We recently got this tool installed and we're supposed to show productivity for at least 7 hours a day. The problem is, it doesn't capture a lot of the work we do throughout the day. I was active for almost 8 hours yesterday, but it only showed 3 hours. Now, some senior managers are calling us out in meetings and humiliating us in front of everyone, speaking to us in a really rude and impolite manner, like it's all our fault. One of them even threatened an employee that if they're on the defaulter list again, they'll get a personal call and be spoken to in their regional language. They don't even bother to help us understand how to increase our hours, and they don't know much about the tool themselves. If we ask them basic questions, they can't give us any proper answers. It's like, what are we supposed to do when we're trying to meet the hourly target but it's just not happening? And to make things worse, I don't even have any tasks assigned to me, and some of the ones I had are on hold due to some issues that need to be resolved. How am I supposed to meet the 7-hour target with no tasks? I'm trying everything, but at this point, I'm just wasting my time trying to game the system instead of doing actual work. Next week, they'll probably humiliate me too and maybe even fire me. I have no idea what to do.
If you can, just name and shame the company - this is just ridiculous.
If you don't have any tasks assigned, just email your superiors and keep following up until you get some tasks. That way, you'll have proof that you're trying to get work assigned to you, even if it's not happening.
Just write a script to solve this issue
Check your DM for a Sapience hack.
Start keeping your own log of work and keep asking for tasks in writing if you don't have any. That way, when they question your work hours, you can show them that you were actually working or waiting for work to be assigned. And honestly, humiliation in a meeting is just not acceptable management. Maybe it's time to look for a better work environment too.
This is happening in a lot of service companies, like Altimetrik, Virtusa, CTS, and others, where they track your productive hours in certain apps like IDEs, MS Word, and Excel. If you're using any other apps or browsing, that's counted as personal time, and sometimes even the clients are tracking this. These managers are just trying to cover their own backs, so they don't have any defaulters on their team. As long as you're completing your tasks on time, you don't have to worry too much, but if it's really getting to you, just start looking for another job. There's always demand for talent, so just be patient and upskill.
Try setting up meetings - that should be tracked.
Sapience is used by some pretty big companies too... all these companies that use micromanaging tools are just not worth it. They think that just because you're moving your mouse and typing, you're being productive, but they don't care about actual thinking and problem-solving. And no, using mouse jiggler or scripts to move your mouse won't work either. If you can, just switch jobs, please.
So basically, it calculates your productivity based on how active you are and how much you're typing and using your mouse, and that's what it considers productive time. Just keep something pressed on your spacebar when you're not typing. I mean, it's not humanly possible to be 87.5% active for 8 hours straight unless you're just typing away constantly. You're not a machine, you need time to think and work.
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