The facts are in and most employees including the self-proclaimed “workaholics” generally far overestimate the amount of time that they spend at work. According to the American Time Use Survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, American workers classified as exempt are woefully ignorant of the actual time they spend in the office.
Human Perception
Whether the effect is due to an inflated sense of self-importance or merely to a poor accounting ability, most workers do not put in the time that they claim. The effect is not limited to the employed. People regularly overestimate the time they spend doing routine things and underestimate the time they sleep. It seems that the human psyche is simply bent on touting its ability to work long hours despite all evidence to the contrary.
Monitoring Time, Work & Productivity
While it may seem inconsequential how many hours an employee perceives that they have worked, there are some practical ramifications. In particular, a worker who believes that they are working 80 hours per week will make significantly different choices as to their work habits than one who believes that they are working only 55 hours. These choices include longer lunch breaks, more personal time taken, etc.
Not remarkably, hourly workers are quite cognizant of the hours they spend at work. It is the presumably more skilled, exempt workers who do not realize the amount that they typically waste while working these “insane” schedules. Physical or electronic time cards will suffice for non-exempt employees but employers have an even greater need for determining the productivity of their exempt employees.
HRIS & Real Time Management
Many companies endeavor to use self-monitored techniques to regulate the productivity of their exempt employees. It is a noble effort as most employees are relatively honest about their work routine. More importantly, if properly implemented, it reveals to the employee the amount of time that they actually spend “working” as opposed to being distracted with non-work activities.
Unfortunately, this solution is ultimately self-defeating as the employees do not really have an objective sense of how much they work. The problem is simply better solved with an HRIS solution.
For an employer, the real benefit of an HRIS is that it can monitor work activity in a non-intrusive manner. By simply asking exempt employees to connect via the internet when they start and end meetings, sales calls and other company business, a company can get a far better appreciation of the effort being exerted by the employee. The same applies when the employee is answering emails, making travel plans and accessing other company resources. In short, it is an excellent way to monitor employee productivity while not seeming to do so.
