CHOOSING MY WORKERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXVI, Issue 18018, 5 November 1920, Page 6

CHOOSING MY WORKERS

! By P. A. Best: Director of Selfridge’s I I In selecting an employee to flu a 1 vacancy in our staff at Selfridge’s li lam guided largely by the behaviour' and manner of the applicant. , Some men, more than others, have ; [the gift—for it. amounts of that—of [making one like them. They make j one “take to them” in a vague, indefinite sort of way. | Others make no impression at all. ■ They appear to have no personality, [no individuality. They are not. (interesting. Others actually repel! i one. ; But the fact that an applicant has i [this power of attraction is not al-1 [ways sufficient to warrant his being j [engaged. I Apart from experience in the parti-j cular branch of the business in which I he seeks employment, an applicant I may lack other qualifications which j are essential to good salesmanship, j In personal appearance he may, on ; examination, betray the fact, that he I is none too scrupulous as to tidi-1 ness. His tie may be slovenly and. perhays, unnecessarily gaudy; his pockets sagging, and so on. And here let me hasten to say that that I never turn a man down simply because he is shabby. Shabbiness is no disgrace; slovenliness is. The difference >s a big one. Again, 1 invariably make a mental note of the state of a man’s teeth. I know no excuse for unclean teeth and few—very few—for bad teeth. The proper care of the teeth is necessary to good health, and the man who does not value his health is of no use in business. 1 heard of a big employer of labour the other day who uses simple tests by which to judge the suitability of candidates for posts on his staff. He would, apparently casually. drop a pencil, bis card, or his handkerchief and wait to see bow the applicant dealt with the situation. If the man promptly leaned for- I ward to pick up the object and politely handed it back, the employer would look with favour on the ap- I plication. If on the other hand, the man I fumbled and then in the end allowed the employer himself to pick it up, the fact would weigh against him. Such methods, however, do not appeal to me as being by any means a good test of a man’s suitability for a job. Hesitancy to perform an act of politeness may be due to nothing more than nervousness from which the victim will quickly recover. Nervousness on meeting a ' stranger is the natural handicap of many people, but I do not see that it should be sufficient to condemn a man in the eyes of a prospective emplicant. The employee who makes the best impression is the man who, in addition to possessing certain specific qualifications, is neatly' and quietly dressed; whose appearance shows that be takes a pride in it; whose eyes meet yours fearlessly, and whoso ambitions are sound. That is the man who. all other things being equal, gels my jobs.