VII

CLERKS
Clerical  work  of  one  kind  or  another  is  a  necessaryadjunct
  to  almost  any  kind  of  enterprise.  The  choice
°f  clerks  is,  therefore,  a  problem  of  universal  interest.
The  fact  that  much  clerical  work  requires  a  quite  different
type  of  worker  than  is  required  by  most  factory  work,
m akes  the  problem  still  more  interesting.  As  a  rule,
office  workers  must  have  a  grammar-school  or  high-school
e ducation  in  order  to  meet  the  demands  of  their  work.
The  time  required  to  “break  in”  new  clerks  is  commensur
 ately  long.  Even  for  the  more  routine  work  it  usually
takes  from  two  weeks  to  two  months  to  develop  a  new
cl erk.  As  a  consequence,  mistakes  in  selection  mean  a
correspondingly  big  loss  to  the  organization.  It  is  most
desirable  to  select  at  the  outset  those  applicants  whose
w °rk  w iH  justify  this  training.  For  the  purpose  of  discovering ­
  and  standardizing  tests  which  should  accomplish
this  object,  a  series  of  experiments  was  conducted  at
Va rious  times  and  under  various  circumstances.  During
the  course  of  the  first  experiment  tests  were  given  to
hfty-two  men  and  women  doing  clerical  and  near-clerical
^°rk.  An  aggregate  number  of  four  hundred  and  forty
te sts  was  given.  The  office  serving  as  the  field  for  this  experiment ­
  was  a  departmental  office  in  which  large  groups
clerks  were  engaged  on  very  similar  work.  This  office
*as  chosen  largely  because  of  the  fact  that  its  manager
had  been  making  a  careful  study  of  his  clerks  and  their
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