New report shows who's really behind 'fauxductivity' in the workplace
Managers are more likely to be guilty of faking productivity—or fauxductivity—in the workplace than their employees, a new report from Workhuman has revealed.
The report was conducted among 3,000 full-time employees in the U.S., U.K., and Ireland.
It discovered that 48% of managers felt that faking productivity is a common issue on their teams — but 67% of non-managers denied faking productivity at work.
In fact, the report found that the problem appears to stem from the top — with C-suite executives (38%) and managers (37%) admitting that they engage in fauxductivity.
This is slightly higher than 33% average of all respondents, as well as 32% of non-managers.
"Managers and leaders are the stewards of company culture," the report reads. "Our survey reveals that they're faking productivity more than their non-manager counterparts, revealing that the pressure to perform might be coming from the top-down."
Reasons for 'fauxductivity'
The practice of faking productivity has been attributed to five factors, with the top one being better work-life balance. Other reasons include:
- Feelings of burnout
- Not enough work to do
- Unrealistic expectations
- Appeasing management
Managers who engage in fauxductivity also attributed it to better work-life balance, appeasing management, and burnout.
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The role of managers
Workhuman said managers have a critical role to play in getting employees to do their jobs.
"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," said Meisha-ann Martin, Senior Director of People Analytics and Research at Workhuman, in a statement.
"That means managers themselves need to resist the urge to keep up appearances and instead be vocal about when they're taking a break."
Martin said a re-energised and re-committed workforce who return to work after recharging will deliver better outcomes and better wellbeing than those who stay quiet.