‘Never Let Your Men Look Over the Hedge’
Employees are the key to any entrepreneur’s success, and he must know them intimately, trust them completely and pay them generously.
1883
Queen Victoria 1837-1901
© Jules Verne Times Two / julesvernex2.com / CC-BY-SA-4.0.
A couple of curious cows look over a hedge in Vila Nova, on the island of Terceira in the Azores, Portugal. At his Bridgewater Foundry in Manchester, Nasmyth paid top wages to his staff even during labour shortages, because it secured the loyalty of his most valuable asset. And whereas his rivals took on bound apprentices, who in exchange for gaining experience were legally obliged to work for their masters for a specified period, Nasmyth employed trainees as free agents on a wage, and found that they worked better and stayed more loyal. See also Adam Smith on The Economic Case for Generous Wages.
Introduction
Scottish engineer James Nasmyth, son of an Edinburgh artist, set up the Bridgewater Foundry in Patricroft, Salford, in 1836. He tells us in his Autobiography that in the competitive market of Victorian heavy industry, the key to success was making sure that his employees never wanted to work for anyone else.
I ALWAYS took care to make my foremen comfortable, and consequently loyal. A great part of a man’s success in business consists in his knowledge of character. It is not so much what he himself does, as what he knows his heads of departments can do. He must know them intimately, take cognisance of the leading points of their character, pick and choose from them, and set them to the work which they can most satisfactorily superintend.
Edward Tootal, of Manchester,* said to me long before, “Never give your men cause to look over the hedge.” He meant that I should never give them any reason for looking for work elsewhere. It was a wise saying, and I long remembered it. I always endeavoured to make my men and foremen as satisfied as possible with their work, as well as with their remuneration.
From ‘James Nasmyth, Engineer: An Autobiography’ (1883), by James Nasmyth (1808-1890), with Samuel Smiles (1812-1904).
* Edward Tootal (?1800-1873) was a silk manufacturer, whose brand (now owned by Coats Viyella) continues to this day on ties and scarves. In 1842 he joined a textile business founded back in 1799 by Robert Gardner, and so completely transformed its fortunes that the company was named after him just a year later. Tootal retired in 1856 and dedicated himself to civic responsibilities as a magistrate, a Deputy Lieutenant of Yorkshire (he lived near Wakefield), and a directer of the London and North Western Railway. In 1913, an LNWR passenger steam locomotive of the George the Fifth Class was named after him.
