vision. I n either case, reorganization is in order to the extent of replacing the supervisor or s h i f t i n g the staff m e m b e r to a n o t h e r supervisor, or, of course, t e r m i n a t i o n . A dissatisfied i n d i v i d u a l or one w h o is n o t satisfactory to his supervisor should be given a n o p p o r t u n i t y to trans- fer. If the staff m e m b e r is too p o o r a worker, the o t h e r supervisor p r o b a b l y will n o t accept the transfer. It is then obvious t h a t the staff m e m b e r should be dismissed. Sometimes a supervisor, n o t k n o w i n g the qualities of the dissatisfied i n d i v i d u a l w h o has been w o r k i n g in a n o t h e r d e p a r t m e n t , can be asked a n d will agree to give h i m a n o t h e r chance. O f t e n this works out, sometimes not. O n e of the most d i s t u r b i n g factors in working relationships is b r o u g h t a b o u t by the w r o n g person a p p r o a c h i n g the w r o n g person in a n o t h e r d e p a r t m e n t , w h e n such i n t e r d e p a r t m e n t a l communi- cation is necessary. Good policy seems to be to have anyone m a k e this contact w h o desires a n d make it at any p o i n t h e desires, as long as it works. But w h e n it does n o t work, a n d it o f t e n does not, the entire staff should k n o w t h a t the matters are r e f e r r e d u p to d e p a r t m e n t heads or their equivalent, a n d t h e n cross. T h i s in- sures the validity of the assumption that the p r o b l e m was i n t e r d e p a r t m e n t a l . A n illustration w o u l d be t h a t a cata- MARCH 1958 129- loger advises a page a b o u t shelving. Well, this is all r i g h t if it is s o u n d ad- vice, if the page accepts it, a n d if the suggestion meets w i t h t h e a p p r o v a l of the stack supervisor or whoever is in charge of pages. It is silly to say t h a t because the i n f o r m a l crossing-over be- tween d e p a r t m e n t s m i g h t n o t work t h a t it should n o t be p e r m i t t e d or even en- couraged. T h e r e are simply too m a n y o p p o r t u n i t i e s to facilitate work by this i n f o r m a l exchage w h e r e it is acceptable, a n d i n d i v i d u a l s d o e n j o y it, thereby n o t feeling blocked off f r o m o t h e r d e p a r t - ments. N o d e p a r t m e n t h e a d or e q u i v a l e n t should ever give a n o r d e r to or, espe- cially, r e p r i m a n d a staff m e m b e r n o t in his d e p a r t m e n t . It is best to have a gen- eral policy, f r e q u e n t l y stated, t h a t w h e n this is done, the i n d i v i d u a l has the r i g h t to react as h e will, p r e f e r a b l y telling the d e p a r t m e n t h e a d w h o is o u t of o r d e r that it is n o n e of his business, a n d this need n o t even be said politely. I n this way, o n e of the worst things in a library can be p r e v e n t e d — t h a t t h i n g b e i n g the existence of some awesome or angry per- son m a k i n g this awe a n d anger felt in a n area wider t h a n his i m m e d i a t e staff responsibilities officially go. W h i l e po- sition, tenure, etc., all may m a k e t h e i n d i v i d u a l m o r e v a l u a b l e in his work, o r g a n i z a t i o n a l lines can be badly tangled by such an i n d i v i d u a l ' s assum- ing a set of a d m i n i s t r a t i v e prerogatives t h a t were t h o u g h t o u t along entirely dif- f e r e n t lines a n d assignments m a d e t h a t d i d n o t include this crossing-over, which permits a k i n d of seniority abuse. T h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of a library should endeavor to make it well-nigh impossible f o r this k i n d of out-of- channels a r b i t r a r y a d m i n i s t r a t i o n to be felt. Years ago m a n y libraries h a d this p r o b l e m w i t h the faculty. It is m u c h less p r e v a l e n t today. T h e faculty are too busy w i t h their own work, a n d library staffs may q u i t e p r o b a b l y be m o r e ade- q u a t e in size, quality, a n d