We were going to continue with our blogs on the topics that HR professionals are discussing in the workplace, when an article on quiet quitting in CIPD People Management sparked our attention.
This new phenomenon comes on the back of a 17 second Tik Tok video by @zkchillin and amassed over 400k likes
We are going to look at:
- What quiet quitting is
- How to recognise it
- How to manage it
What is it?
Quiet quitting has been coined as doing the bare minimum to complete tasks, leaving the office bang on time, and muting notification & emails out of hours – a follow on from the great resignation – perhaps we should be calling it the great switch off?
Although this appears to be a new, hot trend, actually it is nothing new at all. Even in cartoons the idea of doing the bare minimum and leaving on time is referenced. Just look at Homer Simpson in ‘The Simpsons’, at his work at the nuclear power plant. In the opening credits it shows him leaving work, dropping a nuclear rod to get in his car, and driving home in a hurry.
And of course, we couldn’t not mention the opening credits to The Flintstones, which sees Fred Flintstone on the squawk of the bird, jump in his car and peddle his feet as fast as he can to get home to Wilma to the cries of “Yabba Dabba Do”.
In the world of engagement, we would say that this behaviour is simply disengagement rebranded ,(like when Gen Y was renamed as Millennials – it became a new thing). It’s no longer going above and beyond, or not seeing the value you add, meaning challenge and appreciation(amongst other things) is lost. Add to this labour shortages and pandemic exhaustion.
What makes a great employee experience?
We know from our extensive research at People Lab that there are seven universal themes of employee experience:
- Meaning
- Appreciation
- Growth
- Impact
- Connection
- Challenge
- Autonomy
When these themes are present, it is going to enable a great employee experience which will result in good engagement. Where they are missing, this is going to reduce the experience and create disengagement, which can result in a loss of productivity, increase in presenteeism and absenteeism, and of course increased turnover.
The idea of quiet quitting is widely associated with employee burnout. For years now the hustle culture has been dominating conversations about the workplace.
High productivity and the monetisation of every minute are seen as the benchmark for career success. But actually, it goes a little deeper than that.
Happiness at work
By nature, we as human beings are constantly striving to be happy as Shawn Achor talks about in his TED talk “The happy secret to better work”.
Our external world makes up only 10% of our long-term happiness. The majority (90%) is predicted by the way our brains process the world. If we change our formula for happiness and success, we can change the way we affect reality
The formula that most people follow is that if I work harder, I will be more successful and if I am more successful, I will be happier. But this formula is broken…
Every time our brain has a success, we just move the goal posts i.e., we hit our sales targets, so they get increased, we get a promotion, and we want to achieve more. But like a hamster going around on a wheel, we will eventually burnout and get off the wheel.
The impact of the pandemic
The global pandemic has caused people to re-evaluate and there is now a push back against the lack of work-life balance, and long hours that are associated with the hustle culture mindset which is growing under the movement known in social media, as quiet quitting.
Gallup recently published their state of the global workplace report which found that just 9% of the UK workers feel enthused about their work and workplace, (which ranks the UK as 33rd out of 38 nations). The quiet quitting could therefore be connected to poor job satisfaction.
This movement is of course following reports of the “great resignation” where people are doing that re-evaluation of their careers. PWC in their hopes and fears survey published in May 2022, shows that one in five people are very likely to change employers. The research also states that:
“If the great resignation has taught employers anything, it is to not take their workers for granted. Yet many companies risk doing exactly that – whether it’s by not paying close enough attention to skilled workers…by failing to support workers who seek personal fulfilment and meaning at work, or by missing opportunities to build trust”
How to recognise it?
In the CIPD magazine article they note that quiet quitting “can take various shapes and forms”. This includes:
- Reduction in productivity
- Non-attendance at meetings
- Failure to contribute to team projects
- Arriving late & leaving early
- Changes in mood
- Volunteering less to be involved
- Vocalizing frustrations about work
- Being withdrawn
- More sick leave
How to manage it?
The key to turning this around is communication. As a manager, if you notice a change in behaviour then it is important to talk to the individual.
The relationship between employee and employer needs to be one of mutual respect and commitment, so that the individual who is feeling demoralised or disengaged has some responsibility to speak to their manager, and let them know how they are feeling, to find a way to improve the situation by discussing the options open to make work better.
Reflect on what is not fulfilling about the job or what is frustrating. If the work-life balance is not right, or they are not getting the support to develop their career, then have a conversation before deciding to disengage from their role.
Other ways to prevent quiet quitting
- The work provides purpose and meaning. We know that people need to feel part of the bigger picture, know where they fit in and add value. They also want autonomy and control over the way they work and to feel psychologically safe.
- Ensure that the company’s culture and values match the employees own
- The organisation has strong leadership
- There is access to career opportunities
- Involve people in things that affect them – put people and their experience at the heart of business planning
- Have an effective wellbeing strategy in place that discusses workloads
- Ensure strong collaboration in teams and enable a sense of belonging and togetherness
As Shawn Achor also mentions in his TED talk – if you can raise someone’s level of positivity in the present then the brain experiences the “Happiness Advantage”; if our brains are positive then we experience better performance, better productivity, are more resilient, more creative, will suffer less burnout etc
There are small changes that you as individuals can make over the next 21 days to be more positive in the present and rewire your brain:
- Three gratitude’s
- Journaling
- Exercise
- Meditation
- Random acts of kindness
If you want to chat to us more about positive psychology in engagement, disengagement or how the universal themes of employee experience can help you to turn around quiet quitting, then we would love to hear from you. Drop us a line and say hello
@Karen
