Pace Productivity
Pace Productivity is a Toronto-based consulting firm founded in 1989 that uses its proprietary TimeCorder device to run employee time-and-motion studies for enterprise clients, helping organizations reclaim approximately one hour per employee per day on priority activities.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1989
- HeadquartersToronto, Canada
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Pace Productivity does
Pace Productivity Inc. is a Toronto-based, privately-held consulting firm founded in 1989 by Mark Ellwood that specializes in employee time and motion studies for enterprise clients. The firm's core offering is a 6-8 week consulting engagement built around its proprietary TimeCorder device, a portable stopwatch-style instrument invented by Ellwood that allows employees to anonymously record time spent on pre-coded activities over a two-week period. The methodology is differentiated by an employee-owned data model and anonymity guarantees that yield a 94% participation rate, far above typical compliance-driven time study results. Pace leverages a proprietary database of over 440,000 hours of time-use data collected across 31 countries to support benchmarking and process improvement recommendations targeting an outcome of approximately one extra hour per employee per day on top priority activities.
The firm operates a sales-led, direct consulting model with no software platform, API, recurring subscription, or channel partner network. Engagements are sold and delivered to enterprise clients across banking (Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Canada), utilities (National Grid), technology/life sciences (Agilent Technologies), and government (Ontario Works). Specialized sub-offerings include a Sales Productivity Program aimed at moving outside sales representatives from approximately 22% to 30%+ selling time, plus published research reports (Bottleneck Busting, Wasted Time At Work, sales and small business banker studies) that serve as thought-leadership and top-of-funnel marketing. The company is founder-owned, has 1-10 employees, has not raised institutional capital, and has no public listing.
Distribution is entirely direct: Mark Ellwood, the sole named senior figure, presents at international time-use conferences, publishes content via LinkedIn and Twitter, and closes enterprise engagements via website inquiry and referral. Recent positioning (2025 website and research updates) emphasizes identifying where AI can scale business without creating digital clutter, suggesting an attempt to attach the firm's diagnostic methodology to the AI transformation consulting conversation, though no AI/ML product has been disclosed.
Pace Productivity firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Pace Productivity
- Legal name
- Pace Productivity Inc.
- Website
- https://paceproductivity.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1989
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Pace Productivity is a Toronto-based consulting firm founded in 1989 that uses its proprietary TimeCorder device to run employee time-and-motion studies for enterprise clients, helping organizations reclaim approximately one hour per employee per day on priority activities.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Pace Productivity industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Productivity Consulting
- NAICS
- Human Resources Consulting Services (541612), Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services (5412)
- SIC
- Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Time Management & Personal Productivity (EDABAMAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Time Management, Productivity & Workplace Tools (EDAAAKAG), Workforce Management & Scheduling (BPACAPAI)
Keywords
Where Pace Productivity is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Toronto
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Pace Productivity business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Time Study Consulting Services: Professional consulting engagements conducting employee time and motion studies. A typical time study takes 6-8 weeks and includes: confirming project objectives, determining activity lists, selecting participants, conducting orientation sessions, two-week tracking period with TimeCorder devices, data analysis, report writing with recommendations, and management presentation. The company shows organizations how employees can gain an extra hour per day on top priority activities through process improvement, best practices benchmarking, and identification of redundant activities.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels6 records
Pace Productivity product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Pace Productivity is a consulting firm that conducts employee time and motion studies using its proprietary TimeCorder® electronic device. Employees anonymously track their time on pre-coded activities over a two-week period, after which the firm analyzes the data and delivers recommendations intended to help organizations reclaim an extra hour per employee per day on top-priority activities and identify where AI and automation can add value.
Product overview
Pace Productivity is a consulting firm that offers a unified methodology built around its proprietary TimeCorder® electronic device. The core TimeCorder product is a stopwatch-style device that enables anonymous employee time tracking over two-week periods, achieving a 94% participation rate. This device powers both their general Time Study Consulting service (a 6-8 week engagement) and their specialized Sales Productivity Program. The company also publishes research reports including Bottleneck Busting, Wasted Time At Work, and industry-specific studies on sales reps and small business bankers. All offerings are delivered through consulting engagements, with no software platform or API product.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- TimeCorder: Proprietary electronic time-tracking device that allows employees to anonymously track their work activities. The TimeCorder is used in time studies to measure how employees spend their time, achieving 94% participation rates. It is described as simple, private, and superior to smartphone apps for diagnostic time studies.
