Organisations must look in the mirror before confronting mouse jigglers

Surveillance software and other strategies have been spoken about as a deterrent for employees engaging in mouse jiggling at work. Instead, some self-reflection from an organisation could dismantle the root causes of the action.

HR Leader recently spoke to HiBob’s chief people officer, Nirit Peled-Muntz, about the widespread trend of mouse jiggling that is happening across a wide range of Australian organisations and how some self-reflection for organisations can be a remedy for this issue.

“When mouse jiggling happens, it is often a result of underlying issues rather than a definitive reflection of either the worker or organisation. What’s important is that companies don’t jump to any conclusions before exploring the root of the issue,” Peled-Muntz said.

“Once they have explored the root cause of the issue, however, they can then determine the best next steps to prevent similar situations from happening again.”

Surveillance software has been deployed in the past to regularly ensure that employees are carrying out their tasks in a punctual fashion. This has been a practice that was pushed forward to negate mouse jigglers and hold them accountable.

Peled-Muntz, however, believes this type of management can almost do more harm than good, eroding the team culture by way of micromanaging your employees.

“Surveillance software and any similar monitoring practices should be implemented with caution as they’re likely to be viewed as micromanaging tools. As a result, you may experience unintended consequences, such as lowering morale and productivity,” Peled-Muntz said.

“Imagine knowing you have surveillance software monitoring your every move at work. How might that affect your stress levels, creativity and level of output?”

“Instead, I’d advocate addressing the reasons why mouse jiggling is happening in the first place. Ask employees questions about their workload, job happiness level, and whether they understand the expectations of them to be productive. Ask them what barriers they feel are in the way to their success. You’ll soon uncover the problem, and then from there, you can work on a solution.”

At the end of the day, it comes down to that culture of trust between the team. If employees and managers are disconnected on numerous fronts, then, naturally, mouse jiggling will arise because employee engagement is dismal. Especially with remote work and hybrid working arrangements being the status quo, trust is the binding resource to achieve organisational success.

If that trust is instead replaced with surveillance, then mouse jiggling will be the least of your worries.

“Trust and flexibility have always been important in the world of work, so they’re going to be even more important moving forward for companies that want to be successful,” Peled-Muntz said.

“When businesses establish that nurturing workplace environment that instils a culture of trust, employees will often feel a much stronger sense of belonging, and mouse jiggling won’t even enter their consciousness.”