organization. M a n y of us favor the assignment of spe- cific faculty r a n k to the i n d i v i d u a l pro- fessional l i b r a r i a n in o r d e r to give h i m a k i n d of status which is highly desirable in a n academic a t m o s p h e r e . A l i b r a r i a n w i t h the r a n k of instructor can use his own j u d g m e n t as to w h e t h e r or n o t he wants to argue a m a t t e r w i t h a f u l l pro- fessor of English. O n e t h i n g is certain: he has as m u c h status a n d therefore as m u c h e q u i p m e n t w i t h which to argue as has the i n s t r u c t o r in history to argue w i t h the f u l l professor of English. From here on, it is a question of the i n d i v i d u a l a n d w h e t h e r he likes to argue a n d is willing to take his chances. M a n y do, m a n y d o n ' t , b u t this is n o t characteristic of l i b r a r i a n s any m o r e t h a n of instruc- tors at large. T h e suggestions t h u s far m a d e m i g h t be g r o u p e d loosely as w o r k i n g relation- ships. T h e r e is a n o t h e r g r o u p t h a t m i g h t be called " w o r k i n g conditions." By w o r k i n g conditions is i n t e n d e d coverage of such items as heat, ventila- tion, p r o p e r lights, good e q u i p m e n t , a d e q u a t e space, scientific, or at least sensible, a r r a n g e m e n t of jointly-used fa- cilities, w h e t h e r books, f u r n i t u r e , or coke machines, a n d p a r k i n g conditions — o n e I hesitate to include, since I my- self have never been able to solve t h a t p r o b l e m . I t h i n k it is unnecessary to e x t e n d this list, since it is large, b u t different, in each situation. However, i n c l u d e d in this area are m a n y satis- factions or dissatisfactions which o f t e n lead a person t o stay at or to leave an i n s t i t u t i o n . I suppose there should be i n c l u d e d here the item of living condi- tions, b u t since t h a t is o r d i n a r i l y m o r e a c o m m u n i t y , town, or city p r o b l e m t h a n a n i n s t i t u t i o n a l one, it is only m e n t i o n e d here. I i m a g i n e salary is the most i m p o r t a n t single factor as far as p r o c u r e m e n t of 130 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES l i b r a r i a n s is concerned, especially those b e g i n n i n g professional work. I a m n o t sure this is true, b u t I t h i n k it m i g h t well be. F o r this reason, m a n y of us prefer to keep o u r b e g i n n i n g salaries a r o u n d the n a t i o n a l m e d i a n so t h a t o t h e r factors will e n t e r i n t o the indi- vidual's decision to work at a certain i n s t i t u t i o n . T h e r e is a reason for this. T h e o t h e r factors are the ones t h a t are going to influence the decision as to how long a person stays. So you m i g h t as well face t h e m at the start. N o t h i n g is m o r e i r r i t a t i n g a n d discouraging to an i n d i v i d u a l t h a n to take a j o b at a relatively h i g h salary, a n d t h e n find t h a t the i n s t i t u t i o n is going to get all its money back, by n o t raising salaries in accordance w i t h cost of living, merit, or t e n u r e increases. I t is possible, no d o u b t , to get a couple of years' work o u t of someone before he discovers this, b u t since this talk is a b o u t staff r e t e n t i o n r a t h e r t h a n how to k i d somebody o u t of a couple of years' work b e f o r e he leaves, this d u b i o u s gain will be ignored. Beginning salary for a j u n i o r profes- sional person, however, should n o t be confused w i t h initial salary, t h o u g h it o f t e n is, so of course the n a t i o n a l me- dians are merely a base f o r initial sal- aries, should the i n d i v i d u a l have ex- perience or t r a i n i n g of value to the p a r t i c u l a r i n s t i t u t i o n . Salary schedules should be deter- mined, applied, well k n o w n , a n d widely u n d e r s t o o d . Raises should n o t be given in the light of specific offers, t h o u g