WHAT IS QUIET QUITTING AND HOW SHOULD EMPLOYERS RESPOND?
You’ve probably seen this term plastered all over LinkedIn – if not, we’ll explain.
Quiet quitting is employees effectively doing the bare minimum. They aren’t going above and beyond at work but rather only meeting the absolute necessary requirements at work. So, they’re not quitting but rather quitting doing anything extra.
People have reacted in two very distinct ways:
It’s pure laziness and people should never expect to be promoted when they’re barely trying
It’s setting boundaries and employers should respect that people have lives outside of work
Both hold truths, and I’m going to address both of them because – spoiler alert – I don’t believe there’s one straight answer.
Let’s delve into both sides and how employers should handle quiet quitting.
WHEN DID THIS TREND BEGIN?
Disengagement has been a thing since the dawn of time.
Not everyone loves their job, not everyone cares about impressing their boss, and not everyone is career driven. But why are we only just hearing this phrase and why are so many people speaking about it?
It actually begun with a TikTok… shocker. This creator stated that quiet quitting is about “no longer subscribing to the ‘hustle culture’ mentality that work has to be your life… your worth as a person is not defied by your productive output.”
After 3.5 million views and thousands of comments – it sparked a movement for people to rethink their approach to work. But this isn’t just a fad that holds no weight, studies show quiet quitters make up at least 50% of the U.S. workforce. This drop of engagement began midway through 2021 – which lined up with The Great Resignation (Gallup)
QUIET QUITTING = ABOUT TO QUIT?
Why do people resign? Lack of support, not feeling valued, no opportunities to progress. What happens before people resign? They’re less engaged and do the bare minimum…
Could this be a reason for many quiet quitters? Does quiet quitting sometimes mean ‘about to quit’? Maybe some of them are going through the job seeking process or they haven’t plucked up the courage to leave yet. But does this reflect on the person or the company?
As an employer, you can’t do much once an employer is set on leaving or offered a job – but what you can do is identify why they wanted to leave and how you can make a change to ensure employees left are engaged and stick around.
As stated, lack of support, not feeling valued, and no opportunities to progress are one of many reasons people decide to leave a job – and even if they don’t leave, they would have mentally switched off.
POOR TREATMENT LEADS TO DEMOTIVATION
Many of the stories I’ve seen on LinkedIn and news articles about quiet quitting are about people who have been taken advantage of. Mostly young people who have entered the workforce with a can-do attitude, wanting to go above and beyond for their bosses, but have been left with incredibly difficult tasks, no real training, ridiculous hours – with no reward or extra pay to compensate.
So, before employers assume that low engagement is just to do with laziness, they should consider whether they’re creating an environment that is encouraging their staff to engage.
Employees are people. And people deserve to be treated with respect and appreciation. Putting them in a dreary, pressurised environment isn’t going to bring the best out of them, it’s going to bring out the worse.
Quiet quitting isn’t always a poor reflection on the person but often a way for them to not allow work to cause them distress or insecurity. They may think “might as well not try if people don’t appreciate you, right?”
Bosses, try to recognise how you may play a part in all of this, work on your leadership skills, and make a difference.
HUSTLE CULTURE ISN’T FOR EVERYONE
Previous points are purely external factors impacting whether an employee quiet quits or not. But one massive reason is that, for many people, it’s completely internal.
Maybe they’ve faced a few bad bosses, worked at a job that worsened their mental health, but many would put quiet quitting purely down to their lack of desire for a successful career. This isn’t to say they don’t want a job they enjoy, but they see their personal life and mental health as more worthy of putting effort into than a job.
This is especially common with Gen Z’s and Millennials. Stats show that:
Burnout and lack of work-life balance are big reasons why Gen Z’s would quit (BBC)
This probably links more to a general viewpoint of work rather than a dissatisfaction of a company
This can be a hard truth to swallow for employers and it may ring alarm bells to you that they just want to do the bare minimum. No boss wants lazy employees that still expect to be promoted. But before you jump to disciplinary methods or even ending their contract – communicate with them.
In your mind, you may have been seeing them progress to a very senior role due to their skills, but they may not want that. It’s not to say they don’t do the job and do it well, but they may not want increased responsibilities for personal reasons.
Not every employee wants a super successful career, with lots of power and money – they may just want stability in order to live a normal life. Allow them to be honest with you so you can discuss next steps.
This isn’t to say there’s no one on earth that has a terrible output at work, always idle, whilst expecting promotions and increased salary - because they definitely exist. But assuming that’s the common reason for quiet quitting would make it very hard as an employer to do something about it.
- Written by Oliver Howson
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