The success of any business depends upon the hearty cooperation of the
employes.
We have often heard that a corporation has no soul. A corporation
probably has no soul but most of us forget that the officers of the
corporation have souls and hearts, and in proportion as the individual
at the head of a corporation or private enterprise treats his employes
just so he will be repaid.
We are paid back what we pay out. If we are harsh and mean to others,
ever suspicious, ever looking for evil motives, those who work for us
will be suspicious of us and look for evil motives behind our every
act.
The employer who shows consideration, cultivates respect and sets a
good example will find it pays from a monetary standpoint, as well as
in the satisfaction he has in knowing that he is doing the right thing.
Lincoln said "A house divided against itself must fall." If the
employes of an institution spend their time in wrangling and
quarreling, it means a divided house, and the house will certainly
suffer.
Set a good example to your employes. Take them into your confidence.
Recognize ability. Advance worthy ones, and you will find everyone from
the office boy to the officer pulling on the rope in the same
direction, and you will get full measure of ability from everyone who
works for you.
It is impossible to suddenly get a perfect working force. A good
organization comes through the process of evolution and elimination.
Whenever an employe does all he is hired to do and a little more, that
employe is in a position to occupy a place of greater responsibility.
If an employe is a sluggard or a four-flusher, he may be sure these
things will be found out and he cannot hope for advancement.
Employes should remember that the most successful institution is the
one whose managers are developed from the rank and file. The best
houses do not hire high class help from other concerns. The most
successful men are those who started in at the bottom of the ladder,
and by perseverance and pluck and aptitude they climbed the ladder
until they reached the top.
Employes should remember that the most difficult problem the employer
has to solve is that of good employes.
A small want ad. in the metropolitan daily will bring an army of cheap
help. The market is full of cheap help, but good employes that are
worth over $2,000 a year are very scarce. The high priced employes are
generally the best money makers of the institution, for they are
selling their brains rather than their hands. The hands are limited,
the brains are not.
Employes, there are golden opportunities before you. Disregard the
clock. Bend your energies toward doing your work well. The advancement
will be sure to follow.
The trouble with many employes is that their minds are filled with
outside matters of a frivolous nature.
In every large city there are thousands of dude employes, the kind who
wear high collars, the kind who spend all their salary for clothes.
The dude employe stands in his own light. He wears a higher priced tie
than the boss; he is immaculately neat; he looks like a fashion plate,
but at the same time his tailor bill is not paid, he is owing money
right and left. He spends his evenings in the cafes, and at odd moments
during the day he dodges out to look over the racing form and smoke a
cigaret. This dude employe sits up late at night. He spends his salary,
and more too, in the gay life. He is tired next morning when he comes
down.
The dude employe who wears a high collar is not the one that knuckles
down to hard work. Perspiration and high collars do not go well
together. The dude employe does not like perspiration, so he sees to it
that he does not exert himself enough to perspire.
Employes should remember that very truthful axiom: "The employe who
never does more than he is paid for is never paid for more than he
does."
The employe should remember that the boss takes large chances in hiring
help, for there is not one employe out of ten that is a good
investment. The employes should remember that it is necessary for the
boss to make a good margin of profit on each employe, else he could not
maintain his business.
Every employe who studies how much he can do is a help to an employer.
Every employe who sees how little he can do is a hold-back to the
institution.
Employes should remember that prosperity goes in cycles, that it is but
three generations from shirt sleeve to shirt sleeve.
Over ninety per cent. of the bosses today started in and worked their
way up from the ground. The young man who inherits a partnership in his
father's business really has a handicap on him, and is not as likely to
succeed as an employe who starts in at the bottom of the ladder.
Employes should remember that responsibilities only come to those
whose shoulders are broad enough to bear them, and when additional
responsibility comes to an employe that employe should look upon the
responsibility as a distinct advantage to him, for it gives him an
opportunity to show the stuff he is made of.