Training employees is a useful business management paradigm which helps optimize employee productivity by giving fresh insight, new skills or an opportunity to hone existing skills. Many companies mandate employee participation in a set number of "man days" of training every month or year. Other businesses mandate a certain number of man days be spent over the entirety of their company without stipulating any individual's participation. Knowing how to calculate man hours allows you to effectively address these training requirements.

Calculating Individual Man Days

Decide what constitutes a "man day." In most cases, a "man day" is eight hours, although that is up to a company to decide. A company may decide that a two-hour lecture counts as half a day or a quarter of a day. For a running example, say eight hours is considered a "man day" and any fraction thereof is an equivalent fraction of a man day. For example two hours would be a quarter of a man day.

Look up the employee's participation in training seminars and events over a given time frame. Assume the employee participated in eight seminars, each lasting four hours, and 12 two-hour lectures.

Calculate the total hours of training by multiplying the number of seminars by the hours per seminar. In the example:

Total hours = (8 seminars * 4 hours/seminar) + (12 lectures * 2 hours/lecture) Total hours = 32 hours + 24 hours Total hours = 56 hours

Divide the total hours by the number of hours per man day. In the example:

Total man days = 56 hours / 8 hours per man day Total man days = 7.5 man days

Calculating Group Man Days

Check the number of employees participating in an event and the number of hours in the event. As an example, say 30 employees participate in a training symposium lasting four hours each day for three days.

Calculate the total group hours by multiplying the number of employees, days and hours per day. In the example:

Total group hours = 30 employees * 3 days/employee * 4 hours/day Total group hours = 30 * 3 * 4 hours Total group hours = 360 hours

Divide the total group hours by the number of hours per man day. In the example:

Total group man days = 360 hours / 8 hours per man day Total group man days = 45 man days