CRITERIA OF VOCATIONAL SUCCESS
wishes to measure the individual’s success in terms of abil-
ity to get along in the world. The investigator must take
into account such matters as the cost of living in the various
localities in which the men are employed, the relative size of
the budgets allowed to each department, and similar varia-
bles.
7. Commissions and bonuses. Commissions and income
from piece-work are more flexible indexes of occupational
ability than salaries. With compensation on this basis a
man’s income is usually proportional to his output. The
investigator using this criterion will be confronted most
forcibly with the problems of interest and uniform motiva-
tion. Earnings should be averaged over a long period of
time, and the cautions mentioned under “quantity and
quality of output” should be observed. Bonuses when
added to commissions exaggerate differences in ability but
do not change the rank of workers in the criterion.
8. Length of service or stability on the job. The firm
may meet with little difficulty in locating men who after
instruction are capable of complying with the minimum
requirements of vocational efficiency, but the turnover may
be so great that the cost of training new men is an undue
item of expense. The problem for the investigator then
becomes one of measuring a certain stability of tempera-
ment, or contentment in that type of occupation, as well
as ability to do the required work. If he accepts the
challenge to measure stability of temperament or to pre-
dict contentment on the job in question, he must not use
as subjects those who leave the company for reasons be-
yond their control. The Scovill Manufacturing Company
has used to excellent effect in its studies of employment
tests for factory operatives the criterion of length of ser-
vice. For the purposes of the research an unsuccessful
employee is defined as one who leaves the company within
six months of hiring for any reason other than lay off, death,
or illness not connected with the occupation. An employee
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