Canadian HR Reporter. Firing over ‘keystroke simulation’ highlights systemic issues, says tech expert

Wells Fargo made headlines recently after firing about a dozen employees for “simulation of keyboard activity,” according to Bloomberg. This incident underscores the ongoing tension between employee privacy and work-life balance, and an employer's right to maintain productivity.

Canadian HR Reporter recently spoke with Vancouver-based tech advisor Vaclav Vincalek of 555vCTO about the keyboard-detection tech. He argues that the real issue isn’t about catching and firing those who simulate work. Instead, he suggests that the focus should be on providing employees with engaging and meaningful tasks that make them accountable.

Why are companies monitoring employees?

The Wells Fargo employees were fired because WF detected keyboard strokes that were ‘faked’.

Vincalek says the problem is more deeply-rooted.

“Who has the time to fake work, and who has the time to monitor it?” he says. “It’s not just about finding out who’s cheating and firing them. That’s not changing the problem.”

Vincalek points out that if employees know they’re being monitored solely for keyboard or mouse activity, they’ll simply adjust their behavior to meet these quotas. Such practices indicate a deeper issue within the company culture.

“It’s easy to assign blame on one party or another,” he says. But this approach fosters an environment where “people have nothing else to do than being monitored or monitoring others without delivering real work.”

Vincalek emphasizes that the focus should be on whether employees are engaged in meaningful work, rather than monitoring arbitrary metrics like keystrokes or hours spent at a screen.

“If I motivate you that you get paid by a number of characters, well, you'll be hitting ‘enter’ and ‘space’ so many times, so you get paid more,” says Vincalek.

“Do we have better [products] because of that? No, but you’re hitting your quota. That's when you employ a keystroke hitter.”

Shift focus to outcomes, not keystrokes

Canadian HR Reporter’s article goes on to say that the main error companies like Wells Fargo make is sending the wrong message to employees about what is valued in their work. When the focus is on hours and keystrokes, employees receive the message that monitoring their activity is more important than the quality of their output. Instead, Vincalek suggests that employers should focus on timelines, tasks, and the quality of outcomes. 

“The delusion that you can control people remotely with various monitoring tools, that's only when people get paid by the hour with no actual measurable output,” he says, or if employees have been given tasks that “are so nonsensical that they cannot measure the output of their work.”

Work simulation: a symptom of systemic problems

Vincalek argues that the behavior of simulating work is a sign of a larger systemic issue within the company. “Employees quickly learn the rules of the game in any work environment and adapt accordingly,” he says. When a company’s culture prioritizes screen time over meaningful work, employees will naturally find ways to meet those superficial expectations.

Vincalek believes that Wells Fargo missed a critical opportunity to address a systemic problem within the organization. He advises HR leaders to take a more thoughtful approach, focusing on understanding what employees actually do and whether they find their work meaningful. “Don’t treat employees like children. Take the time to understand what they do,” he says.

Instead of reacting by trying to catch and punish employees for simulating work, Vincalek urges HR leaders to focus on improving the work environment and ensuring employees are engaged in satisfying tasks.

“These are deep organizational questions. Simply checking up on employees is the wrong approach.”

Let 555vCTO help your firm organize a winning tech team

If your organization is facing challenges in building a creative and productive tech team, then reach out to Vaclav Vincalek and the team at 555vCTO. With expertise in transforming work environments and implementing strategic solutions that align business with technology, they can guide you in fostering a workplace that prioritizes meaningful work over meaningless metrics. Connect with 555vCTO today to start building a more engaged and productive team.