HR sends out automated email warning employee their 'engagement score' has dropped 7 points, fails to realize he was working on a deep-work project

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
May 21, 2026 9:00 PM EDT

Do you want to be monitored by a robot in your own workplace?

Nobody wants to feel like they're just a number, even at work. We all want to feel like we're being rewarded for our individual contributions, and like we're being evaluated holistically. Sure, business is about numbers. You can quantify some forms of output, and that's important. Metrics and stats are a valuable way to put evidence to performance. But the best managers know that it's more than this. It's not just the numbers you churn out, it's the impact you make on your team. It's the relationships you build, the skills that you learn, and the critical thinking you do. These are harder to put numbers to. That is, unless you're a company that desperately wants to. That's what happened in this situation, where a company implemented some interesting tools that ended up backfiring on their employees. Nobody wants to get a scary email from HR in the middle of the workday. It doesn't instill a sense of comfort in you, and indeed might spark a sense of fear. You hope you didn't do anything wrong, and you hope that your job isn't at stake. In this day and age, the thought of your job being threatened over something small is almost too much to bear. It's a tough world out there, and you don't want to be fed to the wolves just because an HR tool detected something in your performance. 

Advertisement
  • A man sits at a desk and talks to a phone, looking frustrated
    via Javad Esmaeili

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Got an automated email saying my "engagement score" dropped 7 points last quarter and i have to meet with HR.

    i don't even know what an engagement score is. i found out i had one yesterday. apparently our company rolled out a workforce analytics platform sometime in q4. nobody told us. it tracks "engagement signals" which based on the HR
    via Several_Function_129
  • doc i finally found buried in confluence includes: hours of active screen time, slack message volume, meeting attendance, response latency, and "collaborative footprint." it spits out a daily number. mine has been trending down for ten weeks.
    via Several_Function_129
  • here's what was happening during those ten weeks. i was on a project that required me to read four-hundred page legal documents and write a single 12- page summary. i was on slack less. i was in fewer meetings, by my manager's request, because she wanted me to focus. i finished the project two days early. she told me i did a great job.
    via Several_Function_129
  • the system flagged me anyway. the system does not know about the project. the system knows about typing. the email says HR wants a 30- minute "wellness check-in" next tuesday to "discuss patterns and identify opportunities to re- engage." my manager forwarded the email with a single line: "this is just procedural, dont worry."
    via Several_Function_129
  • i don't know how to fight this. i don't know what evidence i'm supposed to bring. do i print out the legal summary? do i make a slide deck about the work i did? this isn't about the engagement score. this is about being graded by software that has no idea what my job is.
    via Several_Function_129

  • Commenters gave their takes and opinions.

    Evidence Historical55 You bring the details of the project and ask how the system will be updated to not waste the valuable time of company personal in future meetings after they've been engaged in deep, assigned, solo work.
    via EvidenceHistorical55
  • A young man works on a laptop in his office
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • The employee in this story was scared that they were being unfairly judged. The nature of their role had changed, and they were engaged in some deep work. That meant that they were a little less outwardly visible, which was an intentional choice. The HR rep, though, didn't see it that way. In their mind, something was flagged by the system, and they needed to address it. Keep scrolling to find out what happened in this story, and then let us know what you think about it in the comments below. 

  • Whole-Dig-9915 This company is full of buffoon. I never listen when so.eone tells me to "not worry."
    via Whole-Dig-9915
  • Imaginary-Friend-228 Invite your manager to the meeting and bring all documentation you have. Insist on recording the meeting and or email a written summary at the end
    via Imaginary-Friend-228
  • EvilTupac Simply provide the 12 page document, explain you've been working on that, and ask for them to change their policies so they don't waste employees time with pointless and inaccurate meetings like that.
    via EvilTupac
  • Nota Millenial2day Ask HR how much time and money is being wasted on a system that is so obviously wrong? What incentive are you being given to do your job thoroughly and well, if doing your job that way results in being flagged by
    via NotaMillenial2day
  • their sub-par big brother employee surveillance system? Between the HR person, your manager, and you, how much is the out of pocket cost to address the wrong data their system is presenting? Between salary and benefits, it'll be several hundred dollars per hour of meeting time.
    via NotaMillenial2day
  • blurplerain It disgust me that this country has normalized to this kind of surveillance.
    via blurplerain
  • Key_Piccolo_2187 Bring the 400 pages, printed. Drop it on the desk in front of HR. "I'm gonna need you to read this and write a detailed 12
    via Key_Piccolo_2187
  • page summary. I'm gonna time you. When I come back in 9 weeks and 3 days, you better be done. Don't let your engagement score drop." --> walk out.
    via Key_Piccolo_2187
  • MzMmmegz Its sh like this why Al is going to ruin everything, not slop YouTube videos and furry art.
    via MzMmmegz
  • Zealousideal-Mud6471 Your manager literally told you not to worry and it's procedural. Just share exactly what you shared here, you were reading a 400 page legal document and screen time was down because you were working.
    via Zealousideal-Mud6471
  • I would assume they talked to your manager first and they already shared everything you shared.
    via Zealousideal-Mud6471
  • boxen What a fun policy. It, across the board, encourages everyone never to read or think, only speak. No input, only output.
    via boxen

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

boss antiwork job work coworkers working toxic-boss bad bosses toxic-work-environment
Scroll Down For The Next Article