Most Workers Faked Enthusiasm Last Week. What Is Your Culture Rewarding?

In Fast Company, Sarah Bregel reports on a new survey with a headline built for sharing. In The generation that hates work the most isn't the one you'd think, she explains that Gen X, not Gen Z, is the least happy at work. In the Kickresume survey of 1,002 workers, 34% of Gen Xers said they dislike their jobs, compared with 26% of millennials and 22% of Gen Zers.

The generational angle will get the clicks. But the finding I can't stop thinking about sits further down. Of all the workers surveyed, 86% said that in the past week alone they had acted more enthusiastic about work than they actually felt. A quarter did it on most days, and 11% said they did it constantly. Only 14% said they were always being real.

The Performance Is the Story

The survey sorted people into types, and the largest group, at 37%, was what it called the Performer: people who act as if everything is great almost all the time while dreading work a few times a week. Another 10% were Silent Sufferers, quietly miserable and telling no one. As Bregel puts it, only a few workers are "showing up as themselves most of the time."

Think about what that means for anyone trying to lead. If most people are performing enthusiasm every week, then the energy in the meeting, the nods in the town hall and the smiles on the video call are partly a show. Leaders are reading a performance and mistaking it for a pulse.

People don't fake enthusiasm because they are dishonest. They do it because they have learned that the real version of themselves is risky. Admitting boredom might look like disloyalty. Admitting frustration might look like a bad attitude. So they edit who they are to fit what the room seems to reward. I wrote about how cultures teach this, one rewarded performance at a time, in Success Theater Is a Culture, Not a Surprise.

Why Generations Are the Wrong Lens

Sorting the results by generation is interesting, but it can lead leaders to the wrong fix. A program for unhappy Gen Xers or disengaged Gen Zers treats people as categories. The faking cuts across every age group, and so does the reason for it: people don't feel safe being who they are at work.

Picture two people on the same team: a 52-year-old who stays only because she can't find anything better, and a 25-year-old who is quietly job hunting on company time. They have different stories. What they share is that no one in their workplace knows the real one. That is a leadership problem, not a demographic one.

Reading Past the Mask

A fair caution: this survey comes from a résumé company, drew on its own users and isn't a scientific sample, so I would treat the exact numbers as a signal rather than proof. But the signal is consistent with what I hear from leaders, who tell me their engagement scores look fine while good people keep leaving without warning.

Engagement surveys and regular pulse checks are valuable. They give every employee the same chance to be heard, and they let leaders track change over time. But a survey can only measure what people are willing to show it. If performing is the norm, the survey will capture the performance. The real information comes from conversations where people believe honesty is safe.

A few ways to start this week:

Ask one person on your team what part of their work they would happily stop doing tomorrow, then thank them for the honest answer rather than defending the work. How you respond the first time determines whether they ever tell you the truth again.

Notice who is always upbeat. Your most relentlessly positive team member may be your most exhausted one. Check in privately and ask how they are really doing.

Look for the early warning signs instead of waiting for the exit interview. I have written about why the dread people feel before the workweek is a signal leaders should read, in Sunday Dread Is a Leadership Signal, Not a Calendar Problem.

For professionals, there is a quieter question in this survey. If you are performing most days, ask what you are protecting and what it is costing you. Faking enthusiasm takes energy you could be spending on work that fits who you are. Sometimes the answer is an honest conversation with your manager. Sometimes it is a new chapter. Either way, it starts with admitting the performance to yourself.

The workers in this survey aren't telling us they hate their jobs. They are telling us they don't feel free to be themselves at work. That is something leaders can change.

When people have to perform enthusiasm, leaders lose the truth they need most, so make it safe for people to be real.

Want to explore these ideas further? Learn more about my work on leadership, identity and conviction at www.theglennllopis.com.