abilities,  whether  professional,  military,  or general; and recognition for progress is given. There is a minimum of disciplinary problems. These  external  symptoms  of  effective  personnel  use are not separate or isolated but are so related that improvement in any one area leads to improvement in other  areas. Senior AKs, like other petty officers, spend a great deal  of  time  supervising  subordinates.  Too  often,  they tend to think that the emphasis should be placed on the jobs  and  how  well  they  are  being  done  by  the individuals. A little thought shows that actually the individuals should be supervised so that they get the jobs done well—a view that involves an important difference in orientation on the part of the supervisor. Some  of  the  factors  involved  in  effective  use  of personnel are discussed in this section. No effort is made  to  present  a  definitive  treatment  of  the  subject; rather,  the  section  is  intended  to  alert  you  to  the advantages to be gained by developing your skill in managing  people,  and  to  give  you  a  starting  point  for further reading and study. Personnel  Versus  Workload The  standard  complaint  of  many  supervisors,  when faced  with  any  change  in  procedure,  is  that  more personnel are needed. For anyone to consider the work force too large already is unlikely. Sometimes, however, there are actually more personnel available than can be used effective y. Perhaps it is only natural to think that any job could be done better if only a few more personnel could be assigned. The fact is that the law of diminishing returns applies in the Navy as surely as in any profit-making organization. Individuals need to feel that they are performing  a  useful  function  and  are  contributing something tangible to the defense of our country. If people do not have a feeling of accomplishment, morale in  an  organization  will  suffer. A supervisor with a knowledge of the variety of jobs done  by  workers  can  easily  compute  the  optimum number of personnel for the organization. You must review the number of personnel now assigned and the work that must be done. Does every person have a full-time job? If some of the functions were combined or  eliminated,  would  the  performance  of  the organization   suffer?   Often,   operations   that   were necessary at some time in the past are continued long after  they  cease  to  serve  a  useful  purpose.  An accumulation  of  these  can  sometimes  waste  the productive time of several persons. If you cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you   need   every   person,   you   are   overstaffed.   In determining  manpower  requirements,  it  is  better  to  err on the short side than the long. People are flexible enough to absorb more work than they are generally given credit for being able to perform,  and  inventive  enough  to  devise  the  means  of doing the job more easily. Assigning  and  Rotating  Work  Assignments The supervisor should be able to make an equitable and efficient distribution of the individual jobs among assigned personnel. This is not a simple task. It requires careful study and planning because several factors affect it. These factors may vary from one organization to another. One of the factors is personnel ability. Your personnel will have varying degrees of knowledge and experience.  Also,  the  jobs  differ  in  complexity,  required time  to  perform,  and  frequency  of  performance.  While the  ultimate  responsibility  for  the  assignment  of personnel  rests  with  the  supply  officer,  he  or  she  will rely heavily on your recommendations. The  practice  of  rotating  personnel  through  the various phases of their rating is universally recognized as beneficial to the individuals and hence to the Navy. Unfortunately, it is by no means universally practiced, and  even  more  unfortunately,  resistance  to  a  regular system  of  rotation  is  often  concentrated  in  the  senior enlisted  personnel. The first step in planning personnel assignments is to prepare a list of all jobs that are required in performing the supply functions for which you are responsible. The size of the list will depend upon the number of supply functions under your supervision and the degree to which you break down these functions into jobs. It is not necessary to list every motion required to perform a task, but each separate, distinct job should be shown. The list should not be limited only to routine work, but should include reports as well as the jobs that are performed  less  frequently. The  next  step  is  to  analyze  the  job  requirements. The major purpose of job analysis is to help you to make the most effective use of manpower. Therefore, you decide  how  much  information  is  needed  about  each  job. You can make the analysis as simple or as elaborate as you deem necessary. The items listed below could be used in making a job analysis; either by listing on a 1-5