The Harvester World: Volume 8, number 6, June 1917

              A Message to the Men

By W. P. Wells, District Manager

IF YOU are the rigfit man, there is a great need for you in the International Har¬ vester organization. The greatest need is where the greatest responsibility is. There never was a greater num¬ ber of opportunities in the Company for good men than there is today and there is always a shortage among the better positions.
The standards of good I H C men were never so high as today. A high-grade blockman of the present time must be up to the standard of a gen¬ eral agent of the old days. The general foreman today must be equal to a superintendent of the past. The average pay of the present blockman is as much or more than general agents used to get.
The fact that you are on the pay roll is in itself a sign that you are qualified for advancement, and it puts you in a position to show your merits. If you have ability and can use it properly, your position in this Company opens a clear way for you to the top.
If you ever have occasion to feel that you are not being ])ronioted rapidly enough and you are tempted to be discouraged, do not yield to the temptation. That in itself would be a sign of weakness. Plug all the harder and the next time you will not lose. It won't do you any harm to stay on a job a little while after you think you are ready to leave it. You will find later that you can do the next job better. Tlie extra time will have given you extra reserve force.
Do not get over anxious and nervous for ad¬ vancement. That is not a state of mind in which you can do your best work. The managers of the business are continually combing the territory for men fitted for better positions. Jf you are not chosen you may know they do not feel sure in their own minds that you are the man. They cannot afford to take chances with you for your own or the Company's sake. Your work must demonstrate beyond a doubt what you can do.
You never need feel in this Company that you are tied to your own particular job. 13y helping someone else when your own work permits it, you will be increasing your experience and fitting yourself for advancement. Fill your own job completely and branch out wherever opportunity opens.
Not all men are equally fitted for all jobs. That is a principle we all have to recognize. What you like to do most may be what you are best fitted for, but by doing everything that comes to your hands, you will uncover your latent ability in all lines. Do not look down upon a particular line of work because it is easy for you, but rather work for advancement in the direction  where your greatest  ability lies.    See
the green in your own field rather than looking with longing eyes towards the one in the distance.
Your present or previous work is no handicap to promotion. A young man who held a good position with a railroad company applied for a position as I H C salesman. He demonstrated his sincerity by starting at less than one half of his old salary and by tiard, conscientious work and a cheerful disposition he forged ahead. At the end of less than seven years service he was bodily yanked into a branch house managers position and he is making good at his new job.
A young bank clerk went to work in an I H C branch office and after two or three years demonstrated that he had in him the makings of a blockman. With his office experience, which was a valuable asset, he very shortly pushed ahead of the otlier blockmen and landed in an assistant branch house manager's position. One year's work demonstrated that he was big enough for a branch house manager and his record today is enough to make any man proud.
A young cashier with ability and ambition had the erroneous idea that there was no hope for a cashier beyond the possible position of an auditor. He was encouraged, however, when he was assured that any man's chances for advancement rest entirely in his own hands and today he occupies a responsible position on the fifteenth floor of the Chicago oftice.
My experience and observation prove that it pays a man in the long run to stick with one employer. You gain nothing in the end by shift¬ ing from one company to another, especially if the one you are now with is a good one. The ability another company is willing to pay you for is almost sure to be recognized and rewarded by the company you are now serving. Real ability is never lost sight of.
It is not always the man who has been with the company longest who most deserves promotion. The man with the longest term of service should be given the preference, all things being equal, but it should not be an arbitrary rule. Placing the premium on merit and head work rather than length of service will develop you. Any other policy would make it a question of who could hang on the longest.
Don't watch the size of your pay envelope too closely. It is as bad as watching the clock. It puts you in the wrong frame of mind. Grow in your work and your pay will take care of itself.
Don't in any event think your case is hopeless. Hope is lost only for those who think it is. You can never tell what your employers are planning for you. They don't come and tell you everything they see ahead for you—they couldn't because it would make you impatient.    Real changes take time.