h w i t h a n u n e n l i g h t e n e d college or uni- versity a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , it may be neces- sary at certain times at certain places. W h e n this applies, the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of the library should m a k e every effort to j o i n w i t h the o t h e r academic ad- m i n i s t r a t o r s to see t h a t this is corrected. Few things are m o r e d i s t u r b i n g to the i n d i v i d u a l t h a n to be aware of the fact t h a t the only way to get a raise is to get an offer. As a m a t t e r of fact, he soon catches o n t h a t h e is b e t t e r off neglecting his i m m e d i a t e duties a n d should start s h o p p i n g for offers. T h e s e offers are f r e q u e n t l y accepted, resulting in u n d u e t u r n o v e r . However, there is a n o t h e r reason of e q u a l i m p o r t a n c e why raises should n o t be given in the light of a n i m m e d i a t e offer. W i t h this policy, it is possible to share the en- thusiasm of a staff m e m b e r w h o receives a n offer. T h e p o t e n t i a l of the new po- sition can be c o m p a r e d w i t h t h e present position, a n d the f u t u r e of the indi- vidual can be discussed in a decently objective b u t personal m a n n e r . As most of us are aware, I a m sure, offers to staff m e m b e r s literally p o u r in these days. T h i s is all very flattering a n d e n j o y a b l e a n d is of great interest a n d value to the average college or university a d m i n i s t r a t o r . A t least, this is t r u e as far as the total is concerned, b u t the i n d i v i d u a l n e g o t i a t i o n disturbs every- one and, as I say, m a n y of us feel raises in the light of a n offer should never be r e c o m m e n d e d by the library. W h i l e this may seem a difficult if n o t impossible way to proceed by some l i b r a r i a n s w h o are working u n d e r college or university a d m i n i s t r a t o r s w h o expect or even re- q u i r e such offers b e f o r e allowing raises, it can be done. W e have n o t in the past f o u r t e e n years r e c o m m e n d e d a change in salary for a professional l i b r a r i a n to meet a n o t h e r offer. If this policy is never violated, the staff comes to k n o w t h a t w h a t used to be k n o w n in the ivy league schools as the "jack a n d screw" m e t h o d of r e m u n e r a t i o n is n o t in op- eration. Of course, offers are taken i n t o con- sideration seriously as reflecting outside evaluation of a n i n d i v i d u a l , b u t this is d o n e a n n u a l l y at b u d g e t time a n d t h r o u g h channels; otherwise, especially in this time of e x t r e m e shortages a n d MARCH 1958 131- i n n u m e r a b l e offers, t h e r e w o u l d be little time l e f t for the library a d m i n i s t r a t o r to d o a n y t h i n g o t h e r t h a n revise salaries constantly. M e a n w h i l e , all the o t h e r staff m e m b e r s are d i s t u r b e d , w o n d e r i n g if they, too, o u g h t n o t to look u p f r o m work long e n o u g h to be g e t t i n g their salaries raised t h r o u g h offers. T h e library a d m i n i s t r a t i o n ' s willing- ness a n d ability to d e t e r m i n e the t r u e value of the i n d i v i d u a l staff m e m b e r , to pay h i m t h a t m u c h a n d n o more, w i t h i n a given scale, is, I a m convinced, o n e of the m a j o r factors in staff confidence, and, therefore, staff r e t e n t i o n . I t may be t h a t the i n d i v i d u a l feels you are mistaken in d e t e r m i n i n g his ability, b u t o n e t h i n g he knows is t h a t you are paying h i m w h a t you t h i n k h e is w o r t h , a n d n o t w h a t you t h i n k you must, except as this applies generally to all staff members. T h i s policy c a n n o t be p u t i n t o effect successfully unless the total salary scale is at least e q u i t a b l e to c o m p a r a b l e institutions. Again, some of us feel t h a t assigning specific r a n k to