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PART TWO RECRUITMENT AND PLACEMENT
C H A P T E R T F i v e

Personnel Planning
and Recruiting
Lecture Outline
5

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Workforce Planning and Forecasting
Strategy and Workforce Planning
Forecasting Personnel Needs (Labor Demand)
Improving Productivity Through HRIS
Forecasting the Supply of Inside Candidates
Forecasting the Supply of Outside Candidates
Talent Mgmt. & Predictive Workforce Monitoring
Developing an Action Plan to Match Projected Labor Supply
and Demand
The Recruiting Yield Pyramid In Brief: This chapter explains
The Need for Effective Recruiting
the process of forecasting
Why Recruiting is Important
What Makes Recruiting a Challenge?
personnel requirements,
Organizing How You Recruit discusses the pros and cons of
Internal Sources of Candidates methods used for recruiting job
Using Internal Sources: Pros and Cons candidates, describes how to
Finding Internal Candidates develop an application form,
Rehiring and explains how to use
Succession Planning
application forms to predict job
Improving Productivity through HRIS
Outside Sources of Candidates
performance.
Recruiting via the Internet
Advertising Interesting Issues: The
Employment Agencies Internet has changed the face
Temp Agencies and Alternative Staffing of recruiting, particularly in
Offshoring and Outsourcing Jobs
advertising for applicants.
Executive Recruiters
On-Demand Recruiting Services
Employers can now reach
College Recruiting more potential applicants in
Referrals and Walk-Ins less time, and at less
Telecommuters expenseively. However, this
Military Personnel tool has generated some
Recruiting Source Use and Effectiveness challenges. Employers may
Improving Productivity through HRIS
get too many applicants, or
Recruiting a More Diverse Workforce
Single Parents
fail to reach certain segments
Older Workers of the population.
Recruiting Minorities
Welfare-to-Work
The Disabled
Developing and Using Application Forms
Purpose of Application Forms
Application Guidelines
Application Forms and EEO Law
Using Application Forms to Predict Performance
Mandatory Arbitration

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. List the steps in the recruitment and selection process.

2. Explain the main techniques used in employment planning and forecasting.
3. Explain and give examples for the need for effective recruiting.
4. Name and describe the main internal sources of candidates.

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 5. List and discuss the main outside sources of candidates.
6. Develop a help wanted ad.
7. Explain how to recruit a more diverse workforce.

ANNOTATED OUTLINE

I. Workforce Planning and Forecasting

A. Strategy and Workforce Planning – Planning should be directly related to

the company’s strategic goals.

B. Forecasting Personnel Needs (Labor Demand) – Forecast revenues, and

then estimate the size of the staff required to achieve this sales volume.

1. Trend aAnalysis requiresmeans studying a firm’s employment levels

over a period of years to predict future needs.

2. Ratio aAnalysis involvesmeans making forecasts based on the ratio

between (1) some causal factor, such aslike sales volume, and (2) the
number of employees required, like the number of salespeople.

3. The sScatter pPlot shows graphically how two variables (such as a

measure of business activity and a firm’s staffing levels) are related.

4. Markov aAnalysis – involves creating a matrix that shows probabilities

that employees in the chain of feeder positions for a key job. Using Commented [ey1]: Confusing and incomplete

C. Improving Productivity Throughthrough HRIS: Computers to Forecast

Personnel Requirements – The use of Ssoftware programs can enable
employers to quickly translate projected productivity and sales levels into
forecasts of personnel needs and estimate , while estimating how
personnel requirements will be affected by various productivity and sales
levels.

D. Forecasting the Supply of Inside Candidates

1. Manual Systems and Replacement Charts – Simple manual devices

can be used to keep inventories and development records to compile Commented [ey2]: Should there be an “and” before “to”?
qualifications information on each employee. Personnel replacement Unclear
charts show the present performance and promotability for each
position’s potential replacement. Position replacement cards can also
be created for each position to show possible replacements as well as
their present performance, promotion potential, and training.

2. Computerized sSkills Iinventories are used to track the qualifications

of hundreds or thousands of employees. The system can provide
managers who scan the database with a listing of candidates who
have ith specified qualifications. after scanning the database.

3. Keeping the Information Private – Employers must balance an

individual’s right to privacy while making HR information legitimately
available to those in the firm who need it.

E. Forecasting the Supply of Outside Candidates – This may involve

considering general economic conditions and the expected rate of

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 unemployment. Helpful sources include: Business Week, Fortune, the
Economist, the Wall Street Journal, and prepared reports from the U.S.
Council of Economic Advisors, the regional Federal Reserve banks, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, the National
Science Foundation, the U.S. Public Health Service, the U.S. Employment
Service, and the U.S. Office of Education.

F. Talent Management and Predictive Workforce Monitoring – Having a

talent management philosophy for workforce planning requires
organizations to pay continuous attention to workforce planning, known as
predictive workforce monitoring.

G. Developing an Action Plan to Match Projected Labor Supply and Demand

– Organizations must create a workforce action plan which lays out the
projected workforce demand-supply gaps. Resources required will include
informationthings such as advertising costs and recruiter fees.

H. The Recruiting Yield Pyramid – is used by some employers to calculate

the number of applicants they must generate to hire the required number
of new employees. Figure 5-6 illustrates the pyramid.

II. The Need for Effective Recruiting

A. Why Recruiting is Important? – Finding the best employees takes time,

and being effective is crucial to organizational success. The better the
employees, the better the company. Even with high unemployment rates,
finding qualified employees can be difficult.

B. What Makes Recruiting a Challenge? – Recruiting is a more complex

activity than most managers think it is. Recruitment efforts should make
sense in terms of the company’s strategic plans. Some recruiting methods
are superior to others, depending on who you are recruiting for and what Commented [ey3]: the employer? unclear
your resources are. Recruiting The success you have with your recruiting
actually depends on non-recruitment HR issues and policies, including pay
levels. Also, employment law plays a big part in what an organization
can/cannot do whenin recruiting.

C. Organizing How You Recruit – Companies make a choice to centralize

their recruiting efforts or to decentralize to various locations. Advantages
of centralizing are that it is easier to apply the company’s strategy priorities
company-wide. In addition, centralizationit reduces duplication, makes it
easier to spread the cost of new technologies over more departments, and
builds a team of recruitment experts, and makes it easier to assess the
effectiveness of the function. However, if divisions are autonomous or Commented [ey4]: recruiting function? unclear
needs are varied, decentralization is a more sensible choice.

1. The Supervisor’s Role – Since the recruiting HR manager is seldom Commented [ey5]: Should this be a #1 if there isn’t a #2?
responsible for supervising the performance for the vacant position,
he/she must communicate with the supervisor to find out exactly what
the job entails.

 NOTES Educational Materials to Use

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III. Internal Sources of Candidates

A. Using Internal Sources: Pros and Cons – Some advantages of internal

recruiting include the following: current employees may be more
committed to the company,company; morale may go up if employees see
promotions as rewards;, and current employees may require less
orientation and training than a newthan new hires. Disadvantages,
however, include: employees may become discontented if they apply for
jobs and do not get them, in some cases internal recruiting is a waste of
time if the right candidate for the job is not already an employee, and there
is potential for inbreeding to occur (when all managers come through the
ranks they may have a tendency to maintain the status quo). Commented [ey6]: awkward

B. Finding Internal Candidates – To be effective, promotion from within

requires using job posting, personnel records, and skill banks.

