2017 Technical Report July-August

question the biggest work they were engaged in. His answer wasn’t quite clear or at least she made him think it wasn’t, for it became necessary to explain. To illustrate his point he said: Let us suppose that we have before us a perfectly balanced scale. On one side of which is a man (employee), formerly just so much flesh and bone, a great big working unit, all brawn, no brain, at least no thinking brain. By certain working conditions and educational opportunities, he has developed into a real man working all three units brain, brawn and heart. And on the other side of the scale, say we put a thousand dollars, and tell me, if, in your judgment this amount of money could equal the satisfaction, pride and actual results our company has had. Of course, her answer was certainly not, well, then, let’s make it two thousand. Again, the answer is no. Three thousand, four thousand, five thousand-and Miss Beeks said stop. No amount of money would give the same pleasure, the same happiness, and general satisfaction you have found in this man.

This story is as true of hundreds of business organizations in this country as it is of the one mentioned. People building will pay greater dividends than any other department in your entire organization. It creates a wonderful spirit in those who work with and for you, and it makes even the commonest kind of work worthwhile to both the worker and employer. And now it strikes me that we are ready to consider for a moment an important, if not the most important unit in the Human Trinity—the public. Strange as it may seem, the public at times receives little consideration at the hands of many business people. The type of business person who believes that giving value received is all that is necessary, even though that value is only a dollar and cents value. More than this is essential if we are to give complete value. In all business, service is a vital part of successful business, and the word “service” covers a vast number of activities. Service means not only a polite clerk, packages delivered quickly and when promised. It means

that service shall be given under the most trying circumstances— hot or cold, rain or shine. It is asking for the best in you when you are at your worst. Further, the certainty of continued service, and the quantities wanted, no matter how great the demand, is considered an element of service. The public takes for granted that you are prepared to care for their wants, and your stock of goods on hand is sufficient for their needs, which arrangements have been made so that delays and other difficulties will not disturb the regularity of their daily supply. One of the greatest dangers to business, and one from which the public suffers the most, is labor troubles. The trouble comes from purely selfish motives, either on the part of capital, labor, or the public is deprived of the necessities of life. At times like this there is a large financial loss, great physical suffering, and sometimes loss of life. That the public are innocent sufferers and in many cases unnecessarily so, goes without saying. The average business person asks. “What am I to do if my

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