Your boss likely fakes being busy more than you do

A new poll making the rounds has found that one in three workers admit to “fauxductivity” - making it LOOK like you’re productive when you’re not really doing much of anything.

Even though a third of low-level employees admit to stuff like that, and roughly half of managers say fauxductivity is a problem in general, one detail jumped off the page of the survey.

The poll found managers are actually MORE likely to be “fauxductive.” 37% of managers admit to it, compared to 32% of non-managers.

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 wellbeing. In order to properly support employees in this climate, it’s essential to cultivate a culture of psychological safety. 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. 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 wellbeing than those who stay quiet and stay online.

Meisha-Ann Martin, PhD Senior Director of People Analytics and Research at Workhuman

Here are the top five reasons people gave for fauxductivity:

1. Better work-life balance
2. Feeling burnt out
3. Not enough work to do
4. Unrealistic expectations from their boss
5. Wanting to appease upper management 

Read more from the survey, and the experts who have dissected it at Workhuman .