B. Rehiring – Rehiring former employees has its pros and cons. On the
positive side, they are known quantities and are already familiar with the
organization. But former employees may return with negative
attitudes. Current employees may perceive that the way to get
ahead is to leave and come back.

C. Succession Planning – Succession pPlanning ensures a suitable supply

of successors for senior or key jobs. It can include the following activities:
determining the projected need for managers and professionals by
company level, function, and skill; auditing current executive talent to
project the likely future supply for internal sources; planning individual
career paths based on objective estimates of future needs and
assessments of potential; offering career counseling based on the needs
of the individual and the firm; accelerated promotions, with development
targets against the future needs of the business; providing performance- Commented [ey7]: needs verb – unclear meaning
related training and development; planninged strategic recruitment to fill
short-term needs and to provide people to meet future needs; and actually
filling the positions.

D. Improving Productivity Throughthrough HRIS: Succession and Talent

Planning Systems - More large employers use software to facilitate
succession planning and talent management. Web technology helped
Dole do this. It contracted with application system providers (ASPs) to
handle things like payroll management. For succession management,
Dole chose software from Pilat NAI, which keeps all the data on its own
servers for a monthly fee. Dole’s managers access the program via the
Web using a password. They fill out online résumés for themselves,
including career interests, and note special considerations such as
geographic restrictions.

IV. Outside Sources of Candidates

A. Recruiting via the Internet – Most employers find that the Internet is their
best choice for recruitment efforts. Social networking also provides
recruiting assistance. Figure 5-7 lists top online recruiting job sites.
Advantages – The Web is cost efficient, generating more responses more
quickly and providing exposure for a longer time at less cost.
Disadvantages – Gathering applications online may exclude higher
numbers of older applicants and certain minorities. An employer may also
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 get too many applications because of the Web’s broad reach and speed.
There are also other web recruiting practices that include networking sites,
texting, an organization’s personal recruiting website, and virtual job fairs.
These can generate more responses quicker and for less cost than other
forms of recruiting but they also have their disadvantages, such as less
diversity of applicants.

 NOTES Educational Materials to Use

B. Advertising

1. The Media – The best medium should be selected based on the

positions for which you are recruiting.

2. Constructing (Writing) the Ad – Many experienced advertisers use a

four-point guide called AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action) to
construct their ads.

C. Employment Agencies

1. Public and Nonprofit Agencies – Every state has a public, state-run

employment service agency supported by the Department of Labor, in
part through grants and other assistance, such as a nationwide
computerized job bank. Many professional and technical societies, Commented [ey8]: awkward
and public welfare agencies have units that try to help their members
or people in special categories find jobs.

2. Private aAgencies charge fees for each applicant they place.

Typically, market conditions determine whether the candidate or
employer pays the fee.

D. Temp Agencies and Alternative Staffing

1. Pros and Cons – The benefits of contingency staffing include

increases in overall productivity, and time and expenses saved by not
having to recruit, train, and document new employees. The costs
include agency fees paid to agency and individuals’ psychological
reference to their place of employment. Many employers use
temporary agencies as a way to “test drive” prospective employees
before hiring them.

2. What Supervisors Should Know about Temporary. Employees’

Concerns – Some of the major concerns of temporary employees
struggle with includes: include being treated in a dehumanizing and
discouraging way and or worryingied about their lack of insurance and
pension benefits.

3. Legal Guidelines – Understanding the difference between contract

workers and employees is very important. Let the temp agency
assume as much responsibility for the temporary employee as
possible. This helps to create a clear line between temps and
employees.

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 4. Alternative sStaffing refers to the use of nontraditional recruitment
sources.

E. Offshoring/Outsourcing Jobs – Hiring workers abroad is becoming more

and more common. There are several specific issues that the HR
manager should keep in mind when considering this option.

F. Executive rRecruiters, also called headhunters, are special employment

agencies retained by employers to seek out top-management talent for
their clients.

1. Pros and Cons – Recruiters can be useful and can save a manager’s
time, but they maycan be more interested in persuading managers
you to hire a candidate than in finding the one who will really do the
job.

2. Guidelines – Make sure the recruiting firm is capable, meet the

individual who will handle theyour assignment, and ask how much the
firm charges. Never rely on the recruiter to do all the reference
checking.

G. On-Demand Recruiting Services (ODRS) – This service provides short-

term specialized recruiting to support specific projects without the expense
of retaining traditional search firms. Basically, recruiters get paid by the
hour or project, instead of a percentage fee. Two trends – technology and
specialization – are changing the executive search business. Executive
recruiters are becoming more specialized, and large ones are creating
new businesses aimed specifically at specialized functions or industries. Commented [ey9]: redundant/unclear

H. College Recruiting involves sending employers’ representatives to college

campuses to prescreen applicants and create an applicant pool of
management trainees, promotable candidates, and professional and
technical employees.

1. On-Campus rRecruiting gGoals involve attracting good candidates

and determining – are to determine whether a candidate is worthy of
further consideration, and to attract good candidates.
Theconsideration. The school’s reputation and the performance of
previous hires from that source affect school selection.

2. On-sSite vVisits – are usually extended to good candidates.

3. Internships – are a recruiting approach that can be a win-win situation

for the employer and the student. For employers, interns can make
useful contributions while being evaluated for possible full-time
employment. Students are able to hone business skills, check out
potential employers, and learn more about their likes and dislikes.

I. Referrals and Walk-Ins – are alternatives for identifying potential

candidates. Referrals tend to generate high-quality candidates. Walk-in
candidates may be attracted by posting a “Help Wanted” sign.

J. Telecommuters – These individuals work from home.

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 K. Military Personnel – Returning and discharged military personnel can
provide a great soure of trained recruits.

L. Recruiting Source Use and Effectiveness – Table 5-1 gives guidelines to

improve a firm’s recruiting efforts.

M. Evidence-Based HR: Measuring the Recruiting Effectiveness – Several

examples of how organizations can measure recruiting effectiveness are
discussed.

N. Improving Productivity Through HRIS: An Integrated Approach to

Recruiting – an integrated technology approach to recruiting. Elements Commented [ey10]: should this be here twice?
should include a requisition management system, a recruiting solution,
screening services, and hiring management software.

 NOTES Educational Materials to Use

V. Recruiting a More Diverse Workforce

A. Single Parents – Formulating an intelligent program for attracting single

parents should begin with understanding the considerable problems they
often encounter in balancing work and family life.

B. Older Workers – With the entire population aging, many employers are
encouraging retirement-age employees not to leave, or are actively
recruiting employees who are at or beyond retirement age by making their
companies an attractive place in which older workers can work. An image Commented [ey11]: awkward
of older worker-friendliness and flexibility in scheduling are vital.

C. Recruiting mMinorities – requires employers to tailor their way of thinking

and to design HR practices that make their firms attractive to minority
workers. them.

