The Fine Line Between Flexibility and Fraudulence: Navigating Modern Work Ethics

As the digital workspace occupies an increasingly central role, the dismissal of more than a dozen employees at Wells Fargo for ‘fake-keyboarding’ simulates a pressing corporate issue – and poses a predicament for companies worldwide. Finding a balance between workplace flexibility and actually working is a growing issue.

The Tricky Terrain of Remote Work

Understanding the Wells Fargo Incident

It was only this year that Wells Fargo, faced with a barrage of ‘rundown’ cases, was forced to fire more than a dozen of its staff as it emerged that they had been using software to simulate keystroke activity in a desperate bid to show that they were ‘present’ and working. This episode might be an extreme example but, whether ethical or otherwise, it is also a direct product of the discreet benefits that remote-work arrangements afford.

The Rising Concern of "Keyboard Jiggling"

It’s not specific to Wells Fargo, either. We’ve heard from numerous other call centre and water works employees who face similar pressure. In fact, the practice has become so common that it’s painfully obvious across many industries. (We’d refer to it as ‘mouse jiggling’ or ‘keyboard jiggling’, but it seems apt to a larger problem embracing much of the economy as it struggles to continue operating and meet service standards from the virtual realm.) It may be perhaps most objectionable in industries where customers reasonably expect responsiveness from their vendors during normal business hours.

The Implications of Simulated Productivity

A Question of Integrity and Accountability

Wells Fargo’s announcement that it would fire the employees in question sends a strong message – not just about the bank’s adherence to values of honesty and responsibility – but also about the kind of actions organisations may need to take to preserve any sense of trustworthiness going forward. But, more importantly, it also raises a big question about how organisations can maintain a sense of trust without further trampling the privacy of their employees. And how they can do so without sacrificing the many benefits of remote work.

Rethinking Monitoring and Productivity Measures

What happened here can surely spur a re-evaluation of how productivity and worker activity are measured and monitored. The tried-and-tested methods of measuring and monitoring productivity might not be suited to accommodate the novel challenges that remote work brings. What then are the novel solutions needed that maintain productivity standards without sacrificing the autonomy and benefits that attracted many to remote work in the first place?

Reinventing the Wheel: Balancing Freedom and Accountability

Innovating Workplace Monitoring

If employers want to capture the full benefit of the new remote work, they might have to experiment with new ways of holding people accountable – with more subtle measures of performance, a stronger focus on outputs instead of hours, technology that helps rather than intrudes.

The Advantage of Trust and Flexibility

At the centre of that debate is the argument of promoting a culture of trust. Cultivating a workplace built on respect and trust encourages greater employee buy-in and motivation. The goal here is to find that sweet spot, where the benefits of working remotely can be maximised and the potential for deceit or slacking off is minimised.

Towards a New Paradigm of Work

Embracing Ethical Flexibility

Rebooting work and developing new norms is complex. The benefits of increased flexibility and remote working should be retained and a new solid framework developed that disincentivises unethical behaviour. A culture built on transparency, accountability and real engagement would help preserve organisational integrity. In the long run, it would also create a healthier, more productive workspace.

Leveraging Technology Ethically

Technology has a significant role to play in this turnaround, providing tools that underpin (or undermine) this balance between agency and accountability. The advantage lies in utilising technologies where they are used for good and sustain both organisational outcomes and employee wellbeing. I’m referring to the kinds of tools that support coordination and productivity in the home workplace, as well as novel ways to measure and reward true effort.

The ADVANTAGE of Ethical Work Practices

To conclude: it’s hard to overstate the merits of ethical decentralised work practices under the new flexible workspace paradigm. As firms vie for market share in the aftermath of incidents such as the one that occurred at Wells Fargo, their focus should be on creating a culture of integrity and accountability. To do this, they will have to reimagine traditional ways of working, approach the use of technology ethically, and acknowledge the crucial competitive advantage that comes with a trust-centred remote-working arrangement.

Application of these principles can reduce the probability for fraudulent practices, as well as help to release the full potential of the workforce through balance, innovation, and continuing attention to organisational standards in a changing world of work.