ABSTRACT

The issue of time management is very important in any organization, therefore this study focuses on the effect of time management on employee performance at Fan Milk Ghana Limited; to explore the nature of time management, to examine the extent to which time management affects employee performance and to identify the measures to improve on the nature of time management. The study adopted a quantitative approach because it gives an advantage of describing the respondent’s personal characteristics, opinions, attitude, perceptions and preferences. The key source of data was a structured questionnaire for the staffs of Fan Milk Ghana Limited. The total number of respondents was 80 out of 150 personnel. The data analysis method used was statistical package for social sciences (SPSS version 20), it was further analyzed using tables and figures. The findings showed that Time Management enables the organization studied to survive competition and get more business. It was concluded that there is a significant and positive relationship between time management practices and employees performance. The researcher recommends that Fan Milk Ghana Limited should adhere strictly to effective time management in order to provide quality services to their customers to gain competitive advantage and be successful.

SECTION ONE INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background to the study

The historical backdrop presents that time management began with industrial revolution (Nayab, 2011). The conception of time management has advanced gradually yet transitory from the classical conception of time management to the advanced conception of time management which helps to control over one’s life and perform tasks successfully. The subsequent improvement and the industrial revolution empower people to control nature for their advantage. Huge machines and industrial facilities knocked off the reliance on climate, the deployment of artificial lightening and innovation of electricity rendering the concept of day hours irrelevant.

Until the mid-eighteenth century, farmers, artisans (seamstresses, carpenters) and anglers (fishermen) led simple lives and the output of their work relied on natural forces, for instance, the sun and the wind, with the sun and the moon determined time keeping. During that period, time management depended upon natural factors, for instance, atmosphere, tides and seasons. For example, holidays during stormy seasons, daylight determined working hours and productivity and job performance depended on the ups and downs of the growing season (Nayab, 2011).

In assistance of the historical backdrop of time management Nayab (2011) commented that in the nineteenth century, more attentions were accorded to the concept of time due to these reasons; according to Nayab (2011), first of all, the advancement in the industrial revolution progressed to an industrial trade base from an agricultural economy and this led to the

necessity to manage time effectively as timely trading of goods was the only key to the path of success in the new world. Moreover, passage of communication, improvement of postal services and the subsequent spread of railroads all required specific time keeping which raised the benefits of time management and its relationship to job performance and effectiveness (Arnold & Pulich, 2004).

The credit for setting up the advantages of time management goes to Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson introduced a clock with a dial with three hands indicating seconds, minutes and hours to plan personal tasks (Nayab, 2011). As per Nayab (2011) Benjamin Franklin’s (1748) celebrated perspective of time included, “Time is Money”; “Time is the stuffs of which life is made”. Inspirations from these leaders and their thought of elevation, the world has considered that promptness or timeliness signifies maturity and the child’s habit of wearing watch identifies the maturity of a child. Workers in the nineteenth century did not have flexible schedules and businessmen were comfortable in managing time. Aside three hours of their business duties, the rest of the day was spent on social commitments (Sowa, 2002).

In the twentieth century, history holds it that the management of time ran parallel to management science evolution (Taylor, 1910). Fredrick W. Taylor’s scientific methodology included shop management, which focused on the standard of time management. He credited the reason for inefficiency and poor performance of his employees to the lack of incentives which made them work poorly. He paid workers for the completion of their goals or tasks as he established specific targets for the work. Modern time management approaches had been influenced by Taylor’s scientific management (Nayab, 2011).

According to Azablet and Almaz (2015), the concept of time management is a dependent variable to every successful business in our world today. Time management is a reliable key to know that management decisions and actions taken by organizations are appropriate and aimed at increasing productivity level. Time management has developed with time to become an investment in organizations now; it optimizes resources for better use; Time management generates more gains or adds value (Azablet & Almaz, 2015). According to Philpot (2011), time management is the tool that helps individuals to plan and benefit more from the use of time. Time management is a tool that began from the industrial revolution. Time management is a worry which is essential to job performance as it gears to optimize resources for the accomplishment of set tasks, objectives or priorities.

The activities of a person’s task must be principal to the degree of self-control over time and that is both necessary and essential. Interruptions impose greater pressure on jobs that involve regular contact with others than works of solitary nature. Also newly employed workers and workers with newly assigned jobs would undoubtedly encounter the evil impacts of unpredictable events and conflicting priorities than anyone working in an already set up position, where consistency and routine are customary. The ability of employees to identify priorities in the jobs is a big worry to them (Njagi & Malel, 2012).