D. Welfare-to-Work – The Federal Personal Responsibility and Welfare

Reconciliation Act of 1996 prompted many employers to implement
programs to attract and assimilate former welfare recipients.

E. The Disabled – Employers can do several things to tap into this huge
potential workforce. The Department of Labor’s Office of Disability
Employment Policy offers several programs, and all states have local
agencies that provide placement services and other recruitment and
training tools.

 NOTES Educational Materials to Use

VI. Developing and Using Application Forms

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 A. Purpose of Applications Forms – Application forms are a good way to
quickly collect verifiable and fairly accurate historical data from the
candidate.

B. Application Guidelines – Organizations should request detailed

information on each prior employer, including the name of the supervisor
and his or her email address and telephone number; this is essential for
reference checking. Also, in signing the application, the applicant should
certify his or her understanding that falsified statements may be cause for
dismissal, that investigation of credit and employmentcredit, employment,
and driving records is authorized, that a medical examination may be
required, that drug screening tests may be required, and that employment
is for no definite period.

C. Application Forms and EEO Law – Employers should carefully review their
application forms to ensure they comply with equal employment laws.
Questions to review include those asking about dates of graduation, arrest
records, emergency contacts, physical disabilities, marital status, and
housing arrangements.

D. Using Application Forms to Predict Job Performance – Some firms use

application forms to predict which candidates will be successful and which
will not by conducting statistical studies to find the relationship between
(1) responses on the application form and (2) measures of success on the
job.

E. Mandatory Arbitration – Many employers, in order to avoid the high cost

of lawsuits, require applicants to agree to binding arbitration to settle
disputes.

 NOTES Educational Materials to Use

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What are the pros and con of five sources of job candidates? The text lists several sources
of job candidates, both internal and external. The student should clearly identify the
differences, as well as comparative strengths and weaknesses of each. There are at least the
following sources to choose from: advertisementsing, employment agencies, executive
recruiters, state job services, college recruiting efforts, referrals, employee databases, internal, Commented [ey12]: job postings?
and talent searches. (LO 5.4-5; AACSB: Reflective Thinking Skills; Learning Outcome: Explain
the process of personnel planning and forecasting)

2. What are the four main types of information that application forms provide? The
application form is a good means of quickly collecting verifiable, and therefore potentially
accurate, historical data from the candidate. It usually includes information on education, prior
work history, and other experience related to the job The application form can provide four
types of information: 1. substantive matters (such as education and experience); 2. applicant's
previous progress and growth; 3. stability based on previous work history; and 4. prediction of
job success. (AACSB: Reflective Thinking Skills; Learning Outcome: Compare and contrast
different recruitment methods)

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3. How, specifically, do equal employment laws apply to personnel recruiting activities?
The student should be able to discuss the areas in which the laws and regulations covered in
Chapter 2 apply to the issues of planning and recruiting. This would include constraints on
sources used for candidates (i.e. not excessive reliance on referrals), the wording of questions
asked on application forms or in interviews, and planning decisions that must not be overly
detrimental to a protected group. (LO 5.3; AACSB: Reflective Thinking Skills; Learning
Outcome: Explain the process of personnel planning and forecasting)

4. What should employers keep in mind when using Internet sites to find job candidates?
Use Kkeyword searches, don’t recycle your newspaper ads, give quick feedback, ensure
privacy, use applicant tracking. , etc. (LO 5.5; AACSB: Use of Information Technology; Learning
Outcome: Compare and contrast different recruitment methods)

5. What are the five main things you would do to recruit and retain a more diverse
workforce? The student should first be able to identify groups that would create a diverse
workforce. Examples found in the text are: single parents, older workers, minorities and
women, welfare recipients, and global candidates. In order to retain these employees, students
would first need to understand the needs of each group, and then create plans and programs
that accommodate these specific needs. For example, to attract and keep single mothers,
employers could give employees schedule flexibility, and train the supervisors to have an
increased awareness of and sensitivity to the challenges single parents face. (LO 5.7; AACSB:
Multicultural and diversity understanding; Learning Outcome: Compare and contrast different
recruitment methods)

INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP ACTIVITIES

1. Bring to class several classified and display ads from the Sunday help wanted ads.
Analyze the effectiveness of these ads using the guidelines discussed in the chapter.
The effectiveness should be analyzed using the following list: attracts attention, develops
interest, creates desire, and prompts action. (LO 5.6; AACSB: Analytic Skills; Learning
Outcome: Compare and contrast different recruitment methods)

2. Working individually or in groups, develop a forecast for the next five years of
occupational market conditions for various occupations such as accountant, nurse, and
engineer. Be sure that the forecasts that the students develop are grounded in information
gleaned from these sources. They should do an adequate analysis of the statistics. (LO 5.2; Commented [ey13]: What sources?
AACSB: Analytic Skills & Use of Information Technology; Learning Outcome: Explain the
process of personnel planning and forecasting)

3. Working individually or in groups, visit the local office of your state employment agency
(or check out their website). Come back to class prepared to discuss the following
questions: What types of jobs seem to be available through this agency,
predominantly? To what extent do you think this particular agency would be a good
source of professional, technical, and/or managerial applicants? What sorts of
paperwork are applicants to the state agency required to complete before their
applications are processed by the agency? What other services does the office
provide? What other opinions did you form about the state agency? The answers to this
will vary greatly by state and local offices. Generally, these agencies may be more oriented to
unskilled than skilled positions; rarely do they handle professional and managerial
positions...although some do quite a bit. Although students may come back with a negative
view of these offices, help them to understand the valuable role that they do play. A special
note of courtesy: make sure that you have discussed this assignment with the local agency
office. Surprise visits by several groups during busy periods can create some especially
negative relations between the office and your school. Make sure the studentsy are welcome
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 and expected. (LO 5.5; AACSB: Analytic Skills; Learning Outcome: Compare and contrast
different recruitment methods)

4. Working individually or in groups, find at least 5 employment ads either on the Internet
or in a local newspaper that suggest that the company is family friendly and should
appeal to women, minorities, older workers, and single parents. Discuss what they’re
doing to be family friendly. Students should identify statements in the ad that would suggest
that an employer is they’re aiming to be family friendly. (LO 5.6-7; AACSB: Multicultural and
Diversity Awareness; Learning Outcome: Compare and contrast different recruitment methods)

5. Working individually or in groups, interview a manager between the ages of 25 and 35

at a local business who manages employees 40 or older. Ask the manager to describe
three or four of his or her most challenging experiences managing older employees.
Students should probe the manager to see if he/she mentions that the older employee found
the experience challenging as well. (LO 5.7; AACSB: Multicultural and Diversity Awareness; Commented [ey14]: Explain more - unclear
Learning Outcome: Compare and contrast different recruitment methods)

6. The HRCI “Test Specifications” appendix at the end of this book lists the knowledge
someone studying for the HRCI certification exam needs to know in each area of human
resource management (such as in Strategic Management, Workforce Planning, and
Human Resource Development). In groups of 4-5 students, do four things: (1) review
that appendix now; (2) identify the material in this chapter that relates to the required
knowledge the appendix lists; (3) write four multiple-choice exam questions on this
material that you believe would be suitable for inclusion in the HRCI exam; and (4) if
time permits, have someone from your team post your team’s questions in front of the
class, so the students on other teams can take each other’s exam questions. (LO 5.1-7; Commented [ey15]: No answer provided
AACSB: Analytic Skills; Learning Outcome: Explain the process of personnel planning and
forecasting and Compare and contrast different recruitment methods)

EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES & CASES

Experiential Exercise: The Nursing Shortage

This is a good exercise for students to create a recruiting approach for nursing jobs and use their
creativity and what they have learned in the chapter. (LO 5.2 & 5.5; AACSB: Analytic Skills;
Learning Outcome: Compare and contrast different recruitment methods)

Application Case: Finding People Who Are Passionate About What They Do

Trilogy Software is a fast-growing software company with a unique and highly unorthodox culture.
The case provides a framework for discussing issues related to person-company fit and the role of
recruiting in that process. (LO 5.3, 5.5 & 5.7; AACSB: Analytic Skills; Learning Outcome: Explain
the process of personnel planning and forecasting; & Compare and contrast different recruitment
methods)

1. Identify some of the established selection techniques that underlie Trilogy’s

unconventional approach to attracting talent. Trilogy actively recruits potential employees
early in the hiring cycle. Their techniques include reviewing resumes (over 15,000 in one year),
attending job and career fairs, conducting on-campus interviews (over 4,000), flying in
prospects for interviews, and having more personalized procedures for handling top recruits.

2. What particular elements of Trilogy’s culture most likely appeal to the kind of employees
it seeks? How does it convey those elements to job prospects? A number of company
characteristics may appeal to programmers, including: no dress code, no regular work

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 schedule, self-directed scheduling, co-workers with similar interests, and technically
challenging work.

3. Would Trilogy be an appealing employer for you? Why or why not? If not, what would it
take for you to accept a job offer from Trilogy? Students may answer this either way.
Students who require more structure may want to know about career paths, mentoring, and
measures of success. They may want the company to make some sort of symbolic comment Commented [ey16]: Unclear meaning
to them.

4. What suggestions would you make to Trilogy for improving their recruiting processes?
The student should refer to the section on outside sources of candidates and put themselves
in the shoes of a prospect to make their suggestions.

Continuing Case: Carter Cleaning Company – Getting Better Applicants (LO 5.3-5; AACSB:
Analytic Skills; Learning Outcome: Compare and contrast different recruitment methods)

1. First, how would you recommend we go about reducing the turnover in our stores? The
students should base their responses on the information presented in the advertising section
of the chapter, and their response should include placing and constructing ads that will attract
candidates who will find the job attractive. Commented [ey17]: awkward

2. Provide a detailed list of recommendations concerning how we should go about

increasing our pool of acceptable job applicants, so we no longer have to hire almost
anyone who walks in the door. (Your recommendations regarding the latter should
include completely worded online and hard-copy advertisements and recommendations
regarding any other recruiting strategies you would suggest we use.) The students
should review the section on outside sources of candidates, and their responses should include
advertising and the possible use of employment and/or temp agencies.

Translating Strategy into HR Policies and Practice Case: The Hotel Paris

The New Recruitment Process – The continuing case study of Hotel Paris is discussed here. In
this example, HR manager Lisa Cruz must formulate functional policies and activities that support
the hotel’s competitive strategy, by eliciting the required employee behaviors and competencies.

Questions

1. Given the hotel’s stated employee preferences, what recruiting sources would you
suggest they use, and why? (LO 5.4-5; AACSB: Analytic Skills; Learning Outcome:
Compare and contrast different recruitment methods)

Though the local paper may bring in applicants, the development of a succession plan will
ensure that lower-level employees are ready to move into higher levels when an opening
occurs. College recruitment and employee referral may also be a good resource. The
company should begin using selection testing, particularly in the areas of integrity and
conscientiousness. testing.

2. What would a Hotel Paris help wanted ad look like? (LO 5.6; AACSB: Analytic Skills;
Learning Outcome: Compare and contrast different recruitment methods)

Figure 5-9 displays an example of an ad. Elements from the text should be incorporated
into student responses, which will vary. The hotel should consider developing a
recognizable logo and color scheme, along with a standard format for ads, which . That
format’s use should be used by mandatory across the various hotels.

3. How would you suggest they measure the effectiveness of their recruiting efforts?
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 (LO 5.3; AACSB: Analytic Skills; Learning Outcome: Compare and contrast different
recruitment methods)

The number of qualified applicants per position, percentage of jobs filled from within, the
offer-to-acceptance ratio, acceptance by recruiting source, turnover by recruiting source,
and selection test results by recruiting source are used by other hotels, and should be
considered for use by Hotel Paris.

KEY TERMS
workforce (or employment The process of deciding what positions the firm will have to fill,
or personnel) planning and how to fill them.

trend analysis Study of a firm's past employment needs over a period of years to
predict future needs.

ratio analysis A forecasting technique for determining future staff needs by using
ratios between sales volume and number of employees needed.

scatter plot A graphical method used to help identify the relationship between
two variables.

qualifications inventories Manual or computerized systematic records that list, listing

employees' education, career and development interests,
languages, special skills, and so on, to be used in forecasting
inside candidates for promotion.

personnel replacement Company records showing present performance and

charts promotability of inside candidates for the most important positions.

position replacement A card prepared for each position in a company to show possible
cards replacement candidates and their qualifications.

recruiting yield pyramid Calculating and using the historical arithmetic relationships
between recruitment leads and invitees, invitees and interviews,
interviews and offers made, and offers made and offers accepted.

employee recruiting Finding and/or attracting applicants for the employer’s open
positions.

job posting Posting notices of job openings on company bulletin boards is an

effective recruiting method. Commented [ey18]: should this be included?

succession planning The process of ensuring a suitable supply of successors for

current and future senior or key jobs.

applicant tracking systems Online systems that help employers attract, gather, screen,
compile, and manage applicants.

alternative staffing The use of nontraditional recruitment sources.

on-demand recruiting These services provide short-term, specialized recruiting

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

74
services (ODRS) services usually paid for by the hour or project, rather than on a
percentage fee.

college recruiting sending an employer’s representatives to college campuses to

prescreen applicants and create an applicant pool from the
graduating class

application form The form that provides information on education, prior work
record, and skills.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

