TIME ELEMENTS IN WORK
Rate of speed in Doing Work –-- Any one engaged in mechanical work be, he apprentice or journeyman, should always have the clock in mind. This statement does not refer to watching the clock for quitting time, which comes quickly enough to those really interested in their work, but to the time element in connection with the work. No doubt the principal object is to do the work right, but between two men, each doing it equally well, the one that completes the work in the shorter time is the better man, the one who should and generally will receive the higher wages, and the one who is less liable to be “laid off” when business is dull. It is well, therefore, for a person to cultivate the habit of working as rapidly as the character of the work will permit, first making up his mind as to the time a piece of work should take, and then doing his best to shorten that time. Some think that they will first learn to do the work well regardless of time, and afterwards learn to do it quickly; but this plan is open to the practical objection that having once learned a rate of doing work it is hard for us to change that rate. While the quality of the work must always be the first consideration the time element should never be disregarded. Thus, an apprentice may think, because of his pay is small, that only a small amount of work should be expected of him, and, hence, may conclude that he will increase his speed when he becomes a journeyman or receives a higher compensation. He should consider, however, that the money he receives is the smallest part of his compensation, and that the trade he is learning, the manual and mental training, and the experience that he is receiving form the greater part. Such a boy may learn to do a piece of work well, but is not likely to receive the highest rate of compensation when he becomes a journeyman, since his rate of speed generally remains abnormally low.
Standard on Quality and Speed of Work –-- In performing a certain operation on a piece of work, or in fact in doing any kind of work, it must always be remembered that work, and, consequently, the value of the producer, is measured by two different standards, the mechanical and the commercial. The mechanical standard measures the degree of skill with which the work is executed and the excellence of the design in other words, it is a measure of the quality of work. The commercial standard takes
account of the labor cost, and the person that reduces this factor to the lowest limit compatible with the degree of mechanical excellence that the nature and purpose of the work requires, is the one that will, and properly should, receive a higher compensation for his services than the person that can do a good job only when he is given an unlimited amount of time. An old proverb states that “what is worth doing at all is worth doing well.” This proverb is applicable to many cases and conditions, but a blind adherence to it is liable to be a serious detriment to a person engaged in commercial work. For such a person the proverb might profitably be changed to read “what is worth doing at all is worth doing as well as the circumstances of each case require.” That is, the quality of the workmanship should be suited to the purpose to which the work is to be put, and unnecessary refinements and ornamentation that neither add to appearance nor usefulness should be omitted.