Fun_People Archive
27 Mar
Eleven Tips on Getting More Efficiency out of Women Employees

Date: Wed, 27 Mar 96 18:44:12 -0800
From: Peter Langston <psl>
To: Fun_People
Subject: Eleven Tips on Getting More Efficiency out of Women Employees

[It's that Mars/Venus stuff all over again (56 years ago)... -psl]

From: "JUDY L SCHER" <scherj@lanecc.edu>

The following is an excerpt from the July 1943 issue of Mass Transportation.
It was written for male supervisors of women in the work force during
World War 2.

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	Eleven Tips on getting more efficiency out of women employees:

There's no longer any question whether transit companies should hire women
for jobs formerly held by men.  The draft and manpower shortage has settled
that point.  The  important things now are to select the most efficient
women avaliable and how to use them to the best advantage.  Here are eleven
helpful tips on the subject from Western Properties:

1) Pick young married women.  They usually have more of a sense of
responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they're less likely to be
flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn't be doing it, they still
have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public
efficiently.

2) When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside
the home at some time in their lives.  Older women who have never contacted
the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be
cantakerous and fussy.  It's always well to impress upon older women the
importance of friendliness and courtesy.

3) General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a
little on the heavyside - are more even tempered and efficient than their
underweight sisters.

4) Retain a physician to give each woman you hire a special physical
examination - one covering female conditions.  This step not only protects
the property against the possibilities of lawsuit, but reveals whether the
employee-to-be has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or
physically unfit for the job.

5) Stress at the outset the importance of time - the fact that a minute or
two lost here and there makes serious inroads on schedules.  Until this
point is gotten across, service is likely to be slowed up.

6) Give the female employee a definite daylong schedule of duties so that
they'll keep busy without bothering the management for instructions every
few minutes.  Numerous properties say that women make excellent workers when
they have their jobs cut out for them, but that they lack initiative in
finding work themselves.

7) Whenever possible, let the inside employee change from one job to another
at some time during the day.  Women are inclined to be less nervous and
happier with change.

8) Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day.  You
have to make some allowances for feminine psychology.  A girl has more
confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply
fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day.

9) Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making critisisms.  Women are
often sensitive, they can't shrug off harsh words the way men do.  Never
ridicule a woman - it breaks her spirit and cuts off her efficiency.

10) Be reasonably considerate about using strong language around women.
Even though a girl's husband or father may swear vociferously, she'll grow
to dislike a place of business where she hears too much of this.

11) Get enough size variety in operators uniforms so that each girl can have
a proper fit.  This point can't be stressed too strongly as a means of
keeping women happy, according to Western Properties.
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© 1996 Peter Langston