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Beat the clock: time
management training can improve productivity and morale by helping employees
balance work and family
Author: Kathryn Tyler
Date: Nov. 2003
From: HRMagazine (Vol. 48, Issue 11)
Publisher: Society for Human Resource Management
Document Type: Article
Length: 1,810 words
Which
is more precious, time or money? The answer is clear: You can always earn more
money, but time is finite. Yet employees spend so much effort managing money
and so little managing time that the result often is a stressed and less
productive workforce, cramming work and home needs into shrinking hours.
HR
professionals are finding that time management training can help employees
juggle both work and family. Time management no longer focuses on
time-saving tricks, such as using your commute to return calls. Instead, time
management emphasizes a more holistic approach that teaches employees to set
priorities and achieve goals in all areas of their lives.
“People
used to look at time management as doing what we’re doing faster, running the
conveyor belt more quickly,” says Don Wetmore, president of The
Productivity Institute, a time management training firm in Stratford, Conn.
“We’ve taken it to a different level. Time management is more than making
up a to-do list. Not doing the right things to begin with gets you nowhere
faster. Time management is the foundation for creating balance in our lives in
vital areas, such as health and family,” Wetmore says.
But
that foundation is missing from many employees’ lives. LifeCare Inc., an
employee benefits organization in Westport, Conn., recently polled employees of
its 1,000 client companies and found that 47 percent of respondents ranked time
management as the No. 1 source of stress in their lives–an increase of 25
percent over last year, says CEO Peter Burki.
Employers
can pay a high price for that stress. “The retention of key employees
becomes a big issue as workers in droves leave companies to search for a better
life,” says Laura Stack, president of The Productivity PRO, a time
management and employee productivity consulting firm in Highlands Ranch, Colo.
“If [employees] don’t leave, they’re stressed about wanting something
different while being terrified to let go of a well-paying job in a tough
environment, resulting in an unmotivated workforce.”
Time
management training can increase employee morale, increase productivity and
decrease turnover, Stack says. “It’s not how long you work, it’s how you
work,” she says. “You could work a 12-hour day and be more
unproductive than someone who works a six-hour day.” Teaching employees to
be more productive and get the same amount of work done in less time can help
them get home earlier, Stack says.
Defending Your Time
What
does time management training teach? Employees should learn how to plan, set
priorities, avoid procrastination and become more organized. Basic skills
include how to use a daily planning calendar and how to set priorities and
goals, says Jim Bird, president of WorklifeBalance.com, a time management
training company in Atlanta. Advanced skills focus on relationships and project
management, he adds.
Time
management also can train employees to examine tasks more critically. For
example, Wetmore says, a time log helps employees catalog how they spend their
time. Employees rate their time “in terms of its productive value:
critical is A, [worthwhile] is B, not much value is C and little value is
D,” says Wetmore. When employees do this, “almost universally, 20
percent of time is spent on A and B, 80 percent on C and D. They have to learn
how to shift over some of the unproductive time–Cs and Ds–to As and Bs.”
Once employees recognize which tasks have less value, they will choose
higher-value tasks, Wetmore adds.
Coors
Brewing Co. in Golden, Colo., began time management training in one division
after an employee survey. “Based on the results and [employee interviews],
I heard many comments about ‘people working a lot,'” says EvaMilko, Coors’
director of strategic sourcing in corporate procurement. “Our team needed
a refresher on how to manage disruptions, manage priorities and work with their
values in mind.”
Coors’
training program offered three sessions delivered over two months, Milko says.
One full-day session for all employees covered personal productivity,
addressing reasons for stress and the ways stress affects performance. The
session also discussed work/life balance and strategies for leaving the office
earlier, Milko says. The second full-day session for all employees dealt with
information overload, giving employees hands-on training in setting up filing
systems, managing incoming e-mails and documents, and using Microsoft Outlook
calendar and e-mail software effectively. Finally, a halfday session for
managers covered delegating work and managing others’ time.
The
results? “Team members reported finding 30 to 60 minutes per day of
incremental ‘free’ time because of the training,” Milko says. “The
work we did on filing systems and using Outlook more effectively allows us to
retrieve information faster for quicker decision making and project management.
Many employees began to use Outlook to manage not only their work activities,
but also their personal appointments, reducing the redundancies of managing two
different calendar systems.”
The
training also inspired employees who work in cubicles to defend their work time
against interruptions. Now, employees have a scarf that they can draw across
the cubicle entrance, telling others not to stop by. The signal has
“eliminated many of the daily disruptions, allowing people to get work
done,” Milko says.
What’s the Problem?
To
find the most effective time management training for your workforce, determine
what types of time management problems employees have, decide who should attend
training and choose the training style and vendor that best suit your needs.
Focus
training on specific issues. Are employees complaining about working late? Seek
techniques to help people leave the office earlier. Are employees feeling
overwhelmed by paperwork? Emphasize systems that streamline paperwork and
eliminate redundancy.
