Category Archives: History of work

26
Mar

The history of work (III): an employee with talent in 1951

Following on from “A contract for a schoolmistress in 1923” and “Eleven rules for hiring women (1943)“, I’d like to share with you another pearl of wisdom from the past, this time from the book Practical Business Psychology by Laird and Laird, published by the prestigious McGraw-Hill Book Company in 1951. In this book the authors list the qualities which we should have if we want to be considered an employee with talent. (My favourite one comes at the end.)

Technical Qualities

1. Accuracy in day-to-day work
2. Completion of said work quickly
3. Planning of work beforehand
4. Neatness and tidiness in finished work
5. Knowledge of the systems of work in the office
6. Capacity to learn new systems

Social Qualities

1. Pleasant appearance
2. Use of appropriate language
3. Discretion as regards the secrets of the business
4. Cooperation with the rest of the employees
5. Acceptance of suggestions and criticism

Personal Qualities

1. Punctuality
2. Completion of tasks before the deadline
3. Initiative
4. Awareness of one’s own personal responsibility

And one final piece of advice: “To have a pleasant wife, if one aspires to be promoted.” In other words, if you weren’t bothered about getting on in the company, you could marry who you liked.

26
Jan

The history of work (II): Eleven rules for hiring women (1943)

During World War 2, owing to the large number of men away on active duty, companies had to take on a huge number of women.  The leader article of the magazine “Mass Transportation” in 1943 gives eleven recommendations on how to do this. (more…)

31
Jul

The history of work(I): a contract for a schoolmistress in 1923

Why do we call female teachers “Miss”? The answer has its roots in history, and in particular in the first point of the contract below, as Michael W Apple tells us in his book “Teachers and Texts” (1988), published by Routledge. (more…)