the professional staff m e m b e r pretty well takes care of this. T h e i n d i v i d u a l staff m e m b e r will n o t r e m a i n in a position, if he can h e l p it, which does n o t have certain responsi- bilities. T h e s e responsibilities should n o t be assigned u n t i l the i n d i v i d u a l is p r e p a r e d to meet t h e m w i t h o u t a sense of inadequacy. At best, some of us feel, work in the m o r e i m m e d i a t e o p e r a t i o n of the library should be delegated. T h i s will insure i n d i v i d u a l staff m e m b e r s h a v i n g the sense of responsibility which keeps the position interesting. T o this i n d i v i d u a l m u s t go all credit a n d discredit, f o r the assigned a n d as- sumed obligations. It is t r u e t h a t every- o n e in the hierarchy above, supervisor t h r o u g h a d m i n i s t r a t o r , is equally re- sponsible, b u t in all fairness to the indi- vidual, credit m u s t be given h i m w h e n a good j o b is d o n e . If a p o o r j o b is done, it is better for the succeeding officer above the indi- v i d u a l to assume the responsibility, espe- cially outside the organization. I n o t h e r words, w h e n a t h i n g is d o n e right, let everybody outside the library k n o w the staff m e m b e r w h o d i d it. W h e n it is n o t d o n e right, never specify w h i c h staff m e m b e r caused the failure, as far as the outside w o r l d is concerned. It is almost impossible to p r e v e n t fellow staff mem- bers f r o m k n o w i n g w h a t h a p p e n e d , b u t there is always something r a t h e r sicken- ing a b o u t a n a d m i n i s t r a t o r w h o ex- plains a f a i l u r e of his organization by p o i n t i n g o u t t h a t a p a r t i c u l a r staff mem- ber failed. W h i l e this may very well be the case, it was the a d m i n i s t r a t o r ' s re- sponsibility to see t h a t an a d e q u a t e per- son was given the assignment. Every staff m e m b e r m u s t have some- o n e w h o feels responsible f o r him, a n d either t h a t responsible person or some- one above t h a t responsible person must let the staff m e m b e r know w h a t h e feels to be the p o t e n t i a l of t h a t i n d i v i d u a l , a n d also t h a t there is someone interested in his a t t a i n i n g t h a t f u l l potential, e i t h e r w i t h i n or outside the given insti- t u t i o n . T h i s p o t e n t i a l must be an actual one, a n d n o t o n e t h a t has been just t r u m p e d u p for m o r a l e purposes, be- cause time a n d circumstance will prove the theoretical p o t e n t i a l to be wrong. Sometimes a staff m e m b e r a n d some- body above h i m are aware t h a t he has greater abilities, b u t there is no oppor- t u n i t y for f u r t h e r p r o m o t i o n or for p l a c e m e n t in the j o b t h a t is r i g h t f o r t h a t i n d i v i d u a l . W h e n this is the case, there should be a definite, stated under- s t a n d i n g on the p a r t of everybody con- cerned t h a t this is the case. T h e n a de- cision can be made, according to the policies a n d practices of the organiza- tion, as to w h e t h e r the i n d i v i d u a l should be u r g e d to seek his f u l l professional p o t e n t i a l in a n o t h e r i n s t i t u t i o n or to stay in his present job. T h e supervisor or a d m i n i s t r a t o r or whoever is con- 132 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES cerned must be very careful not to as- sume prerogatives which are those of the i n d i v i d u a l , the i n s t i t u t i o n , or the profession at large. I n d o i n g this, d e p e n d i n g u p o n time, place, a n d conditions, the obligations of m a n a g e m e n t m i g h t be at times to favor slightly one or the other. O r d i n a r i l y , since the i n s t i t u t i o n can b e t t e r afford it t h a n the individual, the decision should be m a d e to favor the i n d i v i d u a l ' s career r a t h e r t h a n t o have h i m work at frac- tional capacity, since