Time study advice needed.

12 Comments

1. AnonymousApril 14,2025 at 10:59PM UTC

   I want to give you something to think about, but please do not take offense as I do not mean to come across that way.

   I am in a management position where I have to give a performance evaluation for a long-time employee. Her past evaluations were all great, but that's because the previous manager never gave a bad review.

   This employee needs a PIP and probably also needs to be fired due to incompetence. I know she is going to be shocked when she scores lower than she ever has in the past, and I know she will be upset.

   Sometimes management styles change which could cause evaluation values to change as well.

2. AnonymousApril 16,2025 at 12:23PM UTC

   This inappropriately positive review happened with someone who recently retired where I work. She had been with a company for 15 years; since she was about 52 or so. Her previous manager never upskilled her or held her to task or to a standard for anything. She had an inflated sense of worth, was months behind in ALL her work - and she worked on financial reporting. I handled some of the responsibilities she was supposed to, as did others, but she (hopefully different from yours) walked around badmouthing anyone who had to do her job. Everyone was crazy glad to see her retire.

3. Colleen HansonApril 17,2025 at 2:47PM UTC

   I agree with this 100%! I once worked for a company where a certain employee, who had been with the company for 20+ years, had become so stuck in her ways that there was NO room for change, in her opinion. The owner/manager had no clue how to deal with her, and I think quite honestly he was a bit intimidated by her. She refused to welcome any new changes, refused to implement new technologies and was overall a bully towards younger employees and those who had not been there as long as she had. She eventually (FINALLY) left when the owners son took over the business. Her bullying and "poor me, I didn't know" attitude did not work with him. He made many progressive changes to the company to move it forward in what was a very competitive industry and she completely refused to get on board. Her famous line was "If it aint broke, I aint fixin' it." It was broken, and the company was close to shutting down as it had not moved forward in over a decade. The new manager very quickly put her on a PIP and started writing her up for insubbordination. This was foreign to her, as she had always "ruled the roost" and done what she wanted. She was FINALLY expected to adhere to the same rules and processes that the rest of us were expected to adhere to, finally required to complete her own work and do so in a timely manner, she was required to use the new technologies that she had flat out refused to learn under the old manager and she was expected to abide by the work day schedules the rest of had to (no more coming and going as she pleased).

   She left 6 months into the change in management and tried to file an "age discrimination" suit against the company saying that she had been "bullied and pushed out" due to her age. No, she was finally forced, by a manager who was not intimidated by her, to do her job and do it properly. Needless to say, she did not have a case and it was dismissed very quickly.

   I would encourage the poster to take a good look at herself and see where she may be lacking or where she has possibly become complacent and do her best to get on board with the companies expectations.

4. AnonymousApril 14,2025 at 11:10PM UTC

   You are correct that you are now on track to be terminated. The question is how long do you have?

   The best play to stay as long as possible is to be supportive of each request. No push back and no "how do I do this".......you simply put in every ounce of effort in tracking your work, estimating your time and playing this PIP out.

   You have nothing to lose. Try and track 8 hours of effort daily. Get as granular as possible and be as cooperative as you possibly can.

   In the meantime start cutting your budget to bare bones. Start making plans to take odd jobs and temp work. Start networking and letting everyone know you are job searching.

   Try and get ahead of your termination to survive.

   Good luck.

5. AnonymousApril 15,2025 at 3:50AM UTC

   I had an employee who was in a similar position. Her job was very basic support, and as time went on many of her original tasks were automated or otherwise streamlined. I tried to get her to learn new skills and she just refused. So I was paying a full-time employee to perform less than half of a job, while the higher-level workload was overwhelming. It was pretty stressful all the way around. She said she was going to retire so I let her coast for a couple of years in appreciation of many years of service. Then her retirement plans extended another year because her husband decided he wasn't ready to retire and she didn't want to sit at home by herself all day. That last year was brutal on all of us. If she'd attempted to put it off again, we had a plan in place to force her to step up her game or, more likely, be put on a PIP to get her out. I'm thankful it didn't come to that, but it was really close. It sounds like it's too late to redeem this situation, but if you end up in another job that slowly dwindles to less than a full-time role, I would strongly encourage you to be proactive about learning new skills, finding ways you can continue to bring value to the work your office/colleagues are responsible for and making sure they aren't drowning while you are struggling to fill your days with productive activities. It sucks, but it's the reality of a lot of lower-level jobs. We don't even have a true entry-level position in my office at this point because we need people working at a higher level - all of the entry-level work has been automated.

6. AnonymousApril 16,2025 at 3:39PM UTC

   Ask what specific routine tasks you do not do timely. Have your manager and HR together walk through a plan to hit certain milestones each week. You cannot hit a target that you do know what the target is. If you believe ageism is a factor bring into the equation a conversation with an external lawyer about this. Hang in there if you can and if you can do some extra time to get things done for now. Good luck.

7. MidwestMaven456April 18,2025 at 12:37PM UTC

   Having had some not so good reviews, I understand it is hard to see yourself as others do. We can all improve what we do and how we do it. FYI you know how long it takes you to do your work because you do it every day. You just might not want to admit you could have been doing more.

   They are paying you, and you need a job. Doing things quickly and efficiently makes them want to keep you. You admit you don't have enough work to fill a full day. Work on doing that all better and faster so they know you are worth the money. And when this review happens again, as it always does, don't hide that you're finished with assignments. Tell them you can take on more responsibility because you're done with your work.

8. AnonymousApril 18,2025 at 7:28PM UTC

   I honestly wasn't expecting a reply like this, with the rest of the thread giving the same advice. It is refreshing to see as you are providing sound advice.

   I have nothing else to add, as you hit the nail on the head. I only hope OP is considering this.

9. AyianApril 18,2025 at 12:56PM UTC

   Not that it helps with your situation itself, but there's an app called Super productivity where you can put on what you're working on and track time to individual tasks, allowing you to actually record when you get into your email and when you move on to other things, with daily and weekly reporting features.

10. AnonymousApril 20,2025 at 12:46PM UTC

    I’ve been on the managers end of this scenario. When a manager leaves and a new one is brought it, expectations change. The way that the new manager works will change. The expectations from leadership changes - your manager is likely being held accountable at a higher level than their predecessor. And the reality of this situation is that this manager might want to bring in their own people. That doesn’t mean you can’t come back from being on a PIP. Understanding you’re not happy and want to leave anyway - take this opportunity to try and learn a different way to do thing. What I would encourage you to do (for your own sake), is meet with your manager and have a heart to heart. Tell them how you’re feeling, tell them you’re open to making changes (even if you’re 2 feet out the door) and express curiosity as to why the changes - understanding why they are asking so much change of you might help you also be part of the solution - be open to feedback (even if you disagree they might see something that you don’t). The delivery of this message is important - you want to come across as wanting to do the best you can, do what’s best for the company, and want to embrace the new direction. At the end of the day, some of these companies are so short sighted on how to handle employees that their approach is absolutely atrocious. I wish you the best of luck - sometimes a new job is just what you needed. You’ll likely get a salary bump and move into the right position in your next role. Btw, I left the corporate world because of how companies see the short sightedness, the changing rules, the ridiculous nature of how petty my HR partners were. Good luck, it’s short term so don’t let it pull you down.

11. AnonymousApril 22,2025 at 3:26AM UTC

    I think the key is to estimate, not try to get it exact. You can also set aside 15 minutes at the start of the day time-blocking according to your biggest priorities, and the last 15 minutes of the day reflecting on what you checked of the list.

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