THE VESTIBULE SCHOOL
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into the selection and retention of an employee. One of
these is the effect of novelty. A new employee who is
plunged suddenly into a totally new environment is very
likely to lose his confidence and to become discouraged
to the point of giving up his work. This tendency is more
marked in women and girls than in men. The training
school should be conducted in such a way that the new
employee is placed, from the outset, under the encouraging
care of a sympathetic instructor. The presence or
absence of a sympathetic instructor in an enormous number
of cases is the difference between success or failure on
the part of the new employee. Again, a new employee
plunged into the midst of the work which he is intended
to do is likely to become discouraged when he sees the
great difference between his own clumsy efforts and the
highly skilled actions of the experienced workmen who
surround him. A training school shields a new employee
against such a damaging contrast until his own skill more
nearly approaches the skill of those with whom he is
destined to work. Again, a preliminary period of training
makes it possible to instruct the new employee in the customs
and practices of shop work in general. For example,
he can be taught the meaning and use of the lot system,
how to make out a time ticket, how to make a claim for
short pay, how to arrange for absences, and numerous
other details which play so important a part in making
the employee feel at home in a shop.
Finally, the presence of a vestibule school removes the
necessity of hiring applicants for the immediate needs of
the moment, and thereby makes possible a much wiser and
more farsighted selection. Under the present system, it
usually happens that some office or shop suddenly needs a
stenographer or a group of operators, and needs them at
