THE  MEASURE  OF  COMPARATIVE  PRODUCTIVENESS  315
or,  on  the  other  hand,  depriving  the  foreman  entirely  of
the  right  to  exercise  such  judgments,  a  sane  middle  course
may  be  adopted.  The  importance  and  effectiveness  of  personal ­
  and  emotional  estimates  should  be  recognized  from
the  outset  by  providing  a  column  in  which  they  shall  be
expressed.  However,  such  estimates,  instead  of  being
entirely  free,  shall  be  controlled  and  guided.  Now,  it  is
evident  from  the  form  which  has  been  provided  that  this
can  be  done.  On  one  side  of  the  foreman’s  column  is  the
worker’s  record  of  productiveness.  If  the  foreman  is  inclined ­
  to  rate  a  good  man  too  low,  a  glance  at  his  adjacent
production  record  will  automatically  remind  him  of  the
worker’s  good  points.  If  the  foreman  has,  as  sometimes
happens,  made  it  particularly  easy  or  hard  for  a  man  to
get  out  his  work,  a  glance  at  the  attendance  record  on  the
other  side  will  remind  him  of  the  man’s  steadiness  and
reliability.  Furthermore,  if  the  opinion  of  a  worker’s  value
must  be  expressed  in  terms  of  A,  B,  C,  and  D,  rather  than
more  highly  colored  terms,  the  danger  of  emotional  excess
is  still  further  reduced.  Finally,  by  requiring  a  periodic
expression  of  opinion  rather  than  a  sporadic  one,  another
danger  of  excess  is  removed.  In  industrial  situations  the
principle,  count  ten  before  you  speak,  can  be  applied  with
great  profit.  If  there  is  something  of  special  significance
which  must  be  said,  space  is  provided  under  “Remarks";
although  this  place  is  intended  also  for  the  recording  of
many  other  factors  which  should  affect  an  employee’s
retention;  namely,  “attends  night  school”,  “understands
electrical  work”,  “popular  with  the  men”,  “would  like
a  trial  as  a  tool  setter  ”,  and  so  forth.  There  are  a  thousand
and  one  unpredictable  facts  or  incidents  which  have  a
bearing  upon  the  individual’s  record  but  for  which  no
standard  procedure  can  be  devised.  Under  “Reason  for