75
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 Then the educator should “time” himself in forming habits? How
long may it take to cure a bad habit, and form the contrary good
one?
Perhaps a month or six weeks of careful incessant treatment may
be enough.
But such treatment requires an impossible amount of care and
watchfulness on the part of the educator?
Yes; but not more than is given to the cure of any bodily disease
—measles, or scarlet fever, for example.
Then the thoughts and actions of a human being may be
regulated mechanically, so to speak, by setting up the right nerve
currents in the brain?
This is true only so far as it is true to say that the keys of a piano
produce music.
But the thoughts, which may be represented by the fingers of the
player, do they not also run their course without the consciousness
of the thinker?
They do; not merely vague, inconsequent musings, but thoughts
which follow each other with more or less logical sequence,
according to the previous training of the thinker.
Would you illustrate this?
Mathematicians have been known to think out abstruse problems
in their sleep; the bard improvises, authors “reel off” without
premeditation, without any deliberate intention to write such and
such things. The thoughts follow each other according to the habit of
thinking previously set up in the brain of the thinker.
Is it that the thoughts go round and round a subject like a horse in
a mill?
No; the horse is rather drawing a carriage along the same high
road, but into ever new developments of the landscape.
In this light, the important thing is how you begin to think on any
subject?
 Precisely so; the initial thought or suggestion touches as it were
the spring which sets in motion a possibly endless succession or
train of ideas; thoughts which are, so to speak, elaborated in the
brain almost without the consciousness of the thinker.
Are these thoughts, or successive ideas, random, or do they
make for any conclusion?
They make for the logical conclusion which should follow the
initial idea.
Then the reasoning power may be set to work involuntarily?
Yes; the sole concern of this power is, apparently, to work out the
rational conclusion from any idea presented to it.
But surely this power of arriving at logical rational conclusions
almost unconsciously is the result of education, most likely of
generations of culture?
It exists in greater or less degree according as it is disciplined and
exercised; but it is by no means the result of education as the word
is commonly understood: witness the following anecdote:[17]
“When Captain Head was travelling across the Pampas of South
America, his guide one day suddenly stopped him, and, pointing high
into the air, cried out, ‘A lion!’ Surprised at such an exclamation,
accompanied with such an act, he turned up his eyes, and with
difficulty perceived, at an immeasurable height, a flight of condors
soaring in circles in a particular spot. Beneath this spot, far out of
sight of himself or guide, lay the carcass of a horse, and over this
carcass stood, as the guide well knew, a lion, whom the condors
were eyeing with envy from their airy height. The sight of the birds
was to him what the sight of the lion alone would have been to the
traveller, a full assurance of its existence. Here was an act of thought
which cost the thinker no trouble, which was as easy to him as to
cast his eyes upward, yet which from us, unaccustomed to the
subject, would require many steps and some labour.”
Then is what is called “the reason” innate in human beings?
 Yes, it is innate, and is exercised without volition by all, but gains
in power and precision, according as it is cultivated.
If the reason, especially the trained reason, arrives at the right
conclusion without any effort of volition on the part of the thinker, it is
practically an infallible guide to conduct?
On the contrary, the reason is pledged to pursue a suggestion to
its logical conclusion only. Much of the history of religious
persecutions and of family and international feuds turns on the
confusion which exists in most minds between that which is logically
inevitable and that which is morally right.
But according to this doctrine any theory whatever may be shown
to be logically inevitable?
Exactly so; the initial idea once received, the difficulty is, not to
prove that it is tenable, but to restrain the mind from proving that it is
so.
Can you illustrate this point?
The child who lets himself be jealous of his brother is almost
startled by the flood of convincing proofs that he does well to be
angry, which rush in upon him. Beginning with a mere flash of
suspicion in the morning, the little Cain finds himself in the evening
possessed of irrefragable proofs that his brother is unjustly preferred
to him: and
“All seems infected that the infected spy
As all looks yellow to the jaundiced eye.”

But supposing it is true that the child has cause for jealousy?
Given, the starting idea, and his reason is equally capable of
proving a logical certainty, whether it is true or whether it is not true.
Is there any historical proof of this startling theory?
Perhaps every failure in conduct, in individuals, and in nations, is
due to the confusion which exists as to that which is logically right,
as established by the reason, and that which is morally right, as
established by external law.
 Is any such distinction recognised in the Bible?
Distinctly so; the transgressors of the Bible are those who do that
which is right in their own eyes—that is, that of which their reason
approves. Modern thought considers, on the contrary, that all men
are justified in doing that which is right in their own eyes, acting “up
to their lights,” “obeying the dictates of their reason.”
For example?
A mother whose cruel usage had caused the death of her child
was morally exonerated lately in a court of justice because she acted
“from a mistaken sense of duty.”
But it is not possible to err from a mistaken sense of duty?
Not only possible, but inevitable, if a man accept his “own reason”
as his lawgiver and judge. Take a test case, the case of the
superlative crime that has been done upon the earth. There can be
no doubt that the persons who caused the death of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ acted under a mistaken sense of duty. “It is
expedient that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation
perish not,” said, most reasonably, those patriotic leaders of the
Jews; and they relentlessly hunted to death this Man whose
ascendency over the common people and whose whispered claims
to kingship were full of elements of danger to the subject race. “They
know not what they do,” He said, Who is the Truth.
All this may be of importance to philosophers; but what has it to
do with the bringing up of children?
It is time we reverted to the teaching of Socrates. “Know thyself,”
exhorted the wise man, in season and out of season; and it will be
well with us when we understand that to acquaint a child with himself
—what he is as a human being—is a great part of education.
It is difficult to see why; surely much harm comes of morbid
introspection?
Introspection is morbid or diseased when the person imagines
that all which he finds within him is peculiar to him as an individual.
To know what is common to all men is a sound cure for unhealthy
self-contemplation.
How does it work?
To recognise the limitations of the reason is a safeguard in all the
duties and relations of life. The man who knows that loyalty is his
first duty in every relation, and that if he admit doubting, grudging,
unlovely thoughts, he cannot possibly be loyal, because such
thoughts once admitted will prove themselves to be right and fill the
whole field of thought, why, he is on his guard, and writes up “no
admittance” to every manner of mistrustful fancy.
That rule of life should affect the Supreme relationship?
Truly, yes; if a man will admit no beginning of mistrustful surmise
concerning his father and mother, his child and his wife, shall he do
so of Him who is more than they, and more than all, the “Lord of his
heart”? “Loyalty forbids” is the answer to every questioning of His
truth that would intrude.
But when others, whom you must needs revere, question and tell
you of their “honest doubt”?
You know the history of their doubt, and can take it for what it is
worth—its origin in the suggestion, which, once admitted, must
needs reach a logical conclusion even to the bitter end. “Take heed
that ye enter not into temptation,” He said, Who needed not that any
should tell Him, for He knew what was in men.
If man is the creature of those habits he forms with care or allows
in negligence, if his very thoughts are involuntary and his
conclusions inevitable, he ceases to be a free agent. One might as
well concede at once that “thought is a mode of motion,” and cease
to regard man as a spiritual being capable of self-regulation!
It is hardly possible to concede too wide a field to biological
research, if we keep well to the front the fact, that man is a spiritual
being whose material organs act in obedience to spiritual
suggestion; that, for example, as the hand writes, so the brain thinks,
in obedience to suggestions.
 Is the suggestion self originated?
Probably not; it would appear that, as the material life is sustained
upon its appropriate food from without, so the immaterial life is
sustained upon its food,—ideas or suggestions spiritually conveyed.
May the words “idea” and “suggestion” be used as synonymous
terms?
Only in so far as that ideas convey suggestions to be effected in
acts.
What part does the man himself play in the reception of this
immaterial food?
It is as though one stood on the threshold to admit or reject the
viands which should sustain the family.
Is this free-will in the reception or rejection of ideas the limit of
man’s responsibility in the conduct of his life?
Probably it is; for an idea once received must run its course,
unless it be superseded by another idea, in the reception of which
volition is again exercised.
How do ideas originate?
They appear to be spiritual emanations from spiritual beings; thus,
one man conveys to another the idea which is a very part of himself.
Is the intervention of a bodily presence necessary for the
transmission of an idea?
By no means; ideas may be conveyed through picture or printed
page; absent friends would appear to communicate ideas without the
intervention of means; natural objects convey ideas, but, perhaps,
the initial idea in this case may always be traced to another mind.
Then the spiritual sustenance of ideas is derived directly or
indirectly from other human beings?
No; and here is the great recognition which the educator is called
upon to make. God, the Holy Spirit, is Himself the supreme Educator
of mankind.
 How?
He openeth man’s ear morning by morning, to hear so much of
the best as the man is able to bear.
Are the ideas suggested by the Holy Spirit confined to the sphere
of the religious life?
No; Coleridge, speaking of Columbus and the discovery of
America, ascribes the origin of great inventions and discoveries to
the fact that “certain ideas of the natural world are presented to
minds, already prepared to receive them, by a higher Power than
Nature herself.”
Is there any teaching in the Bible to support this view?
Yes; very much. Isaiah, for example, says that the ploughman
knows how to carry on the successive operations of husbandry, “for
his God doth instruct him and doth teach him.”
Are all ideas which have a purely spiritual origin ideas of good?
Unhappily, no; it is the sad experience of mankind that
suggestions of evil also are spiritually conveyed.
What is the part of the man?
To choose the good and refuse the evil.
Does this doctrine of ideas as the spiritual food needful to sustain
the immaterial life throw any light on the doctrines of the Christian
religion?
Yes; the Bread of Life, the Water of Life, the Word by which man
lives, the “meat to eat which ye know not of,” and much more, cease
to be figurative expressions, except that we must use the same
words to name the corporeal and the incorporeal sustenance of man.
We understand, moreover, how suggestions emanating from our
Lord and Saviour, which are of His essence, are the spiritual meat
and drink of His believing people. We find it no longer a “hard
saying,” nor a dark saying, that we must sustain our spiritual selves
upon Him, even as our bodies upon bread.
 What practical bearing upon the educator has this doctrine of
ideas?
He knows that it is his part to place before the child daily
nourishment of ideas; that he may give the child the right initial idea
in every study, and respecting each relation and duty of life; above
all, he recognises the divine co-operation in the direction, teaching,
and training of the child.
How would you summarise the functions of education?
Education is a discipline—that is, the discipline of the good habits
in which the child is trained. Education is a life, nourished upon
ideas; and education is an atmosphere—that is, the child breathes
the atmosphere emanating from his parents; that of the ideas which
rule their own lives.
What part do lessons and the general work of the schoolroom
play in education thus regarded?
They should afford opportunity for the discipline of many good
habits, and should convey to the child such initial ideas of interest in
his various studies as to make the pursuit of knowledge on those
lines an object in life and a delight to him.
What duty lies upon parents and others who regard education
thus seriously, as a lever by means of which character may be
elevated, almost indefinitely?
Perhaps it is incumbent upon them to make conscientious
endeavours to further all means used to spread the views they hold;
believing that there is such “progress in character and virtue”
possible to the redeemed human race as has not yet been realised,
or even imagined. “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a
life.”[18]

