Innovation in Employee Selection: Tracing the Use of Hugo Münsterberg’s Test for Motormen

Abstract

Hugo Munsterberg pioneered innovative employee assessment techniques to improve safety in the electric railway industry. His experiments with motormen or trolley operators in the United States shed light on employee testing relating to workplace safety and employee well-being. This chapter charts the development of Hugo Munsterberg’s selection test for motormen within the United States. It traces the test’s life-cycle from its beginning at Boston Elevated Railway Company to its use at Dallas Consolidated Electric Street Railway and Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company. This chapter draws on archival correspondence, conference proceedings, published articles, and texts to map the course of Hugo Munsterberg’s test for motormen. The conclusion reached in this chapter is that Munsterberg’s test, although enlightening in its design and purpose, was too much in its infancy to draw definite conclusions about its efficacy. Field trials at Dallas Consolidated Electric Street Railway and Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company show his test successfully eliminated accident-prone motormen during the employee selection process in some instances. His railway simulation method also influenced the designs adopted by other test developers who advanced occupational testing in the electric railway beyond Hugo Munsterberg’s death in 1916.