actually, f o r the long h a u l , the i n s t i t u t i o n definitely benefits by this a t t i t u d e . O n e benefit that accrues to the insti- t u t i o n is the favorable position it has w i t h the library schools in p l a c e m e n t preference of promising y o u n g people. T h e library schools feel t h a t in such an i n s t i t u t i o n a promising y o u n g person does n o t get lost professionally. A n o t h e r benefit is derived f r o m the i n d i v i d u a l himself, who, h a v i n g finally left the i n s t i t u t i o n , encourages o t h e r people of great p o t e n t i a l to accept ap- p o i n t m e n t s where the i n d i v i d u a l ' s ca- reer is given a n even break w i t h the i n s t i t u t i o n a l need, or, w h e n at all pos- sible, is slightly favored. It m i g h t be m e n t i o n e d parenthetically t h a t t h e ethical obligation of manage- m e n t is p r o b a b l y met by merely n o t at- t e m p t i n g to block the i n d i v i d u a l ' s pro- fessional g r o w t h w h e n this means leav- ing a job, b u t does n o t e x t e n d to seek- ing specific positions f o r h i m a n d rec- o m m e n d i n g h i m to o t h e r institutions. I n o t h e r words, m a n a g e m e n t does n o t need to feel obligated to find b e t t e r jobs f o r its own staff, especially in times of shortage. T h i s does n o t apply to cer- tain cases, for example, where someone has accepted a position, say, as assistant o r d e r l i b r a r i a n in o r d e r to get a mini- m u m of t r a i n i n g for r u n n i n g his own o r d e r d e p a r t m e n t in a c o m p a r a b l e in- stituti on. Here, w h e n a person has been acquired w i t h t h a t u n d e r s t a n d i n g , the spirit of the contract p r o b a b l y includes h e l p i n g discover the p r o p e r spot for a person w h o has come for this m i n i m u m training, so stated at the time, a n d h i r e d o n t h a t basis. W h e r e legally possible, encourage- m e n t to f u r t h e r f o r m a l a n d i n f o r m a l professional t r a i n i n g should include leave w i t h pay, certainly t o the extent of o n e f u l l q u a r t e r each year; financial assistance in a d d i t i o n to leave, a m a t t e r which is m o r e easily a t t a i n e d t h a n most institutions now recognize; a i d i n g the staff in securing scholarships or assist- antships in the library schools; n o ex- clusion f r o m m e r i t or t e n u r e salary in- crements; a n d t e r m i n a l c o n d i t i o n s should be most carefully h a n d l e d . Ac- tually, some of the best staffs in col- leges a n d universities in this country are m a d e u p substantially of repeaters. A c o n t i n u i n g interest in f o r m e r staff members should be taken, n o t entirely because they m i g h t r e t u r n , b u t also be- cause this is to the i n s t i t u t i o n ' s credit, a n d becomes k n o w n generally. For ex- ample, a p p o i n t m e n t , or suggestion of a p p o i n t m e n t , to an i m p o r t a n t profes- sional committee will o f t e n involve con- sideration of a m o r e m a t u r e staff mem- ber w h o is no longer at the i n s t i t u t i o n , r a t h e r t h a n merely suggesting a promis- ing one w h o is o n the staff. Both reflect credit on the institution, b u t since pre- sumably the ex-staff m e m b e r is better qualified, a better j o b will result, while only discredit can come to a n institu- tion which can d e m o n s t r a t e wide com- mittee a n d o t h e r association activity, b u t where people are n o t ready. It is definitely b e t t e r n o t to be represented t h a n to be poorly represented. T h e staff m e m b e r likes to be identi- fied w i t h a p o p u l a r d e p a r t m e n t or u n i t , a n d the p o p u l a r ones invariably are those t h a t d o the best work, so it prob- ably follows t h a t a h i g h s t a n d a r d of w o r k — q u a l i t a t i v e a n d q u a n t i t a t i v e — i s conducive to r e t e n t i o n of staff. MARCH 1958 133-