FOOTNOTES:
[17] From Archbishop Thompson’s Laws of Thought.
[18] Matthew Arnold.
 CHAPTER XXIV

WHENCE AND WHITHER

Part I
“The P.N.E.U. goes on,” an observer writes, “without puff or fuss, by
its own inherent force;” and it is making singularly rapid progress. At
the present moment not less than ten thousand children of thinking,
educated parents, are being brought up, more or less consciously
and definitely, upon the line of the Union. Parents who read the
Parents’ Review, or other literature of the Society, parents who
belong to our various branches, or our other agencies, parents who
are influenced by these parents, are becoming multitudinous; and all
have one note in common,—the ardour of persons working out
inspiring ideas.
It is hardly possible to over-estimate the force of this league of
educated parents. When we think of the part that the children being
brought up under these influences will one day play in the leading
and ruling of the land, we are solemnised with the sense of a great
responsibility, and it behoves us to put to ourselves, once again, the
two searching queries by which every movement should, from time
to time, be adjudged,—Whence? and Whither?
Whence? The man who is satisfied with his dwelling-place has no
wish to move, and the mere fact of a “movement” is a declaration
that we are not satisfied, and that we are definitely on our way to
some other ends than those commonly accepted. In one respect
only we venture boldly to hark back. Exceedingly fine men and
women were brought up by our grandfathers and grandmothers,
even by our mothers and fathers, and the wise and old amongst us,
though they look on with great sympathy, yet have an unexpressed
feeling that men and women were made on the old lines of a stamp
which we shall find it hard to improve upon. This was no mere
chance result, nor did it come out of the spelling-book or the
Pinnock’s Catechisms which we have long ago consigned to the
limbo they deserve.
The teaching of the old days was as bad as it could be, the
training was haphazard work, reckless alike of physiology and
psychology; but our grandfathers and grandmothers had one saving
principle, which, for the last two or three decades, we have been, of
set purpose, labouring to lose. They, of the older generation,
recognised children as reasonable beings, persons of mind and
conscience like themselves, but needing their guidance and control,
as having neither knowledge nor experience. Witness the queer old
children’s books which have come down to us; before all things,
these addressed children as reasonable, intelligent and responsible
(terribly responsible!) persons. This fairly represents the note of
home-life in the last generation. So soon as the baby realised his
surroundings, he found himself a morally and intellectually
responsible person. Now one of the secrets of power in dealing with
our fellow beings is, to understand that human nature does that
which it is expected to do and is that which it is expected to be. We
do not mean, believed to do and to be, with the fond and foolish faith
which Mrs. Hardcastle bestowed on her dear Tony Lumpkin.
Expectation strikes another chord, the chord of “I am, I can, I ought,”
which must vibrate in every human breast, for, “’tis our nature to.”
The capable, dependable men and women whom we all know were
reared upon this principle.
But now? Now, many children in many homes are still brought up
on the old lines, but not with quite the unfaltering certitude of the old
times. Other thoughts are in the air. A baby is a huge oyster (says
one eminent psychologist) whose business is to feed, and to sleep,
and to grow. Even Professor Sully, in his most delightful book,[19] is
torn in two. The children have conquered him, have convinced him
beyond doubt that they are as ourselves, only more so. But then he
is an evolutionist, and feels himself pledged to accommodate the
child to the principles of evolution. Therefore, the little person is
supposed to go through a thousand stages of moral and intellectual
development, leading him from the condition of the savage or ape to
that of the intelligent and cultivated human being. If children will not
accommodate themselves pleasantly to this theory, why, that is their
fault, and Professor Sully is too true a child-lover not to give us the
children as they are, with little interludes of the theory upon which
they ought to evolve. Now we have absolutely no theory to advance,
and are, on scientific grounds, disposed to accept the theories of the
evolutionary psychologists. But facts are too strong for us. When we
consider the enormous intellectual labour the infant goes through
during his first year in accommodating himself to the conditions of a
new world, in learning to discern between far and near, solid and flat,
large and small, and a thousand other qualifications and limitations
of this perplexing world, why, we are not surprised that John Stuart
Mill should be well on in his Greek at five; that Arnold at three should
know all the Kings and Queens of England by their portraits; or that a
musical baby should have an extensive repertoire of the musical
classics.
We were once emphasising the fact that every child could learn to
speak two languages at once with equal facility, when a gentleman in
the audience stated that he had a son who was a missionary in
Bagdad, married to a German lady, and their little son of three
expressed all he had to say with equal fluency in three languages—
German, English, and Arabic, using each in speaking to those
persons whose language it was. “Nana, which does God love best,
little girls or little boys?” said a meditative little girl of four. “Oh, little
girls, to be sure,” said Nana, with a good-natured wish to please.
“Then if God loves little girls best, why was not God Himself a little
girl?” Which of us who have reached the later stages of evolution
would have hit upon a more conclusive argument? If the same little
girl asked on another occasion, watching the blackbirds at the
cherries: “Nana, if the bees make honey, do the birds make jam?” it
was by no means an inane question, and only proves that we older
persons are dull and inappreciative of such mysteries of nature as
that bees should make honey.
 This is how we find children—with intelligence more acute, logic
more keen, observing powers more alert, moral sensibilities more
quick, love and faith and hope more abounding; in fact, in all points
like as we are, only much more so, but absolutely ignorant of the
world and its belongings, of us and our ways, and, above all, of how
to control and direct and manifest the infinite possibilities with which
they are born.
Our conception of a child rules our relations towards him. Pour
s’amuser is the rule of child-life proper for the “oyster” theory, and
most of our children’s books and many of our theories of child-
education are based upon this rule. “Oh! he’s so happy,” we say, and
are content, believing that if he is happy he will be good; and it is so
to a great extent; but in the older days the theory was, if you are
good you will be happy; and this is a principle which strikes the
keynote of endeavour, and holds good, not only through the childish
“stage of evolution,” but for the whole of life, here and hereafter. The
child who has learned to “endeavour himself” (as the Prayer Book
has it) has learned to live.
If our conception of Whence? as regards the child, as of—
“A Being, breathing thoughtful breath,
A traveller betwixt life and death,”—

