Personnel policy of russian electrical engineering companies at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries (based on materials from the «Siemens and Halske» company)

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Abstract

Purpose of the research. The article examines the transformation of the personnel policy of electrical engineering enterprises in Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The purpose of the study is to examine the experience of «Siemens and Halske» in forming the personnel structure of enterprises and the system of motivation of skilled workers.

Results. The author comes to the conclusion that the history of the solution of the personnel issue at electrical engineering enterprises at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries can be divided into two qualitatively different periods. At the first stage (1886–1898), the personnel of the management and production links was formed by inviting foreign specialists. At the second stage (1898–1917), a tendency towards «Russification» of both the management and production links appeared in the practice of forming the personnel. The German model served as a model for creating a system of motivation for workers at some enterprises in Russia. It was innovative for its time and demonstrated high efficiency. The social policy of the «Siemens and Halske» company in the 19th — early 20th centuries, although built on hierarchical principles, demonstrated a desire for targeted improvement of the professional level of personnel and improvement of working conditions, but never achieved complete social justice for all categories of workers.

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About the authors

Viacheslav A. Borovskikh

Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University

Author for correspondence.
Email: slavaborovskih98@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0009-0007-4589-1256
SPIN-code: 2542-1264

postgraduate student

Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg

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