Edward Northup Hay (1891 - 1958) was a businessman based in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He was for years the head

personnel Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

officer for

First Pennsylvania Bank First Pennsylvania Bank was a bank based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1782, it was for centuries the oldest bank in the United States until it was acquired by CoreStates Financial Corporation in 1989. In the 1970s, First Pennsylvania o ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. There, he was a mentor to

Isabel Briggs Myers Isabel Briggs Myers (born Isabel Briggs; October 18, 1897 – May 5, 1980) was an American writer who co-created the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) with her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs. The MBTI is one of the most-often used personality ...

, whom he taught test construction, scoring, validation, and statistics, and who went on to develop the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. During World War II, Hay served as Deputy

Administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

for the

Office of Price Administration The Office of Price Administration (OPA) was established within the Office for Emergency Management of the United States government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. The functions of the OPA were originally to control money ( price con ...

. In 1943, he launched Hay Group, a management

consultancy A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Con ...

that focused on improving the personnel side of businesses, which he believed was a neglected and underdeveloped area. He wrote:

The human element in industry has not received adequate or sufficiently skillful attention. ... The most successful companies of the future will be the ones that take full advantage of improved personnel techniques.

In 1945, Hay got his first major contract, from

General Foods Corporation General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by Charles William (C. W.) Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, after severa ...

to study and evaluate 450 management jobs. He resigned from First Pennsylvania Bank and incorporated his company. Hay died unexpectedly in 1958 at the age of 67. His company, Hay Group, is still active.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, Edward N. 1958 deaths 1891 births