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• Topic is measuring output of office employees

Nature of Work Measurement

• Work measurement is a process to determine what constitutes a fair day's work from both the employer and employee's perspectives.

Objectives of Work Measurement

• Work measurement expresses expected output/production levels
• Work measurement aids in planning and scheduling work
• It helps determine the number of employees needed for a project within an allotted timeframe
• Work measurement determines the efficiency of work methods, procedures, and processes
• It determines the cost of office operations
• Work measurement aids determining equitable workloads for employees

Advantages of Work Measurement

• Work measurement provides greater control over work processes and methods
• It helps determine the appropriate number of employees per work unit
• It helps improve efficiency in planning work
• It helps prevent work backlogs
• It helps simplify work processes

Characteristics of Measurable Office Activities

• Measurable tasks must be isolated and countable
• Tasks should maintain consistency from one measurement to another
• Sufficient volume should be present to align with measurement costs
• Tasks should avoid considerable judgment and decision-making

Work Measurement Program

• Employees must be convinced of a work measurement program's necessity and beneficial outcomes before development.
• The steps in a Work Measurement Program are:
  • Preliminary planning
  • Hiring employees
  • Gaining acceptance and support
  • Data collection
  • Data analysis and standard development
  • Supervisor and manager training
  • Employee instruction
  • Follow up

Work Measurement Techniques

• Production Records
• Work Sampling
• Time Study
• Micromotion Study
• Predetermined Standard Time Data.

Production Records

• It is a work measurement technique which employee output records determine time needed per job
• A time log is a document used by employees to record performed tasks and associated time

Production Records Details

• Employee production records ascertain time for specific tasks
• A time log records employee tasks and their completion times
• Time logs also identify the number of units produced within a given time frame
• Time logs are maintained as long as needed to smooth out fluctuations
• Standards are the total units produced divided by the time taken
• Overly high standards may require "leveling"

Production Records Advantages

• Simple, easily understood, and inexpensive
• Facilitates quick program implementation without specially trained individuals

Production Records Disadvantages

• May produce inaccurate standards without accurate time logs
• Standards are based on current practices.

Work Sampling

• Uses random observations to determine the amount of time consumed by each element of a job or duty
• It helps determine the percentage each activity consumes in a whole work process

Work Sampling, Factors in Determining Sample Size

• The amount of time the smallest activity consumes
• The degree of tolerance required
• The required reliability of results

Work Sampling Advantages

• High accuracy if random observations are made
• Services of a highly trained analyst not required
• Reasonable installation cost
• Results can be gathered quickly
• Well-suited for long-cycle work.

Work Sampling Disadvantages

• Employees may perform differently when observed
• Not suitable for procedures with numerous minute activities
• Production records are needed to set standards
• Complex enough to require a trained analyst
• Some elements can be difficult for employees to understand

Time Study

• Uses a stopwatch to determine amount of time each element of work process takes
• A time study sheet documents task completion times

Time Study Technique Steps

• Break down job into its elements
• Record the time consumed by each work process element on a time study sheet, repeating for several cycles
• The time consumed dictates appropriate standards

Time Technique Used

• Continuous Timing
• Lapsed Timing

Time Study Advantages

• Development of accurate standards
• More accurate when measuring work processes comprised of minute elements
• Standards readily used for assessing the performance of employees

Time Study Disadvantages

• Measurement often requires trained analyst
• Office employees may react negatively to stopwatch
• Not useful for measuring time-consuming elements

Micromotion Study

• Makes a visual recording for determining inefficiencies and time consumed by an element.
• A microchrometer is a timing device attached to the recording camera

Micromotion Study Advantages

• Extremely accurate
• Well suited for analyzing the most minute elements of a work process
• It simplifies work processes because wasted motions appear on the recording.

Micromotion Study Disadvantages

• Can be more costly than, other techniques
• Its use is limited to high-volume, costly work processes
• Requires a trained analyst

Predetermine Standard Time Data

• Purchasing performance data determines the amount of time to complete each element

Predetermine Standard Time Data Steps

• Break down the work process into minute elements
• Analyze elements in terms of motion involved
• Compare each work process motion with purchased data to determine the appropriate standard.
• Sum the standard items for each of the motions to find the standard for entire process

Predetermine Standard Time Data Advantages

• Results in Accurate standards
• Employees tend to accept results readily due to specificity
• Application of the process is fairly rapid

Predetermine Standard Time Data Disadvantages

• This technique is Costly
• It is not suitable for certain types of office operations

Performance Leveling

• Adjusting work standards considers work processes, employee differences, and fatigue

Work Standard

• Based on data collected through work measurement processes.
• Should not be exclusively attainable by most productive workers
• Shouldn't be attainable by nearly every employee with little effort

Work Standard Advantages

• They increase employee efficiency
• They inform employees of the expected production levels
• They assist manager in making personnel decisions
• They make less supervision necessary
• They provide the basis for incentive wage systems.
• They improve morale

Work Standard Types

• Quantity Standards
  • Expressed in units of output per unit of time
• Quality Standards
  • Measures accuracy and acceptability
• Descriptive Standards
  • What is acceptable in descriptive nature of something like office furniture