More than 35 years ago I was part of a HUD-funded national demonstration program that tested the use of time standards for maintenance workers in public housing. The program was based on what was then referred to as the “British Model.” In those days the use of time standards was routine in the UK and their use was credited with vastly improving efficiency in housing maintenance operations.
The basic concept was this: bring in trained industrial engineers to observe maintenance workers and calculate a typical or average time to accomplish a specific task — say, for example, replacing a toilet. Do this for all or most of the routine maintenance work tasks at a given property. Next, use the time standards to determine manpower needs, schedule workers, monitor their performance and even compensate them (although this last part wasn’t fully implemented in the demonstration).
In the program, a group of British experts in time standards teamed up with American consultants with expertise in public housing management to implement the process in six middle- to large-size public housing agencies (PHAs). I don’t recall the amount of money HUD put into the program but it was substantial. When the demonstration was completed there was considerable debate as to whether it was a success or a failure. For me, the fact that few if any PHAs adopted the methodology (even those in the demonstration) spoke volumes.
That isn’t to say, however, that nothing was learned and nothing was gained. (The entire point of a “demonstration program” is to try something out that isn’t a guaranteed success and learn from it – something we do far too little of in government these days, in my opinion). The American consulting team that I was a part of came away with a number of conclusions, but perhaps the most profound was that there were many, many basic organizational improvements that needed to be made in the maintenance operations of the selected agencies before time standards would be of much value. As one veteran consultant said at the time, “We can put in a $50,000 inventory management software program for the agency, but maybe they should start with some two-dollar locks for the storeroom doors.”
Over the years I have thought often about what we did right and what we did wrong in that demonstration program. I also marvel at how widespread the use of time standards is in other industries today. Don’t believe me? Well, the next time you use a drive-thru for that cup of coffee or burger look for the screen showing the employees the orders in green (on-time) or red (past time) and you’ll see what I mean. Time standards are everywhere – from the car repair shop to the cable television installer to the plumber and electrician. But in our industry, time standards aren’t widely used. There are a number of reasons for this, not the least of which is that apartment communities are not as easily standardized as a Starbucks or a McDonalds. Consequently, the cost to develop and implement meaningful time standards is prohibitive. However, in my view, we may be entering an age where those barriers are lowered, if not completely removed.
Central to this change is the advent of property management software that has the ability to track work tasks and the time spent on those tasks and to generate at least preliminary “time averages.” The key will be the use of these averages. If maintenance workers think the standards will be used punitively, many will resist them or find ways to work around them, negating their value. However, if time standard are properly formulated and used, they do have the potential to greatly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of maintenance operations.
In the coming months NCHM intends to offer a webinar on the subject. In it we will discuss how housing managers can develop basic time standards in collaboration with maintenance staff and how these standards can be used to the benefit of both the workers and the property. To assist us in developing the webinar we would love to hear about any experiences you have had – good or bad – with time standards, either in the housing management arena or elsewhere. You can email me at pvotto@nchm.org. Try to get it done in less than five minutes if you can!