What is work efficiency?

Let’s start by defining the very concept of effectiveness. Effectiveness is the result of actions taken, described by the relation of obtained results to incurred expenses. We usually talk about efficiency in relation to employees. To a large extent it is the employees who are responsible for the company’s development and building its competitive advantage.

Work efficiency is an issue that needs to be considered from different angles. From the perspective of the business owner or manager, the most important task of employees is to strive to increase the profits of the company. From the employee’s side, the opportunity to earn money is obviously important. However, there are also other factors that affect an employee’s work efficiency. These are: atmosphere at work, contact with superiors, opportunities to develop and improve skills, participation in training, opportunities for promotion and additional benefits. The employer should consider these factors when setting performance goals.

How to measure work efficiency?

Work efficiency is very important for the enterprise, so it’s helpful to know how to measure work efficiency. The work efficiency rate is a valuable information for managers. There are several methods of measuring work efficiency. In this article, we will discuss the most commonly used ones. They are: snapshot surveys, time study and workday photography.

These methods allow us to answer the questions:

• How much time does it take employees to perform standard activities?
• Are employees engaged only in activities assigned to their jobs?
• What influences employees to be distracted from their most important duties?
• Do unscheduled breaks occur at work?

Snapshot surveys

A snapshot survey is also called a snapshot observation method. It is a statistical method of measuring activity in the workplace. The survey involves periodically observing the workplace to determine what is happening in the workplace at any given time. The assumption behind the snapshot survey is related to the relationship between the number of occurrences of a given activity during the measurement and the overall duration of that activity during the entire work. In other words, this method assumes that the frequency of occurrence of an activity is proportional to the time of its execution.

In practice, the result of a snapshot survey is interpreted as follows: if in 50% of the total number of measurements the employee performs work activities, and in the remaining 50% leaves the workplace, it means that the employee works only half of the nominal working time.

The method is not precise and does not objectively reflect workplace activity. Learn more about snapshot surveys in this article.

Time study

Time study is a fairly simple method of measuring the time spent on tasks performed by an employee. The study consists in measuring the time of work by means of a device measuring the passage of time (e.g. stopwatch).

The purpose of the time study is to determine the optimal time for performing a given activity under specific conditions and by employees with specific competencies. Measurements may concern both cyclical and non-cyclical activities. Determining the duration of non-cyclical activities is much more difficult. However, there are special rules of measurement that make it possible to determine approximately correctly the optimal duration of this type of activity.

Time study is primarily used in the determination of normal working time.

Workday photography

This is the oldest way of measuring working time, involving close observation of all activities performed by an employee and writing them down. The investigator records the beginning and end time of the activity in a special form.

Workday photography is mainly done to analyze the efficiency of employees. And indirectly it also serves as an indicator of the effectiveness of the work performed in general.

Nowadays, devices with a recording function are increasingly used for this type of research. The video allows for a later playback and analysis of the activities recorded in the company, also in terms of their optimization.