Quiet quitting as a phrase became popular thanks to social media, with trending videos on TikTok gaining prominence for the idea with many Gen Z and millennial employees identifying themselves with the phenomena. When an employee feels like they’re no longer valued, feel burnt out from prolonged periods of heavy workloads, or are generally unhappy with their job, terms, and atmosphere in their team and their career growth, they begin to dial down their efforts and mentally check out - they are ‘quiet quitting’.
Quiet quitting may be a popular term, but this practice isn't new. Employees have quietly quit their jobs for years, but the pandemic has caused a major shift in how new generations want to position work in their lives, with many reconsidering what matters most to them and how they wish to spend their time.
How big is this problem and what can you, as a business leader, do to overcome it?
Quiet quitting matters to companies, organisations, and entire economies because the behaviours associated with it are detrimental to productivity, growth, and financial success. With worries of an economic slowdown swirling, productivity levels are a major concern to company executives. Major tech companies like Google are signalling that they are slowing hiring and could lay off staff amid concerns about overall productivity. Employees acting on their dissatisfaction at work isn’t only potentially affecting their job security. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report found that job dissatisfaction is at a staggering all-time high and that unhappy and disengaged workers cost the global economy $7.8 trillion in lost productivity!
Leaders can take these three steps to prevent quiet quitting:
Invest in honest and effective internal communications. Survey your employees regularly, and listen to their feedback, suggestions, and concerns.
Create the right conditions for great work to take place. Adopt the right technologies, platforms, and equipment.
Recognise and reward great contributions. Focus on employee individual training, development, and career progression.
Extra step: Pay a fair wage. This is the breaking point that often determines the outcome of the ‘Should I stay or should I go’ attitude during the ‘quiet quitting’ period.
How is your company dealing with quiet quitting? Share your insights about this phenomenon in the comment section below.