Wherever you turn, someone seems to be talking about “quiet quitting.” On some social media, posts of workers show themselves logging in on time and then muting their Slack or Microsoft Teams, spotlighting the fact that they’re doing just enough not to get fired.
What is this phenomenon? What’s causing it, and what can HR leaders and teams do about it?
What Is “Quiet Quitting?”
There seem to be two versions of quiet quitting:
Doing the minimum of what the job requires.
Purposely working slowly and doing less than what is required of the job, but not so little that a person could get fired
And the trend is actually nothing new. Quiet quitting used to be called “work-to-rule,” which is to say, employees do exactly their job and nothing more. Not working any overtime, for example. Ever. Someone might do this if they feel disengaged from their job or when they are looking for a new one.
Employees Are Burned Out
Before moving on to causes and cures, we must first acknowledge that employees are, in fact, burned out. Mercer’s latest data shows that 81 percent of employees have “had it” to some degree, and in any given team, it can be overwhelming. Unemployment is near 1960-level lows, so people are being asked to do a lot, especially since HR is struggling to fill new and open positions.
Burnout Has Multiple Causes
The problem of employee burnout is not an employee or manager issue; it’s a company, manager, and individual issue. All are stakeholders, and each has a role.
Company Role: Burnout occurs when a company’s goals are set unrealistically high. When a company’s growing fast, this can happen. It’s easy to get excited to see that kind of growth and start raising goals to keep things moving fast, but this will always backfire. Senior leaders should push back and set achievable goals.
Manager Role: New, immature, or overly aggressive managers will make a team suffer. This is especially true in healthcare, where nurses make up more than half the workforce. There are stories aplenty of work overload, toxic work environments, and all sorts of bad behavior all the time. It’s incumbent upon HR and other top leadership to coach and give feedback to managers. If you cannot make them understand, no amount of quiet quitting will make life easier for anyone. (Managers, too, can be burned out, so leadership needs to be aware of that, too.)
Individual Role: It’s also important for employees to manage their own lives. Burnout can creep up. They need to be aware of when they get tired and when their quality of work suffers. This is why breaks away from workstations are so essential. Everyone needs time away from their desks during the day to rest, think, and reinvent.
What Causes “Quiet Quitting?”
Disengagement can be brought about for many reasons, like the absence of promotion opportunities, inadequate remuneration, or a poor working relationship with a boss or teammate. Employees who quiet-quit in these ways are sick of putting their heart and soul into their job without getting in return what they consider they deserve.
Employees who feel stuck in a job they hate may also quiet-quit. Perhaps they require their job because they have a mortgage or dependents and just need the money, but they don’t have many choices. They could coast in their job until they find a different one with a better work environment, better pay, or better boss. This scenario is quite likely given the backdrop of the “Great Resignation.” These quiet quitters may feel they have more leverage because of the high number of open positions and resultant talent wars.
The mere impact of the current cost of living crisis – inflation, rising energy costs, high food costs – can also weigh on the psyches of already stressed-out employees, making them more apt to relieve stress where they can and not overdo it at work.
What Can HR Do About “Quiet Quitting?”
What HR can do depends upon the kind of quiet quitting they’re dealing with.
Prevent Burnout
Burnout-related quiet quitting can be counteracted by giving people a chance to recharge. Show genuine concern about employees’ well-being and mental health by:
Building in work-from-home time when possible.
Enforcing breaks away from the workspace and encouraging people to go outside for walks.
Helping teams set clear boundaries by creating work arrangements when it’s OK to be logged off and unavailable.
Instituting “recharge days” where everyone takes a “day off” together with no pressure to check inboxes and meetings are banned – even for senior leaders – so people can just concentrate on getting work done.
Practice Kindness and Psychological Safety
Kindness matters. With relationship-related quiet quitting, people want to feel recognized for their efforts and like to be thanked. According to research reported in People Management, people perform best when they feel trusted, when they feel psychologically safe enough to speak up, disagree, and give feedback to their team and management.
Have a Purpose-Led Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
More and more, people are feeling the need to link their work to a higher purpose. A Gartner study revealed that when assessing potential employers, people look for organizations with clearly defined EVPs now more than ever before.
EVPs give meaning to work with an organization beyond its products and services. EVPs create a sense of loyalty based on values and not just pay. Since the pandemic, employees are actively looking for employers who link EVPs to social goals and want something more human and purposeful from employers.
Hold “Stay Interviews”
Look for people who seem to be happy in your organization and are doing well in their jobs. Make a concerted effort to ask them what makes them stay. These interviews will provide insight into why things might not be working out so well for other employees.
Whichever type of quiet quitting you’re dealing with, the antidote to each, go back to listening to the voice of your employee. Pay attention, ask questions, do surveys, and most crucially, take action on what you learn.