For
example, Denver Water, a government utility in Denver Water, a government
utility in Denver, Colo., implemented a time management program called
“Handling Information Overload” because huge amounts of information
were overwhelming employees, says Lori Wurth, manager of training and
organization development. The training gave participants tips to keep on top of
e-mail, voice mail, snail mail, paper, meetings and projects.
Who
should attend the training? “The simpler and more repetitive the job, the
less impact time management training will have,” Bird says. So focus
training on employees who have a great deal of flexibility–and the potential
for conflicting priorities–in their schedules and projects.
“A
common practice is for time management training to be thrown at poor
performers,” notes Stack. However, time management is best suited for peak
performers whose departure would jeopardize the company.
Should
you require participation? Stack says participation should be optional because
“no one will learn anything if forced,” but Wetmore disagrees.
“The
least effective way of approaching training is on an optional basis,”
Wetmore says. “If [employees] understood what they needed, they would get
it. They don’t understand what they need. The folks who sign up are often not
the ones who need it most.”
The
best way to market time management training to employees is to pitch its
personal benefits, Wetmore says. Don’t say that the program will make the
company more profitable. Say, “‘You will accomplish more, have more time
and less stress, go home on time, be a better parent,'” Wetmore suggests.
Although
the emphasis is on employees’ personal needs, the employer also will benefit,
Bird adds. Time management tools applied off the job will become a habit that
workers will carry over to the workplace.
Shopping for a
Vendor
Seek
a training vendor that is willing and able to customize training. “All
programs need to be tailored to the individual company, focusing on their
burning needs,” says Wetmore.
Avoid
training that focuses solely on using any vendor’s particular calendar or daily
planner products, cautions Bird. “In most organizations, a high percentage
of individuals are highly committed to their current planner type” and
aren’t likely to surrender favored planners, Bird says. So look for training
dealing with behaviors and techniques rather than products alone.
Training
delivery takes many forms, including seminars, books, audiotapes, videotapes,
videoconferences and online training. What you use should depend on your
audience and needs. Some consultants and employers say in-person seminars seem
to have the greatest impact, especially when followed by individual
consultations, and that other media are economical and useful for
reinforcement. However, some consultants tout blended learning or web-based
training.
“The
most effective time management [class] is best performed in person, at least
initially,” says Burki. “Once you have that firm foundation, you can
use [technology] for online reminders, follow-up instruction, refresher
courses, etc.”
But
Bird says, “The ideal is the blended approach, using live and web-based
training for advanced training and ongoing reinforcement of skills. High
quality video-driven, web-based training can produce results equal to or
exceeding high-quality live training. Not textbased or talking heads. I’m
talking about high production–with multiple camera angles–web-based
training.”
Linda
Holmes Rogers, vice-president of HR for Fiserv Southern Region, a financial
technology company in Atlanta, recently completed a web-based work life balance
training program. “We compared it to the instructor-led program and were
very impressed,” Rogers says. “It is a time-saver. The quality of the
web-based product is just as good as the instructor-led program.”
Individual
Follow-up
No
matter which training method you choose, individual follow-up, over time, is
key, Wetmore and Stack add. “Huge changes [in behavior] take place over an
extended period of time–six months to a year,” says Wetmore.
After
an initial one-day class, Denver Water gives each participating employee a
one-hour session with a time management consultant, Wurth says. The consultant
and the employee develop a six-week action plan, and, after six weeks, the
consultant reviews the plan and holds the employee accountable.
“The
program has been very popular and well received–the one-on-one [consultations
are] consistently cited as the most beneficial part,” Wurth says. “We
find the accountability and personal attention really increases the
application. We follow up with the employee and supervisor three months later
to determine what worked and if they are satisfied with the results.”
Wurth
found that selling senior management on paying for individual followup sessions
was not easy, but “the results spoke for themselves, and now support is
given without question,” she says.
“You
can do a one-shot, full-day training for $7,500 or so for 20 people, but the
organization will not experience long-term change in employee behavior”
from one-time training, Stack says. Some short-term training can cost less,
around $3,000 to $4,000 per day for a group of about 20 people. But for a
year-long program with follow-up, expect to pay about $2,000 per employee,
Stack says.
Employers
have to find new customers, cut costs and improve productivity daily, Coors’
Milko notes. “We need a healthy and engaged workforce to help us in
reaching those objectives,” she says. Time management training helps
employees “be more effective throughout the day so they can leave the
office and be with their families and friends, support their communities, and
pursue their passions,” she says.
KATHRYN TYLER, M.A., IS A FREELANCE WRITER AND
FORMER HR GENERALIST AND TRAINER IN WIXOM, MICH.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2003 Society for Human
Resource Management
http://www.shrm.org/publications/hrmagazine/pages/default.aspx
Tyler, K. (2003, November). Beat the
clock: time management training can improve productivity and morale by1.
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helping
employees balance work and family. HRMagazine, 48(11), 103+.
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