i6

EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY

applying  for  the  same  position,  and  one  seems  considerably ­
  more  desirable  than  the  other,  the  interviewer  may
be  just  on  the  point  of  hiring  this  candidate  when  his  eye
is  suddenly  caught  by  the  pin  of  a  fraternity  which  he
heartily  dislikes.  The  sight  of  this  pin  may  immediately
cause  him  to  shift  his  favorable  opinion  to  the  other  and
less  desirable  applicant.  Anyone  familiar  with  employment ­
  conditions  knows  that  the  instances  given  above
could  be  multiplied  indefinitely.
The  casual  methods  prevalent  not  only  in  employment
work  but  in  the  handling  of  workers  throughout  industry ­
  in  general  is  one  of  the  anomalies  of  the  age.
For  fifty  years  and  more,  the  utmost  attention  has
been  paid  to  the  development  and  refinement  of  the
mechanical  processes  of  manufacture.  The  division  of
labor  has  been  carried  to  a  point  which  would  have  been
incredible  a  generation  ago.  But  the  division  of  laborers
is  almost  as  haphazard  now  as  it  was  then.  Now  every
large  industry  has  its  chemical  and  physical  laboratory,
in  which  it  examines  most  minutely  the  quality  of  the  materials ­
  which  it  receives  and  fabricates.  But  the  effort
during  all  this  time  devoted  to  the  improvement  of
methods  for  handling  human  material  has  been  ridiculously ­
  cheap  and  inadequate.  As  a  single  and  a  very  practical ­
  instance  of  this  easy-going  policy,  as  applied  to  employment ­
  problems,  the  following  quotation  from  an
address  to  a  convention  of  California  railroad  men  is
given:  “Would  you,  gentlemen,  enter  into  a  contract  to
buy  material  from  a  concern,  the  excellence  of  whose  product ­
  you  had  grave  reason  to  doubt?  Would  you  place
orders  to  the  extent  of  three  and  one-half  million  dollars
a  year,  waive  inspection  of  material,  accept  whatever  was
offered  you,  and  make  no  effort  to  get  your  money’s  worth?