Courtesy of Nolan Church; Isabel Fernandez-Pujol/ BI
Quiet vacationing — employees secretly taking time off or using tools to circumvent monitoring software — is rising.
Nolan Church, cofounder and CEO at FairComp and Continuum and the former Head of Talent at DoorDash, says the erosion of manager trust in employees leads to this bad behavior.
"Quiet vacationing is happening for two big reasons: Bad managers who manage to the lowest common denominator and the adoption of pedantic parenthood traits into the working world — especially in tech."
In a 2023 survey of 1,000 US business leaders by ResumeBuilder.com, 96% of respondents working at organizations with a primarily remote or hybrid workforce said their firms used some form of employee-monitoring software.
Business Insider has previously reported that large corporations like Amazon and JP Morgan monitor how often employees come into the office or even implement software on employees' devices that activate microphones and webcams without the users' knowledge.
In a recent study of nearly 2,000 US and UK employees, 53% of US employees feel their employers aren't being open and transparent about workplace surveillance, and 71% of UK employees say it is unethical.
And like rebellious teenagers, some employees are taking their time back.
Church told Business Insider the two main tactics workers are using to regain autonomy are "installing mouse-moving devices and starting Zoom or Microsoft Teams meetings with themselves because it keeps the computer on and looks like the employee is actively on their computer."
Business Insider has previously reported on employees using mouse jigglers and other methods to take secret vacations or work multiple jobs at once.
Church acknowledges employees looking to do the bare minimum do exist but said the majority of employees don't fall into this category.
"What does it say if an employee feels they can't take an extra day vacation or have to sneak out to go on vacation? You don't trust your employer, and that ultimately is a toxic relationship," notes Church.
He said treating a few bad actors with a blanket monitoring solution is a "terrible way to manage" and could negatively impact high-performing colleagues.
Church said implementing surveillance tools sends the wrong message to employees. It says, "I need to make sure that you're at your desk for your working hours, and I'm paying you to have your ass in a seat," he told BI.
Even in globally distributed companies, Church stressed that proper leadership is key to avoiding a low-performance environment.
Employees should have clear goals and objectives, and companies should measure employee performance based on those metrics, according to Church.
Church did note that trust is a two-way street. He said employees should be transparent with their employers about wanting or needing time off, adding employees shouldn't "assume the employer is going to say no" with proper notice.
Punishing top-performing employees for taking a day or two occasionally can lead to top talent exploring opportunities elsewhere, so Church stressed that it's a balancing act.
Church said as a CEO if he found out a high-performing employee wasn't at their desk for a certain period, he wouldn't do much. High performers get "special treatment," according to Church. "They aren't paid to be in their seats; they're paid for the outcomes they can deliver."
However, even if someone is the top performer and they leave their colleagues or clients in a lurch, "That's not high-performer behavior," Church said. "In that case, what I would do is I would very clearly deliver feedback on the behavior that was experienced versus the behavior that was expected."
For middle-of-the-road and low performers, there are two paths management can take if they find someone away from their desk for prolonged periods, Church told BI.
"One path is a zero-tolerance policy, and in that path, you immediately move to termination. The other path is document the violation and give an opportunity to improve."
Church said it's important to give employees a chance to come clean if caught.
If an employee comes clean, Church said, "Document the reason, and give them feedback that you expect them to improve and be clear about that." And if they lie, that would be grounds for termination.
"This rift between employers and employees is driven by a lack of trust on both sides, and these sorts of surveillance techniques are not helping bridge the rift," Church stressed.
Companies should encourage and support great management first and foremost.
"It's not like people are dumb. They'll find ways to skirt the system if they feel like they're not treated like adults."