is old, that of our grandfathers; our conception of the aims and

methods of education, is new, only made possible within the very last
decades of the century; because it rests one foot upon the latest
advances in the science of Biology and the other upon the potent
secret of these latter days, that matter is the all-serviceable agent of
spirit, and that spirit forms, moulds, is absolute lord, over matter, as
capable of affecting the material convolutions of the brain as of
influencing what used to be called the heart.
Knowing that the brain is the physical seat of habit, and that
conduct and character, alike, are the outcome of the habits we allow:
knowing, too, that an inspiring idea initiates a new habit of thought,
and, hence, a new habit of life; we perceive that the great work of
education is to inspire children with vitalising ideas as to the relations
of life, departments of knowledge, subjects of thought: and to give
deliberate care to the formation of those habits of the good life which
are the outcome of vitalising ideas.
In this great work we seek and assuredly find the co-operation of
the Divine Spirit, whom we recognise, in a sense rather new to
modern thought, as the Supreme Educator of mankind in things that
have been called secular, fully as much as in those that have been
called sacred. We are free to give our whole force to these two great
educational labours, of the inspiration of ideas and the formation of
habits, because, except in the case of children somewhat mentally
deficient, we do not consider that the “development of faculties” is
any part of our work; seeing that the children’s so-called faculties are
already greatly more acute than our own.
We have, too, in our possession, a test for systems that are
brought under our notice, and can pronounce upon their educational
value. For example, a little while ago, the London Board Schools
held an exhibition of work; and great interest was excited by an
exhibit which came from New York representing a week’s work in a
school. The children worked for a week upon “an apple.” They
modelled it in clay, they painted it in brushwork, they stitched the
outline on cardboard, they pricked it, they laid it in sticks (the
pentagonal form of the seed vessel). Older boys and girls modelled
an apple-tree and made a little ladder on which to run up the apple-
tree and gather the apples, and a wheel-barrow to carry the apples
away, and a great deal more of the same kind. Everybody said, “How
pretty, how ingenious, what a good idea!” and went away with the
notion that here, at last, was education. But we ask, “What was the
informing idea?” The external shape, the internal contents of an
apple,—matters with which the children were already exceedingly
well acquainted. What mental habitudes were gained by this week’s
work? They certainly learned to look at the apple, but think how
many things they might have got familiar acquaintance with in the
time. Probably the children were not consciously bored, because the
impulse of the teachers enthusiasm carried them on. But, think of
it—
“Rabbits hot and rabbits cold,
Rabbits young and rabbits old,
 Rabbits tender and rabbits tough,”—

no doubt those children had enough—of apples anyway. This “apple”

course is most instructive to us as emphasising the tendency in the
human mind to accept and rejoice in any neat system which will
produce immediate results, rather than to bring every such little
course to the test of whether it does or does not further either or both
of our great educational principles.
Whither? Our “whence” opens to us a “whither” of infinitely
delightful possibilities. Seeing that each of us is labouring for the
advance of the human race through the individual child we are
educating, we consider carefully in what directions this advance is
due, and indicated, and we proceed of set purpose and, endeavour
to educate our children so that they shall advance with the tide. “Can
ye not discern the signs of the times?” A new Renaissance is coming
upon us, of unspeakably higher import than the last; and we are
bringing up our children to lead and guide, and, by every means help
in the progress—progress by leaps and bounds—which the world is
about to make. But “whither” is too large a question for the close of a
chapter.

FOOTNOTES:
[19] “Studies of Childhood,” by Professor Sully (Longmans,
10s. 6d.).
 CHAPTER XXV

