43% employees in India spend the most time looking busy at work: Slack report

The report used data collected from more than 18,000 desk workers, including executives. (Representative image)

Employees in Asia have been spending the most time appearing to be busy more than doing real, productive work, a recent global survey has found. Among them, professionals in India topped the list with 43 percent of them reporting spending the most time on “performative work”.

The study conducted by Salesforce subsidiary Slack and research firm Qualtrics used data collected from more than 18,000 desk workers, including executives.

Defining performative work, Derek Laney, Slack’s “technology evangelist” for Asia-Pacific told CNBC Make It, " It included spending a lot of time in meetings where ‘teams present achievements’ rather than making decisions or addressing issues."

Among the nine countries evaluated for this study, India ranked first at 43 percent, followed by Japan and Singapore by 37 percent and 36 percent, the publication reported.

South Korea tied in last place with the US -- workers from both countries reported spending just 28 percent of their time appearing busy.

Elaborating on the ways in which employees show that they are busy at work, the report stated that 63 percent of those surveyed made an effort to
keep their status active online, even if they’re not working at the moment. Moreover, 53 percent said they feel pressure to respond to messages quickly, even if sent after working hours and 50 percent feel pressure to let
their colleagues know they are at work and being productive.

The report also stated that globally, the number of hours spent online or the number of emails sent, are ranked as the top way (27 percent) leaders measure productivity.  And accordingly, employees’ focus on appearing busy is “likely influenced” by it. They may feel pressured to work longer hours, respond to emails immediately, or sit in on every meeting.

“Leaders are most likely to judge productivity based on visible activity instead of focusing on achieving outcomes,” Laney said. “This disconnect leads to wasted effort where employees try to show up well in front of their leaders.”