SKwwMSiw

284

EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY

One  of  the  large  causes  of  labor  turnover  in  factories  is
the  dislike  for  particular  kinds  of  work,  and  consequently,
every  effort  should  be  made  to  acquaint  the  applicant
with  the  intended  work  before  he  is  actually  hired  to  do  it.
It  may  be  said  that  the  centralized  training  school  will  prepare ­
  the  new  worker  for  these  very  conditions.  But  the
actual  shop  conditions  are  hardly  ever  as  ideal  as  the  conditions ­
  of  a  centralized  training  school  are  likely  to  be;  consequently ­
  the  change  from  the  centralized  training  school
into  the  shop  itself  may  bring  with  it  a  certain  degree  of  disillusionment ­
  and  consequent  dissatisfaction.  This  contingency ­
  can  not  arise  if  the  new  employee  is  sent  immediately
to  the  shop  in  which  he  is  expected  to  remain.  Second,  the
fact  that  an  applicant  is  chosen  for  a  certain  type  of  work
and  sent  at  once  to  the  shop  in  which  he  is  expected  to  succeed, ­
  places  a  moral  obligation  upon  the  new  employee
which  no  other  method  can  produce.  It  puts  it  up  to  him
to  succeed  or  fail  at  that  particular  job.  If,  on  the  other
hand,  the  employee  is  sent  to  a  central  school  where  all
kinds  of  operations  are  being  taught  to  a  considerable
number  of  applicants,  the  moral  obligation  no  longer  rests
with  the  employee  but  with  the  school  and  its  instructors.
It  now  becomes  the  duty  of  the  instructors  to  try  the
novice  out  on  various  types  of  machines  and  work  until
he  is  suited.  This  process  manifestly  involves  the  utmost
degree  of  effort  and  attention.  The  difficulty  may  be
stated  in  still  another  way.  Many  applicants  do  not  know
specifically  what  kind  of  work  they  wish  to  do.  However,
when  an  applicant  chooses  to  go  to  a  specific  shop  and  a
specific  job,  his  mind  is  made  up  and  his  doubts  are  to  a
large  extent  settled.  This  state  of  mind  is  conducive  to
his  success  at  that  job.  But  if  the  individual  is  placed  in
a  school  the  whole  attitude  of  which  is  experimental,  his