Unless you have had your head in the sand these past months, you will have likely come across the new term and the Twitter hashtag “Quiet Quitting.” It describes the disillusioned employee not leaving their job but completing the bare minimum, often due to a lack of appreciation from management. So how can employers help their employees from becoming so disengaged to the point of quiet quitting? We are taking an analytical look into this new Twitter trend to discover where businesses are going wrong and what they can do to improve.
Gallup provided a report on the Global Workplace in 2022. The results showed that engagement and well-being in the workplace reached stagnation after a steady incline for the past decade. Employee stress levels have also increased, reaching an all-time high. Surprisingly stress levels are higher than during the peak of the Covid Pandemic. It is not a shock that quiet quitting has become a common trope within the workplace.
We spoke to Annemie Ress, founder at PurpleBeach, who explained that “Quiet quitting is a critical indicator of engagement and ignoring the impact it can have will only create more noise and disruption in the long run. We know disengaged employees will underperform. While we commonly take time to seek feedback on what we can improve when an employee leaves the business, we can forget to stay in touch with the current workforce. It is essential to empower our current employees to have their voices heard, and leadership is key to this. When you lead with trust and share your vision, it can create a sense of purpose for the employee, motivating them to commit to the same onward journey, and inspiring them to create opportunities not just for themselves, but for the organisation too. Creating this collaboration leads to better results all around, and that’s something everyone wants to hear.”
Communication is necessary; collaborative cohesion between management and employees will create a better relationship for all parties. Employee appreciation and morale appear to be equally important. Samuel Leach from Samuel and Co Trading had this to say about combating quiet quitting. ” I believe quiet quitting takes place when recognition for work isn’t received from the employer. It’s important for me as their boss to give them their internal projects to own, complete, and receive recognition via bonuses or internal celebrations amongst the team. As long as there is a clear progression plan, it avoids the quiet quitting mentality.”
Appreciation, recognition, and communication are then vital keywords when it comes to the prevention of quiet quitting. There is proof of this when you look at the statistics. According to SlideShare, 85% of employees believe they are at their most motivated when internal communications are regular and productive.
Arguably, the concept of quiet quitting is not a new phenomenon, as illustrated, perhaps though it’s more prevalent and employees are more vocal. The prevalence and the noise of Quiet Quitting have caused a call to action for institutions.
