The Productivity Pro® Blog by Laura Stack - Time Management, Getting Things Done, How to Be More Productive

“Loyalty, hard work and diligence are all great assets, but leadership today wants to know what your personal contribution is to cost reduction, increase in sales…what’s the return for your hours put in, and your salary and benefits that they pay you for that work?” — Terry Humphrey, American business coach.

“It’s really up to each of us to make certain that our personal and professional value is realized by those around us… Never assume that people know that kind of information.” — Sheryl Sookman, Principal, The MeetingConnection

“You possess personal capital. It is comprised of your time, effort, knowledge and skills. Investing that capital wisely yields a return on your investment. The higher your return on investment (your ROI), the more profit you earn.” — Nan Russell, American business writer and performance coach.

The concept of personal return on investment (ROI) is one that’s been steadily gaining currency in the business world over the past few years. While the term can be defined in several ways, in common usage it’s just what it sounds like: the investment potential that you, as an employee, offer to your company. Now, I realize that it may seem somewhat degrading to be treated (and especially to treat yourself) as a mere investment…but to some extent, that’s precisely what you are.

And like any other resource, you’re only as good as your ROI. The harsh realities of survival in the Great Recession have hammered this point home to employers and employees alike. As a modern worker, you’ve got to be hardnosed about your ultimate value to your employer. You ignore this at your peril.

Elsewhere in the business world, ROI is defined as the profit realized from a resource minus the original and ongoing investment. It’s no different with personal ROI. In addition to your pay, the company is probably providing you with various benefits, as well as regular training and/or education, experience in your field, and personal stability. What are you providing in return? The company is pumping resources and cash into you, so how are repaying them?

You’d better be returning a substantial multiple of your investment on a consistent basis—and more importantly, you have to be able to prove that you are. Before you can do that effectively, you’ll need to sit down and determine what you bring to the table. Perform a tough, even brutal self-assessment of your value, focusing on these factors:

• What are you really good at?
• What makes you special?
• What distinguishes you from your peers?
• How do you personally help the company achieve its corporate goals?

As a business resource, your value is dollar-driven. A good rule of thumb is that you should be able to prove that you’ve earned or saved the company at least three times your base salary every single year.

In some jobs, proving your ROI is easy. If you’re a salesman who’s just landed a $5,000,000 account, it’s easy to point to that accomplishment. But not every job directly results in corporate income. For example, what if you work in Human Resources or Customer Service? Well, you’ll need to dig deeper for your provable ROI, by showing how deft you are at hiring profitable, productive workers, or maintaining intra-departmental harmony, or soothing the feathers of irate customers—whatever the case may be for your particular position.

If you ever find yourself coming up short, you must be willing to invest your personal capital, especially your time and energy, in order to increase your personal ROI and thereby make yourself more attractive. In addition to working hard, fast, and smart, don’t hesitate to further your education, get more training, or institute new systems to maximize efficiency and performance in your job or organization.

I recommend a recalculation of your ROI every six months or so. Be reasonably creative about what you’ve accomplished, and don’t leave out anything that might be relevant. Do you have a tendency to finish projects early and under budget? Include that in your assessment, because you’ve saved the company money. Are you good with clients, able to develop a positive relationship that lasts for years? Then you’ve earned the company money, because that’s where profits come from: multiple sales to repeat customers (at a good margin, of course).

You may not be able to provide a specific dollar amount or percentage for your personal ROI, but you should be able to demonstrate the fact that, without you, the company would be worse off.

And never forget this: you can’t assume that anyone will automatically realize your worth. So in addition to being able to prove your ROI when called upon, you need to be proactive about stepping forward and demonstrating that hiring you was a positive investment decision. This is especially true if you feel you’re undervalued. As the saying goes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease; but be careful here, because obnoxious squeakiness can get you the boot instead.

Demonstrate by your actions and initiative that you’re worthy. Then, be politely assertive, though not aggressive, in pointing out your personal ROI to those who matter in your organization—so that you can maximize your value both to the company and to yourself.

