You’ve probably heard the popular phrase, “Dance like nobody’s watching,” but the opposite trend has gained momentum in the U.S. workplace. Threats of layoffs, the rise of surveillance tools and concerns over the effectiveness of remote work have led to “productivity theater” and “the mouse shuffle,” in which employees work like their employers are watching.
‘Work Like Everybody’s Watching’
Last year Visier surveyed 1,000 U.S. based full-time employees to better understand their need to “play productive” and the factors that drive decision-making in the workplace. They found that when businesses pressure employees to perform, workers react by prioritizing tasks that make them appear productive and visible to management instead of impactful work.
This troubling pattern has emerged because employees feel pressured to “look busy” instead of “being busy.” They want to prove they’re working by constantly moving their mouse, appearing online by keeping their laptop screen awake or prioritizing tasks that make them appear productive and visible to their organization as opposed to actually working. On the surface, this pattern might not seem harmful, but continuing to take on “visible” tasks for the sake of appearing productive is a productivity killer that threats a company’s efficiency and bottom line.
Even more troubling is a study by BambooHR in June of this year that reveals productivity theater is still alive and well in the 2024 workplace. The results show that visibility is more important than actual productivity. Over 79% of in-office employees and 88% of remote workers say they must use performative tactics to show they’re working. In that study, a quarter of executives actually admitted they hoped for employee turnover when implementing recent return-to-office policies.
‘Fauxductivity’: A Toxic Culture Of Performative Work
Even more shocking, a new study from Workhuman uncovers what they call “fauxductivity”—or fake productivity, highlighting how misaligned perceptions and top-down pressures are creating a toxic culture of performative work.
According to their findings, the majority of employees (67%) deny faking activity. But almost half of managers (48%) say it’s a common issue on their team. The biggest head scratcher, though, is that it’s happening among managers and the C-suite executives at higher rates. Additional key findings include:
- 37% of managers and 38% of C-suite executives admit to faking activity, versus just 32% of individual contributors, higher than the 33% average of all respondents and 32% of non-managers.
- Top reasons for faking productivity across the board include better work-life balance, appeasing management and burnout.
- Of the managers who admit to faking activity, 69% say faking activity is a common issue on their team versus 37% of managers who do not fake activity.
- Over 50% of respondents feel pressured to respond immediately to messages and be available for after-hours meetings.
- 54% of disengaged employees report they do the bare minimum to get through the day.
What’s behind “fauxductivity”? The majority of managers blame either distractions (56%) or burnout/low well-being (53%) for faking, and 40% cite personal responsibilities while 33% say it’s laziness. The managers who admit faking productivity say it was a desire for work-life balance, to appease management or burnout.
A Final Word: Addressing Psychological Safety
“Productivity anxiety”—the feeling employees have that they must be “always on” and that there’s always more they should be doing—is pervasive in the workplace in this country. Over 50% of respondents report they’re expected to immediately respond to all Slacks, messages or emails, and 52% say they’re expected to be flexible with their working hours to accommodate after-hours meetings.
A previous Workhuman analysis found that 61% of U.S. workers say they’re productive at work, but it comes at a cost. A total of 80% report they have “productivity anxiety” and over one-third have it multiple times a week. Obviously, this strain impacts individual workers and permeates team dynamics—ultimately shaping the culture and bottom line of an entire organization, according to Meisha-ann Martin, senior director of people analytics and research at Workhuman.
Martin believes it’s essential to cultivate a culture of psychological safety to offset productivity anxiety and fauxductivity. “It’s an understatement to say that today’s employees are up against a lot: both professional and personal stressors, burnout, overwork and disengagement can contribute to low well-being,” she notes in the report.
The Workhuman report concludes that low productivity and fauxductivity are symptoms of poor culture, “creating a toxic cycle of performative productivity and performance anxiety.” It further suggests that the solution resides in addressing systemic cultural issues rather than scrutinizing individual workers.
“Managers especially are in the position to promote a workplace culture that allows employees to be human and say when they’re struggling—not turn to performative productivity,” Martin points out. “That means managers themselves need to resist the urge to keep up appearances and instead be vocal about when they’re taking a break. The re-energized, re-committed people that return to work after recharging will achieve better outcomes and better well-being than those who stay quiet and stay online.”