WHENCE AND WHITHER

Part II
The morphologist, the biologist, leave many without hesitation in
following the great bouleversement of thought, summed up in the
term evolution. They are no longer able to believe otherwise than
that man is the issue of processes, ages long in their development;
and what is more, and even more curious, that each individual child,
from the moment of his conception to that of his birth, appears in his
own person to mark an incredible number of the stages of this
evolutionary process. The realisation of this truth has made a great
impression on the minds of men. We feel ourselves to be part of a
process, and to be called upon, at the same time, to assist in the
process, not for ourselves exactly, but for any part of the world upon
which our influence bears; especially for the children who are so
peculiarly given over to us. But there comes, as we have seen, a
point where we must arise and make our protest. The physical
evolution of man may admit of no doubt; the psychical evolution, on
the other hand, is not only, not proven, but the whole weight of
existing evidence appears to go into the opposite scale.
The age of materialism has run its course: we recognise matter as
force, but as altogether subject force, and that it is the spirit of a man
which shapes and uses his material substance, in its own ways to its
own ends. Who can tell the way of the spirit? Perhaps this is one of
the ultimate questions upon which man has not yet been able to
speculate to any purpose; but when we consider the almost
unlimited powers of loving and of trusting, of discriminating and of
apprehending, of perceiving and of knowing, which a child
possesses, and compare these with the blunted sensibilities and
slower apprehension of the grown man or woman of the same
calibre, we are certainly not inclined to think that growth from less to
more, and from small to great, is the condition of the spiritual life:
that is, of that part of us which loves and worships, reasons and
thinks, learns and applies knowledge. Rather would it seem to be
true of every child in his degree, as of the divine and typical Child,
that He giveth not the Spirit by measure to him.
It is curious how the philosophy of the Bible is always well in
advance of our latest thought. “He grew in wisdom and in stature,”
we are told. Now what is wisdom—philosophy? Is it not the
recognition of relations? First, we have to understand relations of
time and space and matter, the natural philosophy which made up so
much of the wisdom of Solomon; then, by slow degrees, and more
and more, we learn that moral philosophy which determines our
relations of love and justice and duty to each other: later, perhaps,
we investigate the profound and puzzling subject of the inter-
relations of our own most composite being,—mental philosophy. And
in all these and beyond all these we apprehend slowly and feebly the
highest relation of all, the relation to God, which we call religion. In
this science of the relations of things consists what we call wisdom,
and wisdom is not born in any man,—apparently not even in the Son
of man Himself. He grew in wisdom, in the sweet gradual
apprehension of all the relations of life: but the power of
apprehending, the strong, subtle, discerning spirit, whose function it
is to grasp and understand, appropriate and use, all the relations
which bind all things to all other things—this was not given to Him by
measure; nor, we may reverently believe, is it so given to us.
That there are differences in the measures of men, in their
intellectual and moral stature, is evident enough; but it is well that we
should realise the nature of these differences, that they are
differences in kind and not in degree; depending upon what we glibly
call the laws of heredity, which bring it to pass that man in his various
aspects shall make up that conceivably perfect whole possible to
mankind. This is a quite different thing from the notion of a small and
feeble measure of heart and intellect in the child, to grow by degrees
into the robust and noble spiritual development which, according to
the psychical evolutionist, should distinguish the adult human being.
These are quite practical and simple considerations for every one
entrusted with the bringing up of a child, and are not to be set aside
as abstract principles, the discussion of which should serve little
purpose beyond that of sharpening the wits of the schoolmen. As a
matter of fact, we do not realise children, we under-estimate them; in
the divine words, we “despise” them, with the best intentions in the
world, because we confound the immaturity of their frames, and their
absolute ignorance as to the relations of things, with spiritual
impotence: whereas the fact probably is, that never is intellectual
power so keen, the moral sense so strong, spiritual perception so
piercing, as in those days of childhood which we regard with a
supercilious, if kindly, smile. A child is a person in whom all
possibilities are present—present now at this very moment—not to
be educed after years and efforts manifold on the part of the
educator: but indeed it is a greater thing to direct and use this wealth
of spiritual power than to develop the so-called faculties of the child.
It cannot be too strongly urged that our education of children will
depend, nolens volens, upon the conception we form of them. If we
regard them as instruments fit and capable for the carrying out of the
Divine purpose in the progress of the world, we shall endeavour to
discern the signs of the times, perceive in what directions we are
being led, and prepare the children to carry forward the work of the
world, by giving them vitalising ideas concerning, at any rate, some
departments of that work.
Having settled it with ourselves that we and the children alike live
for the advancement of the race, that our work is immediately with
them, and, through them, mediately for all, and that they are
perfectly fitted to receive those ideas which are for the inspiration of
life, we must next settle it with ourselves in what directions we shall
set up spiritual activities in the children.
We have sought to establish our whence in the potency of the
child, we will look for our whither in the living thought of the day,
which probably indicates the directions in which the race is making
progress. We find that all men everywhere are keenly interested in
science, that the world waits and watches for great discoveries; we,
too, wait and watch, believing that, as Coleridge said long ago, great
ideas of Nature are imparted to minds already prepared to receive
them by a higher Power than Nature herself.
At a late meeting of the British Association, the President
lamented that the progress of science was greatly hindered by the
fact that we no longer have field naturalists—close observers of
Nature as she is. A literary journal made a lamentable remark
thereupon. It is all written in books, said this journal, so we have no
longer any need to go to Nature herself. Now the knowledge of
Nature which we get out of books is not real knowledge; the use of
books is, to help the young student to verify facts he has already
seen for himself. We, of the P.N.E.U., are before all things, Nature-
lovers; we conceive that intimate acquaintance with every natural
object within his reach is the first, and possibly, the best part of a
child’s education. For himself, all his life long, he will be soothed
by—
“The breathing balm,
The silence and the calm,
Of mute insensate things.”

And for science, he is in a position to do just the work which is

most needed; he will be a close loving observer of Nature at first
hand, storing facts, and free from all impatient greed for inferences.
Looking out on the realm of Art again, we think we discern the
signs of the times. Some of us begin to learn the lesson which a
prophet has been raised up to deliver to this generation. We begin to
understand that mere technique, however perfect—whether in the
rendering of flesh tints, or marbles, or of a musical composition of
extreme difficulty—is not necessarily high Art. It is beginning to dawn
upon us that Art is great only in proportion to the greatness of the
idea that it expresses; while, what we ask of the execution, the
technique, is that it shall be adequate to the inspiring idea. But surely
these high themes have nothing to do with the bringing up of
children? Yes, they have; everything. In the first place, we shall
permit no pseudo Art to live in the same house with our children;
next, we shall bring our own facile tastes and opinions to some such
searching test as we have indicated, knowing that the children
imbibe the thoughts that are in us, whether we will or no; and, lastly,
we shall inspire our children with those great ideas which shall
create a demand, anyway, for great Art.
In literature, we have definite ends in view, both for our own
children, and for the world through them. We wish the children to
grow up to find joy and refreshment in the taste, the flavour of a
book. We do not mean by a book any printed matter in a binding, but
a work possessing certain literary qualities able to bring that sensible
delight to the reader which belongs to a literary word fitly spoken. It
is a sad fact that we are losing our joy in literary form. We are in
such haste to be instructed by facts or titillated by theories, that we
have no leisure to linger over the mere putting of a thought. But this
is our error, for words are mighty both to delight and to inspire. If we
were not as blind as bats, we should long ago have discovered a
truth very fully indicated in the Bible—that that which is once said
with perfect fitness can never be said again, and becomes ever
thereafter a living power in the world. But in literature, as in art, we
require more than mere form. Great ideas are brooding over the
chaos of our thought; and it is he who shall say the things we are all
dumbly thinking, who shall be to us as a teacher sent from God.
For the children? They must grow up upon the best. There must
never be a period in their lives when they are allowed to read or
listen to twaddle or reading-made-easy. There is never a time when
they are unequal to worthy thoughts, well put; inspiring tales, well
told. Let Blake’s “Songs of Innocence” represent their standard in
poetry; Defoe and Stevenson, in prose; and we shall train a race of
readers who will demand literature, that is, the fit and beautiful
expression of inspiring ideas and pictures of life. Perhaps a printed
form to the effect that gifts of books to the children will not be
welcome in such and such a family, would greatly assist in this
endeavour!
To instance one more point—there is a reaching out in all
directions after the conception expressed in the words “solidarity of
the race.” We have probably never before felt as now in absolute