THE  MEASURE  OF  COMPARATIVE  PRODUCTIVENESS  299
man  hired  may  all  agree  and  the  man  may  become  a
valuable  employee.
These  very  typical  cases  all  indicate  how  large  a  part
personal  judgments  may  play  in  the  selection  and  retention ­
  of  employees.  The  agreements  and  differences  involved ­
  in  these  hypothetical  situations  make  it  necessary
to  ask:  Who  is  right  or  wrong,  the  foreman,  the  employment ­
  manager,  or  the  applicant?  We  are  obliged  to  take
the  word  of  some  one.  Either  the  foreman  is  right  and
the  employment  manager  wrong,  or  vice  versa,  or  both
may  be  right  and  the  employee  wrong,  or  both  may  be
wrong  and  the  employee  right,  or  all  of  them  may  be
wrong.  At  the  present  time,  many  companies  require
the  foreman  to  give  a  reason  for  laying  a  man  off,  and  in
fairness  to  the  employee,  the  latter  is  also  asked  to  state
his  reason  for  leaving  or  being  laid  off.  Practical  experience ­
  has  shown  that  there  is  very  little  agreement  between ­
  the  two  sides  of  the  story,  and  that  the  reasons
given  are  very  often  entirely  worthless.  Again,  it  is  one
personal  opinion  against  another.  Some  companies  have
committees  to  determine  whether  a  man  shall  be  laid
off  or  promoted.  These  committees  consist  of  the  foreman, ­
  employment  manager,  fellow  workmen,  educational
manager,  etc.  Such  committees  are  conducive  to  greater
deliberateness  and  care;  but  nevertheless,  their  decision
must  also  rest  largely  upon  a  basis  of  personal  opinions
and  impressions,  rather  than  upon  some  definite  objective
basis.  Obviously,  any  attempt  to  fix  the  degree  of  correlation ­
  between  the  selection  and  retention  of  employees
is  bound  to  be  almost  valueless  as  long  as  it  depends  upon
such  precarious  grounds  as  these.  Even  if  the  individuals
governing  selection  and  retention  were  of  the  most  reliable
character  and  ability,  the  continuous  change  in  the  per ­