Products and services
- TimeCorder® A proprietary portable electronic stopwatch-style device that employees use to anonymously track time spent on pre-coded activities during a two-week study, enabling organizations to measure how work hours are allocated and identify productivity improvement opportunities.
- Time Study Consulting A 6-8 week consulting engagement that uses the TimeCorder methodology to measure employee time allocation, identify non-value-added activities, and deliver recommendations for process improvement, staffing models, and productivity gains of one extra hour per employee per day.
- Sales Productivity Program A specialized consulting program for outside sales teams that combines TimeCorder tracking, opportunity identification, training, process improvement, and ongoing coaching to help sales representatives increase pure selling time from approximately 22% to 30% or more of the workweek.
Quantifiable outcome
- 94% employee participation rate
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Pace Productivity
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Pace Productivity technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Pace Productivity partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Recent moves3 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Pace Productivity competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- RescueTime: Software-based automatic time-tracking tool for knowledge workers, providing analytics on how time is spent across applications and activities. Comparable as an emerging alternative to the TimeCorder's manual methodology, focused on individual productivity rather than enterprise diagnostics.
- Cornerstone OnDemand: Talent and workforce development platform with analytics on employee productivity and skills. Comparable as an enterprise workforce-productivity software vendor, though focused on learning/talent rather than time-and-motion studies.
- ActivTrak: Workforce analytics and productivity software that passively measures how employees spend time across digital tools. Comparable as a modern software-based alternative to manual time-and-motion studies, focused on continuous monitoring rather than two-week diagnostic engagements.
Broad incumbents
- Deloitte Consulting: Global consulting arm with Human Capital and Operations Transformation practices that advise enterprises on workforce productivity and process improvement. Comparable as a potential channel or acquirer of niche time-study IP.
- Mercer: Global consulting firm focused on health, wealth, and career, including workforce productivity and HR advisory. Comparable as an incumbent consulting buyer of workforce/time-management insights, but with a much broader portfolio.
- Korn Ferry: Large global organizational consulting firm with HR and workforce advisory practices. Comparable as a management consulting buyer/partner for HR and workforce productivity engagements, though it operates at much larger scale and across broader HR topics.
- Bain & Company: Global management consulting firm with operations and organization practices addressing workforce effectiveness and process redesign. Comparable as a competitor or partner for time-and-motion based productivity engagements.
- Gallup: Workplace analytics and employee research firm producing benchmark studies on workforce engagement and performance. Comparable in producing proprietary time/engagement benchmarks sold to enterprises, though Gallup focuses on engagement rather than time-and-motion diagnostics.
- McKinsey & Company: Global management consulting firm with productivity and operations practices that address how employees spend their time. Comparable as a buyer or distribution partner for empirical workforce-productivity diagnostics, but operating at vastly larger scale.
Direct peers
- FranklinCovey: Global productivity and time-management consulting and training firm (The 7 Habits, Focus, etc.) that helps organizations and individuals improve workplace effectiveness. Comparable to Pace Productivity in targeting organizational productivity improvement, though delivered primarily through training/coaching rather than empirical time-study methodology.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Pace Productivity social profiles
Digital presencePace Productivity financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Pace Productivity leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Pace Productivity funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Pace Productivity M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Pace Productivity
What does Pace Productivity do?
Pace Productivity is a consulting firm that conducts employee time and motion studies using its proprietary TimeCorder® electronic device. Employees anonymously track their time on pre-coded activities over a two-week period, after which the firm analyzes the data and delivers recommendations intended to help organizations reclaim an extra hour per employee per day on top-priority activities and identify where AI and automation can add value.
Is Pace Productivity a public or private company?
Pace Productivity is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Pace Productivity founded?
Pace Productivity was founded in 1989. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Pace Productivity based?
Pace Productivity is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Pace Productivity make money?
One revenue line is on record: time Study Consulting Services.
Who are Pace Productivity's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are RescueTime, Cornerstone OnDemand and ActivTrak. Broad incumbents are Deloitte Consulting, Mercer, Korn Ferry, Bain & Company, Gallup and McKinsey & Company. FranklinCovey is listed as a direct peer.
Does Pace Productivity have an API?
No public API is recorded for Pace Productivity.
What industry is Pace Productivity in?
Pace Productivity's product category is Productivity Consulting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDABAMAF, Time Management & Personal Productivity, with a secondary code of EDAAAKAG, Time Management, Productivity & Workplace Tools. Its NAICS code is 541612 and its SIC code is 8742.