“I frequently find it odd that so many people need to squeeze their working hours into a narrow timeframe, and I hope that modern jobs will start to change this.” — Alexander Swallow, poll respondent, U.K .

“Early morning—there are few others around, the phone doesn’t ring, there’s little clutter in the working memory, and the imagination works better. Psychologically, there’s more enthusiasm at the beginning of the day.” — Alan S. Hill, poll respondent, Australia

“It always varies for me, but when I DO feel productive, no matter what time of the day it is, I will capitalize on that by 1) Making sure I’m having fun, which will 2) Lower my stress level and 3) Make me feel more hopeful and creative and productive. ” — Dr. Trina Hess, poll respondent, U.S.A.

Back in mid-May 2011, I posted a simple poll on my Linked In page, asking, “During which period of the day do you feel most productive?” By the time the poll closed on May 31, it had garnered a total of 148 votes, with 18 comments clarifying the positions of those respondents. You can see some of the comments in the quotes section above, and the rest by checking the poll results here.

I have to say, I found the results to be rather intriguing! First of all, I was interested to see that 44 of the individuals who voted (about 30%) did not include their gender in their profiles. It’s hard to say what that signifies, precisely, but I like to think of it as a positive indication that gender matters less now that it ever has in the business world. Otherwise, the results are split fairly evenly between men and women, at a ratio of 56 to 46 (55% vs. 45%). About half of the respondents are managers, business owners, and C-level executives. Age-wise, 34 respondents are in the 18-29 range, 17 are aged 30-36, 15 are aged 37-44, and 20 people are 45+. The rest (N = 62) did not share their ages.

While the results of the main question are all over the board, the respondents overwhelmingly selected morning as their most productive time of day. In fact, each of the two morning categories individually received more votes than the rest of the day combined. Early Morning got 68 votes, 48% of the total, while Mid-Morning received 44 votes (30%). The remaining tallies were Mid-Day, 11 (7%); Afternoon, 9 (6%); and Evening 16 (11%). Just after lunch is apparently the least productive period for my respondents, as just about any office worker could tell you! However, productivity seems to get its second wind by the time evening rolls around.

In terms of gender, the demographics are fairly consistent for all five categories. Men slightly outnumber women in all timeframes except Mid-Morning, when the ladies have a slight edge. Seniority breakdown in the morning categories is very similar, though there’s some variation within the other categories. It’s worth noting that every owner and C-Suite exec who responded chose morning as their most productive period, as did the majority of managers.

The information provided by the 18 commenters is especially revealing. Most chose Early Morning or Mid-Morning in the poll, though three did not vote at all. Perhaps this was because the poll allowed only one answer; repeatedly, commenters pointed out that they have more than one productive period during the day. Most reported an early-morning productivity spurt, when they’re most enthusiastic, followed by another burst later in the day. Their initial productivity phase is when they do their most challenging work; other times during the day are saves for things like meetings, taking care of rote tasks, and researching.

Several respondents emphasized the value of getting plenty of sleep, though some clearly don’t follow standard sleep patterns. A number of the Early Morning commenters admitted that they’re most productive very early in the morning indeed; some start as early as 1 AM! This makes sense, since it’s a great way to knock things off your to-do list before the rest of the world wakes up and complicates your life.

The locations of the 18 commenters also drove home to me just how global the Internet really is. Eight of the commenters are from the U.S.; three each are from Australia and India; two are from the U.K.; one is from Russia; and one is from Canada. I find this a revealing sample of Linked In professionals, at least those willing to comment on this particular poll.

I’m gratified and fascinated by the results of my poll, and I’d like to thank you if you were one of the respondents. If you weren’t, I’ll love to hear your answer to my poll question: During which period of the day do you feel most productive? Drop me a line and let me know!

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), travels extensively. She shares tips on packing for maximum efficiency. (C) 2011 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved http://www.TheProductivityPro.com