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EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY

There  are  several  serious  objections  to  this  kind  of  job
analysis.  To  begin  with,  it  is  not  job  analysis  at  all  but  a
kind  of  thinly  disseminated  character  analysis.  Anybody
can  make  a  hasty  tour  of  inspection,  gather  a  superficial
knowledge  of  a  number  of  jobs,  and  then  describe  them  in
such  comprehensive  terms  as  those  just  enumerated.  In
the  next  place,  these  qualities  are  so  general  and  vague
that  they  mean  very  little  when  tied  up  with  a  particular
job.  Any  number  of  jobs  can  be  described  equally  well
by  such  words  and  phrases  as  industry,  patience,  accuracy, ­
  application,  routine  temperament,  loyalty,  static,
and  so  on.  But  these  words  mean  little  or  nothing  at  all  as
they  stand.  They  are  detached  and  theoretical.  Patience ­
  as  such,  for  instance,  is  an  abstract  and  meaningless
quality.  A  man  may  be  very  patient  in  one  way  and  very
impatient  in  another.  A  tool  maker  may  be  patient  in
watching  a  slow  and  very  important  cut  but  very  impatient ­
  with  his  family  or  his  foreman.  Therefore,  it  is
useless  to  call  for  a  man  of  patience  unless  it  is  possible  to
distinguish  between  different  kinds  of  patience  and  then
specify  which  kind  is  desired.  The  same  thing  may  be
said  of  every  one  of  these  general  qualities.  A  man  may
be  very  energetic  or  dynamic  at  one  kind  of  work  but  very
lazy  or  static  at  another  kind.  Suppose  a  man  asks  for
employment  in  a  position  requiring  marked  initiative,
energy,  and  executive  ability.  The  person  conducting
the  interview  may  decide  that  this  applicant  is  possessed
of  these  qualities,  and  consequently  recommend  that  he  be
hired.  The  man  is  hired  and  set  to  work.  After  a  few
weeks  he  discovers  that  his  work  is  not  at  all  what  he
expected  but  is  outside  the  scope  of  both  his  training
and  desires.  Instead,  therefore,  of  developing  initiative,
energy,  and  executive  powers,  he  becomes  plodding,