A friend shared this with me today; I found it a little too humorous not to share it with all of you.
The following is an excerpt from the July 1943 issue of Transportation Magazine. This was written for male supervisors of women in the work force during World War II.
Eleven Tips for 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 available and 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 the interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently. But apparently these married women should be childless. Not to mention, young single women are just out to become young married women. One more thing: apparently these women who are working can't afford the luxury of staying home so you can lord that over their heads.
2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside of the home at some point in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It's always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy. Because women never interact with people in public if they have lived at home within the dominant culture.
3. General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters. A personal favorite of mine: fat girls are less likely to be treated as "girls" by your macho men, so less worries about them becoming young married women.
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 a lawsuit, but reveals whether the employee-to-be has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job. This one just makes me want to vomit. To number 5!
5. Stress at the outset the importance of time the fact that a minute or two lost here or there makes serious inroads on schedules. Until this point is gotten across, service is likely to be slowed up. Because we all know the effects of idle chatter, especially when we consider number 6.
6. Give the female employee a definite day-long 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 for themselves. Okay, I'll admit it: I have two favorites on this list. Give the girls something where no thought is required so you can give them little control over what they are doing. It should be as time-consuming as possible because heaven forbid that a woman have a cognitive thought while at work!
7. Whenever possible, let the inside employee change from one job to another at some point during the day. Women are inclined to be less nervous and happier with change. Or you could try to give them a real job that actually has some challenge to break up their day.
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. The "apply fresh lipstick" just amuses me to no end. I do not remember the last time I applied fresh lipstick. And what's this business about "feminine psychology"?
9. Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. 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. Ooooh, never mind that this could be a good instruction for management as a whole. Wow, perhaps communicating across a gender difference could make for better communication, but certainly not because after all, this is about keeping women "efficient" in routine work.
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. First six words: bravo! But never mind the fact that a certain level of machismo must be preserved to maintain the "male" workplace.
11. Get enough size variety in operator's uniforms so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point can't be stressed too much in keeping women happy. Fancy this observation: women do not come "One size fits all"
There you have it. We must love our institutions...note sarcasm.
The following is an excerpt from the July 1943 issue of Transportation Magazine. This was written for male supervisors of women in the work force during World War II.
Eleven Tips for 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 available and 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 the interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently.
But apparently these married women should be childless. Not to mention, young single women are just out to become young married women. One more thing: apparently these women who are working can't afford the luxury of staying home so you can lord that over their heads.
2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside of the home at some point in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It's always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.
Because women never interact with people in public if they have lived at home within the dominant culture.
3. General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.
A personal favorite of mine: fat girls are less likely to be treated as "girls" by your macho men, so less worries about them becoming young married women.
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 a lawsuit, but reveals whether the employee-to-be has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job.
This one just makes me want to vomit. To number 5!
5. Stress at the outset the importance of time the fact that a minute or two lost here or there makes serious inroads on schedules. Until this point is gotten across, service is likely to be slowed up.
Because we all know the effects of idle chatter, especially when we consider number 6.
6. Give the female employee a definite day-long 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 for themselves.
Okay, I'll admit it: I have two favorites on this list. Give the girls something where no thought is required so you can give them little control over what they are doing. It should be as time-consuming as possible because heaven forbid that a woman have a cognitive thought while at work!
7. Whenever possible, let the inside employee change from one job to another at some point during the day. Women are inclined to be less nervous and happier with change.
Or you could try to give them a real job that actually has some challenge to break up their day.
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.
The "apply fresh lipstick" just amuses me to no end. I do not remember the last time I applied fresh lipstick. And what's this business about "feminine psychology"?
9. Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. 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.
Ooooh, never mind that this could be a good instruction for management as a whole. Wow, perhaps communicating across a gender difference could make for better communication, but certainly not because after all, this is about keeping women "efficient" in routine work.
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.
First six words: bravo! But never mind the fact that a certain level of machismo must be preserved to maintain the "male" workplace.
11. Get enough size variety in operator's uniforms so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point can't be stressed too much in keeping women happy.
Fancy this observation: women do not come "One size fits all"
There you have it. We must love our institutions...note sarcasm.