seniority—‘Leading Staff’—which anyone suitably experienced could attain if
they were recognised as such by their peers and therefore ‘elected’ by them.
Paterson also had the wonderful idea of shielding his research staff from
organizational issues by delegating mundane laboratory administrative procedures to ‘Laboratory Stewards’ who therefore dealt with all the day-to-day
problems such as procurement of materials, the tidiness and cleanliness of the
labs and ongoing repairs and improvements to laboratory facilities.
These ideas of course were unorthodox by 1919s standards, but there was
more to come. Paterson held very strong views on punctuality amongst the
staff. The day began at precisely 9 am and lines were drawn across the
attendance register at 3 min past nine and again at six minutes past. Bad
punctuality led to the withholding of salary increments however good performance had been during the day and however long staff decided to stay after
the normal working hours. Paterson held a punctuality ‘fetish’ throughout his
tenure as Director and one story goes that during the second war when one
employee blamed his bad time-keeping on his alarm clock, he procured a new
one for him and debited the cost from his salary next month!
11 But Paterson
didn’t begin his tenure by ruling with an iron rod. On the contrary he placed
particular importance on personal contact between all levels of staff within the
laboratories. He emphasized this philosophy by holding regular parties for
staff hosted by himself and his wife at their own home, and a feature of the
Laboratories from the earliest time was the range of social activities undertaken. In the heyday of the Laboratories, the ‘Research—GEC Social and
Athletic Club’ as it came to be known, covered an enormous range of
recreational activities; cricket, football, netball, tennis, badminton, horse
riding, rambling, squash, judo, dancing and ice skating. But there were more
cerebral aspects, such as a bridge club, music and dramatic societies. Such
activities were an important feature of the laboratories and led to life-long
friendships, marriages and even a ‘second generation’ of laboratory staff.
11 For
Robert and Emily this was particularly true, as Robert’s nephew Clement
Sorel
21 later became a distinguished member of staff, whilst Ralph Chirnside
for example, who eventually became Chief Chemist at the Laboratories,
remained a friend throughout Robert’s professional life and beyond. But as
Robert was beginning a new life, events across the world were still playing
out, events that had their genesis in Karlsruhe way back in July 1909 but
which continued to influence him both financially and professionally.
328
D. Sheppard
they were recognised as such by their peers and therefore ‘elected’ by them.
Paterson also had the wonderful idea of shielding his research staff from
organizational issues by delegating mundane laboratory administrative procedures to ‘Laboratory Stewards’ who therefore dealt with all the day-to-day
problems such as procurement of materials, the tidiness and cleanliness of the
labs and ongoing repairs and improvements to laboratory facilities.
These ideas of course were unorthodox by 1919s standards, but there was
more to come. Paterson held very strong views on punctuality amongst the
staff. The day began at precisely 9 am and lines were drawn across the
attendance register at 3 min past nine and again at six minutes past. Bad
punctuality led to the withholding of salary increments however good performance had been during the day and however long staff decided to stay after
the normal working hours. Paterson held a punctuality ‘fetish’ throughout his
tenure as Director and one story goes that during the second war when one
employee blamed his bad time-keeping on his alarm clock, he procured a new
one for him and debited the cost from his salary next month!
11 But Paterson
didn’t begin his tenure by ruling with an iron rod. On the contrary he placed
particular importance on personal contact between all levels of staff within the
laboratories. He emphasized this philosophy by holding regular parties for
staff hosted by himself and his wife at their own home, and a feature of the
Laboratories from the earliest time was the range of social activities undertaken. In the heyday of the Laboratories, the ‘Research—GEC Social and
Athletic Club’ as it came to be known, covered an enormous range of
recreational activities; cricket, football, netball, tennis, badminton, horse
riding, rambling, squash, judo, dancing and ice skating. But there were more
cerebral aspects, such as a bridge club, music and dramatic societies. Such
activities were an important feature of the laboratories and led to life-long
friendships, marriages and even a ‘second generation’ of laboratory staff.
11 For
Robert and Emily this was particularly true, as Robert’s nephew Clement
Sorel
21 later became a distinguished member of staff, whilst Ralph Chirnside
for example, who eventually became Chief Chemist at the Laboratories,
remained a friend throughout Robert’s professional life and beyond. But as
Robert was beginning a new life, events across the world were still playing
out, events that had their genesis in Karlsruhe way back in July 1909 but
which continued to influence him both financially and professionally.
328
D. Sheppard