?? Fake it ‘til you make it
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Welcome back to ?? On The Clock.
Do you remember when Wells Fargo caught a bunch of employees using mouse jigglers??
I know, I had to Google what a mouse jiggler was when I first heard about it as well. It's just a software that simulates movement of a computer mouse, not some kind of mini exercise wheel.
Anyway, these employees were using mouse jigglers to prove they were "working."
Tl;dr they all got sacked, and the story went viral. Workers on Reddit were incensed.??
The obvious question is: Why did Wells Fargo workers feel like they had to fake productivity in the first place??
Answering that led me down a rabbit hole of how companies measure employee productivity, and the disconnect between time, data — and results.?
Are workers faking productivity?
According to a report by Workhuman… kinda.?
Research found employees spend more time looking busy than doing work. The loose conclusion was internal metrics, performance tracking, and the sheer pressure to prove they were working led people to lie.?
Most of the 3,000 full-time employees surveyed denied faking productivity. But 48% of managers said faking activity was a common issue on their team.
If team members are putting up fake productivity numbers, there’s probably a deeper issue. In The Toggl 2025 Productivity Index??, leaders told us resistance from employees around productivity tracking was the biggest challenge for measuring results.?
It's not hard to figure out why.
Companies are using productivity tracking for the wrong purpose, and linking it to the wrong goals.?
Productivity tracking is about data, not punching the clock
The report also uncovered another issue: some companies use time tracking software to check a “productivity box.”?
But the real value of time tracking isn’t getting employees to punch in and out on a clock.
On an individual productivity level, people might be interested in how long they spend answering emails in the morning. But on a team level, macro time tracking data is where managers can really understand how productive people are.?
If a creative team is producing a TV commercial for a client, there will be a bunch of moving parts: set designers, writers, makeup artists… the whole nine yards. Each of these workers has their own billable rate, capacity, and days allocated to the project.?
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Unless the time and effort of each person working on it — from set designers to writers to editors — is tracked, it’s impossible to understand if the project was successful on a profitability or productivity level.?
The same example can be applied to in-house teams like Wells Fargo.
Joining the dots between time tracking data, tasks, and results is the easiest way to see if the team is really doing their work.?
Stopping the productivity facade starts at the top?
Time tracking data is one of the most granular pieces of information a manager can collect. But using time tracking to prove employees are doing something for every minute of their day is a waste of energy.
Not to mention, it puts pressure on people to put up fake productivity numbers.?
The real value of time tracking lies in the bigger picture:
When employees know time tracking data is being used for strategic insights rather than keeping tabs on them — they feel trusted to manage their time responsibly. But that change starts at the top ??
??? Focus on outcomes and hours. Tracking hours alongside overall team input on projects allows managers to understand how well they allocate tasks and resources.?
?? Tie time to goals. Time tracking data is best used to understand overall efficiency, not just individual “productivity.” If projects consistently run over schedule, it’s a warning sign to reallocate resources or rethink your planning processes. Again, this is only possible if you collect the data to make those decisions.?
?? Set realistic boundaries. An underrated perk of tracking time data is how easily it can be used to spot burnout. Understanding how long work really takes (and not just how long you think it should take) is the only way to keep schedules balanced and fair.?
The lesson here is simple: don't get caught up in monitoring every second of individual employee time. Valuable decisions can only be made when you look at the bigger picture of where everyone's time is going.?
Oh and if you have a mouse jiggler, do me a favour... chuck it in the garbage.
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Business Leader & Business Development Consultant | CEO @KleverCargo
2 周People can be very creative at showing productivity