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Introduction

To reiterate the essence of the quote on the home page of this wiki ""It is, I think that the Marconi Company has a soul".

There has been much speculation on how the concept of the "Marconi man or woman' was realised - these are the thoughts of typical members of this community, stimulated by an ongoing discussion in an online forum between ex-apprentices on their experiences of life in the various hostels run by the company, themselves a factor of the ethos.

Inputs

Bernard de Neumann says:
With the discussion about Marconi hostels, it has occurred to me that Marconi's recruitment, training, and retention of potentially skilled engineers and scientists ought to be examined too. The company were very skilled in selecting their staff, many of whom stayed for exceptionally long periods of their careers, and are evidently proud of their association with the company. Certainly the old "Marconi family" modus operandii played a role in inducing company loyalty, but I wonder whether there was anything different about Marconi as a company compared with say Ferranti, Decca, Kelvin Hughes, GEC, Elliots, ..... as regards its recruitment, training and company ethos that is of interest.

Roy Simons says:
The Marconi apprenticeship scheme was well known as being the best in the country after the war, better than Met Vick which was a pre-war leader. Many ex-apprentices stayed for most if not all of their career. People who joined later were affected by the company culture that the apprentices brought and this encouraged many to stay. I have contacted Terry Murphy who was our Personnel Manager for a period, to see if he can give us some views. He has been to Australia and back since he retired

Terry Murphy says:
Looking back I think that there were a number of factors. By and large the management were all long serving as well which did, I believe, create a family atmosphere to the company which was not very evident in Elliot or Plessey. Many people formed lasting friendships in the apprenticeship scheme which also helped to bond them into the company. There was a sense of fairness in the company too. When dealing with the unions we were able to talk off the record in a very frank way which was only abused once as far as I can remember. Also, at the time when I was with the company, there was a general ethic prevailing that people got "jobs for life" and stayed with the company they started with. I think I was one of the exceptions there in that I had a career map which I tried to follow. (Oh the delusions of the young).

I was thinking back to my site visits when I was responsible for Field Services. The feedback I got was that it was a sign that the company cared and I believe that is very important.

As you know, when I left Marconi I went to Standard Telephones. The whole management approach there was different. It was systematised in every detail. There tended to be a set way of doing things and a set order in which they were done. That contrasts sharply with Marconi Radar where there seemed to me to be more scope for individuality. I suppose too that it was much more of a production line operation than MRSL.

I believe our staff turnover was at the bottom end of the industry. Most losses among the engineering staff took place in the early years and was from among the graduate recruits. Only to be expected I think as they were often not really clear about what they wanted in life. For the manufacturing staff I think there was an element of "if I leave where will I go?".

There are some random thoughts. If I get any more ideas I will share them.

Editors Note

The summary of the discussion is manifest in the ongoing existence of these wikis created voluntarily by ex-employees in their own time and with not-inconsiderable expenditure of effort to carry out research and input of content, together with the associated activities of the Marconi Veterans Association, the work of volunteers at the Sandford Mill Industrial Museum and the cooperation of the Oxford staff in the archives in the Bodleian Library and MHS.  

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