Selecting Native Drivers
Page 54
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ANEW approach to the selection of natives for skilled work is being made by the Public Utility Transport Corporation, which carries 6m. nonEuropean passengers a month, mainly in the Johannesburg area. With 500 nonEuropean drivers in their employ and 50 replacements required each year to maintain existing services, Putco have a major problem in finding nonEuropeans who are capable of becoming competent drivers. On the success of
ol4 selection depends not only the accident rate but also the wastage rate of drivers.
As long as six months may be taken in training a driver and the cost is about £150. For some months now Putco have had in use aptitude testing and on the results of these tests, designed to show the skill and competence of the applicant, selection is made. Early indications are most encouraging, for the trainee drivers selected on this basis are proving to be better pupils than those chosen by less exact methods.
The findings of the corporation to date bear out the views held by the National Institute for Personnel Research that the African, who is a bad subject for selection by interview, is a good one of selection by means of aptitude testing.
The corporation gave aptitude •tests to a number of drivers. The results and a detailed assessment of these drivers' accident records and driving ability were compared and were found in 80 per cent, of the cases to coincide.