Industrial efficiency from the psychological standpoint : a series of four lectures delivered at the Imperial College of Science and Technology / by Charles S. Myers.

  • Myers, Charles S. (Charles Samuel), 1873-1946.
Date:
[1919?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Industrial efficiency from the psychological standpoint : a series of four lectures delivered at the Imperial College of Science and Technology / by Charles S. Myers. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ten-hour day. As a result, there was a 3 per cent, increase in output during the first period under obser¬ vation, and this increase continued in the second and third periods, until it reached 17 and 26 per cent, respectively. In a bleaching factory a 20 minutes’ rest was introduced after each spell of 80 minutes’ work, and a 60 per cent, increase in output was recorded, accompanied by a 50 per cent, increase in wages. In one of our own munitions factories, 15 minutes’ rest was introduced after every 45 minutes’ work, and a very definite increase in output was recorded, although he had not the exact figure. The employees in this factory were paid by piece rate, and they grumbled at first at the enforced rest periods, because they thought they would lose money by it, but there was a very distinct increase in their output and con¬ sequently in their earnings. Rest Periods. Another interesting case on record was that of two rival groups of soldiers which were engaged i n seeing who could make the greater number of yards of trench at the front. The officer of one group divided his men into three sections, so that he was able to give each section five minutes’ rest after every ten minutes’ work. Thus they were working continually in relays. The other officer worked his men in the ordinary way and employed no system at all. The first group won easily, solely through the systematic rests which were introduced. This demonstrated how necessary it was for further investigation into the question of introducing rests. By giving a rest period they were avoiding fatigue, and the work lost during the rest period was more than made up by the increased output which the work¬ people produced after each rest. At the same time, there must be something lost in the process of “ warming up ” after each rest period, and' it was only by careful investigation of figures of output before and after, and by varying the time of introducing the rest period and its length, that reliable information as to the best methods could be obtained. With regard to the factor of re¬ duced hours, some striking results had been obtained in our own muni¬ tions factories. In the case of men engaged in the heavy work of sizing fuses, the hours were reduced from 58-2 hours.to 51.2 hours per week, a reduction of about 12 per cent., with the result that the hourly output was increased by 39 per cent. But hourly output was not of so much interest to the employer as the total output, and in this case the total output was increased by 22 per cent. In the case of women engaged in the moderately heavy work of turning fuse bodies, the hours were reduced from 66-2 to 54-8 per week, a reduction of about 17 per cent., and the result was a 34 per cent, increase in he urly output and an 11 per cent, increase in total output. A striking instance had been recorded by Stanley Kent, who investigated seme yarn winders in a surgical dressing factory. This work required a great deal of atten¬ tion in watching for broken threads. The daily hours of work were from 6 to 8, from 8.30 to 12.30, and from 1.30 to 5.30, a total of ten hours per day, with overtime worked from 6 to 8 p.m. That made in all a 12-hour day. There was one woman among the employees who said that she could produce a greater output than the rest by net working before breakfast and not working overtime. She was tested against three first-class hands for a month, she working for 8 hturs a day, and the others working fc r 12 hours per day during the first fortnight, and 10 hours per day during the second fortnight. During this month the woman took a whole day’s holiday, and two half-days, and yet at its close she beat the average of the other three. Her output was 8 per cent, greater than the others, and the latter showed a 5 per cent, greater output when working 10 than when working 12 hours a day. During the Coal Commission enquiry it was declared that, although the Durham miners worked 7 hours a day from bank to bank, or an hour less than the others, yet their output was fully equal to that in other districts. The lecturer then turned to the study of selection. There were, he said, some people such as artists^ poets, musicians, inventors, who inevitably adopted their profession because of n^eir genius. Most people, however, were only gifted at most with what was known as talent, and to a certain extent this talent gave a choice of occupation. Many people, of course, chose occupa¬ tions for which they were best fitted. Others, subject perhaps to the advice of friends and relatives, would often choose the wrong occupation. Some would act on tradition and follow the occupation of their father and grandfather. Others would choose their employment, actuated by expected influence. With these various and often detrimental factors at work, it was hardly surprising what an enormous waste of effort and expense arose through people choc sing the wrong occupation. Nothing had struck him mere during the war in enquiring of men what they had done in civil life than to find how many had passed frem occupation to occupation until they got something which suited them. This wasted effort seriously affected the employers also. Some statistics had been prepared relating to a munitions factory in the United States, where it was shown that during six months, of 10,000 employees who left the works, only 10 per cent, left for reasons known to the employers. That was during the war, but as showing that this wastage was not confined to the war period the lecturer quoted a factory in this country, which was also a munitions factory before the war, in which it was feund, before the war, that of 1,000 wc men entrants into the firm,” 658 left after six months. During the war the figure only increased to 671. Vocational Guidance. For each individual there was probably one occupation which was more suitable than any other, and in every occupation some succeeded better than others. What could be done to remedy the state of affairs to which he had referred ? Obviously something could be dene in the way of a vocational guidance depart¬ ment for girls and lads on leaving school. A great deal could be done by an interview,aided by a knowledge of the school records and of the special requirements and openings in different occupations. At any rate, such a procedure would help in c( ming to a broad decision as to whether the boy or girl would be best fitted for mental work or manual employment, for indoor work or outdoor work. Discussing the advantages of selec¬ tion of workers for particular work, Dr. Myers referred to a bicycle ball¬ bearing factory where the girls, holding the balls cn the back of their hand, in one of the spaces between two fingers, had to observe whether there were any defective balls and to remove them by means of a magnet. These girls were tested experimentally as regards their speed of reaction to light, and those were selected who showed the quickest reactions. The girls who proved least suitable were trans¬ ferred to another department. The result of this selection was that