Another Gen Z-inspired work trend has entered the chat.
As many employees return to the office, some have started “task masking,” or pretending to be busy, Fortune reported. Some tactics include typing loudly, rushing around the office, or joining a (nonexistent) virtual meeting.
Employees are likely task masking due to RTO mandates, said Jennifer Moss, workplace strategist and author of Why Are We Here?: Creating a Work Culture Everyone Wants.
“[Employers are] putting people back into the office [and] a lot of it has to do with control, and this idea that, if you’re present, that means you’re productive,” Moss told HR Brew. “So, it’s all about just the visibility of people, which is a false metric for us to measure productivity.”
What’s going on? If employees task mask, Moss said, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re avoiding work. It could mean they’ve completed their tasks and are “either bored or they don’t have other work to be doing.”
“Right now, it’s all about hours worked versus goals, and the reason why people are likely task masking is because they aren’t given the right kind of work,” she said.
In the pre-pandemic workplace, employees with extra time might socialize with their coworkers in the breakroom or around the water cooler, Moss said. But many employers aren’t encouraging this time for connection, instead pushing for “toxic productivity.”
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“[If] demonstrating productivity is some sort of heroic thing that’s going to make you a high performer, you’re going to see a lot of people have to pretend so it doesn’t impact their compensation structure,” she said.
What’s the fix? As a remedy, Moss said, HR pros can help managers rethink how they measure productivity. Instead of measuring hours worked, for example, measure the goals achieved.
“As leaders, really analyze what everyone’s job is, what they’re doing, are they working to their strengths, are we making sure they’re upskilling, so our organization can be future ready?” she said. When employees finish their goals, Moss says to reward them, adding the “idea of hustle culture and the 60-hour workweek are completely antiquated ways of thinking about motivation and achievement.”
One reward, Moss suggested, could be letting workers go home early if they’ve completed their goals for the day. This can help avoid the task-masking trend.
“This is a manager failing, and it’s also just a system failing. If we were just giving people really productive, and relevant, and meaningful goals, people would work towards that,” she said. “Instead of it just being like, I need to check off boxes every hour and make sure my light’s on, so that you think that I’m working.”