Image: Rex Features

Guru’s interest was piqued today by a Daily Mail story about a manager’s book from the Royal Worcester porcelain factory in the 19th century. The book details the disciplinary issues faced in the porcelain factory and the punishments meted out to offenders.

Guru was surprised to discover that he faces many of the same issues as the 19th century factory managers. For example, the book lists that an employee was fined three pence for mouse-hunting during work. Guru has faced the exact same issue. Obviously, today, Guru cannot just hand out fines, but instead he sat down with Julie from accounts to ask why she felt her time was better spent crawling around on the floor with a tiny spear than processing payrolls. Guru and Julie came to a compromise that she come in early to do her mouse-hunting before formally starting work at 9 (and that she gets to keep any mice she catches).

The book lists another employee who was fined three pence for letting off fireworks in the shop. Again, Guru has faced the exact same issue and again has had to deal with it with more understanding and tact than his 19th century predecessors. He had a particular problem with an employee who was absolutely determined to set off daily fireworks in his pod during Jubilee week. After a long and harrowing discussion to establish that the setting off of the fireworks was not something absolutely demanded by his religious beliefs it was agreed that the employee could watch YouTube videos of fireworks each day to celebrate the Jubilee, but would face further discussions were he to set off rockets in the office again.

One issue Guru has absolutely not faced is that of whistling during worktime. Anybody caught whistling during worktime would definitely not face a one-and-a-half pence fine; they would be sacked on the spot. That is one thing Guru will not abide.

Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/personneltoday/gurublog/~3/cJAru-eBaD4/19th-century-factory-ledger-sh.html