As social media buzzes with the idea of workers intentionally checking out of their jobs, let's talk about everything we need to know about Quiet Quitting and how to combat it.
What is Quiet Quitting?
In today's fast-paced work environment, it's becoming increasingly common for employees to feel like their jobs lack purpose and meaning. Many find themselves feeling unfulfilled and unhappy, but they may be hesitant to speak up or quit outright. This phenomenon is often referred to as "quiet quitting," and it can have detrimental effects on both the employee and the employer. From our perspective as Futurists, we do not see signs of quiet quitting slowing down. In fact, we anticipate quiet quitting to evolve into actual quitting amongst the Gen Zs and Millennial's as most people, post-pandemic, have begun to think more about what truly matters to them apart from work. For example, people have started to shift their focus to mental health, physical health, well-being, purpose and more. Studies have shown that 63% of Gen Z's and 57% of Millennial's plan to quit their jobs and move on to another for various reasons.
Bryan Hancock, a partner of McKinsey, mentioned that one of the reasons behind quiet quitting is that employees do not feel a connection with their job, to what they are doing, to the broader mission. Other reasons have also been attributed to a lack of support from managers, excessive workload, poor compensation and unsafe work environments.
In a Gallup report, it’s been stated that only 15% of employees worldwide are actively engaged at work. In other words, 85% of employees could be quiet quitting!
It has also been found in a study done by Milieu Insight on the SEA market that in Malaysia, 57% of employees do not go above and beyond at work. That’s right, quiet quitting is not an isolated problem which only happens in the United States. It is happening everywhere, even in our home country, Malaysia.
These statistics are alarming because quiet quitting could pose significant risks to the economy. Although the downsides to quiet quitting may not be plain to the eye, it does not appear on your Profit and Loss statement, but rest assured, there are financial costs to it. Studies have shown that quiet quitting could cost businesses up to $1.5 trillion globally!
If you’re an employer, that’s a whole lot of money you are losing right under your nose. So now, how do we tell if quiet quitting is happening in your organisation?
5 Signs it's happening in your organisation
1. Decreased Productivity: Employees who are unhappy with their job may become less productive over time. This may be due to a lack of motivation, disinterest in their work, or feelings of being undervalued. Have you noticed a drop in your employees’ productivity levels?
2. Increased Absenteeism: An employee's increased frequency of taking time off from work beyond their usual could indicate dissatisfaction with their job and a potential desire to leave. Are you observing a consistent pattern of absenteeism in this regard?
3. Lack of Engagement: If an employee is not engaged in their work, they may become disinterested in company events, meetings, or other activities. This can lead to a feeling of disconnection from the company, and ultimately, quiet quitting. Does it sometimes feel like your employees are there but not there at the same time?
4. Reduced Initiative: When employees become dissatisfied, they may cease to take the initiative to enhance their work or propose new ideas, indicating that they have mentally checked out. Do you observe your employees taking proactive steps and demonstrating initiative while working?
5. Decreased Socialization: When an employee becomes disassociated with their job, they may begin to withdraw from their coworkers, refuse to open up and keep to themselves. Have you been proactively engaging with your employees to gain a deeper understanding of their current situation?
How to prevent it?
“In order to build a rewarding employee experience, you need to know what matters most to your people” – Julia Bevacqua
1. Encourage Open Communication
Do you think your employees or team members communicate openly with you on what matters to them? Is there enough trust and openness within the organisation for employees to share their honest thoughts? Organisations need to create an environment where workers feel like they can speak up. They too need to know that their thoughts, opinions and concerns matter.
Open communication is more than just showing empathy and lending your ear, it requires proper procedures in place to collect qualitative and quantitative data to gather information on the workers’ needs to feel engaged at work. After gathering the information, the organization then needs to act on it so that employees feel heard. In short, collect, analyse, act, repeat.
Making use of people analytics tools and having proactive one-on-one conversations with employees could be the few ways you could gain valuable insight on your employees’ experience at your organisation, and it is only then you can provide a meaningful and targeted response.
2. Show Gratitude and Validation
Being a good leader is more than just giving orders and supervising projects. To really inspire and engage your employees, you need to create a positive work environment where they feel appreciated and valued. One way to do this is by showing gratitude and giving positive feedback. When employees feel like their hard work is recognized and acknowledged, it can boost their motivation and commitment to their job.
It's important to avoid the negative effects of "quiet quitting," where employees may start to feel discouraged and disengaged if their efforts go unnoticed. To prevent this, leaders must prioritize recognizing their employees' inherent value and making them feel appreciated.
"The common denominator that I’ve found in every single interview is that we want to be validated. We want to be understood." – Oprah Winfrey
As Oprah Winfrey famously said, everyone wants to feel validated and like their efforts matter, whether they're a celebrity like Beyoncé or an everyday person. By acknowledging your employees' contributions and helping them recognize their own worth, you can create a work culture that inspires and motivates them to do their best.
3. Create a Meaningful Work Culture
As leaders, we must recognize and honour our employees' desire for a meaningful and fulfilling professional experience, where they feel a sense of purpose and belonging. One of the best ways to achieve this is by hiring individuals who share the same values, vision, and mission as our company. In doing so, we can create a culture where our team members feel a genuine sense of commitment and connection to our shared purpose.
“Employees need to feel part of a bigger picture, to have autonomy and control, and to feel psychologically safe – all the things that we know make a good day at work." – Rebecca Holt
Clinical psychologist Rebecca Holt reminds us that a psychologically safe work environment is crucial to fostering this sense of belonging and commitment. When our employees feel valued and supported as part of a team working together towards a common goal, they are much more likely to thrive and avoid the pitfalls of disengagement and burnout.
By prioritizing our employees' well-being and creating an environment where they feel valued and supported, we can cultivate a culture that inspires them to grow both personally and professionally. This, in turn, leads to greater engagement and job satisfaction, which benefits both the employee and the company as a whole.
4. Create opportunities for growth
As a manager, you have the amazing opportunity to not only lead your team, but to inspire and empower them as well. Investing in your team's career goals and providing them training opportunities, regardless of their role, shows that you are committed to their success and personal growth. This not only enhances their job satisfaction but also helps them bring new ideas and perspectives to the team. By taking an interest in their growth, you demonstrate that you value them not just as employees, but as individuals.
However, it is also important to recognize that work alone can be demanding and not everyone wants to take on extra responsibilities by developing additional skills. As leaders, we need to be mindful of our employees' needs and capacity and be conscious not to push them over the ledge. This means setting realistic goals that challenge our team members without overwhelming them. Contrary to popular belief, encouraging your team to take regular breaks is another way to support your employees’ growth as it helps them feel recharged and refreshed, occasional breaks allow them the opportunity for personal growth and development that can ultimately benefit both them and the organization.
5. Maintain Boundaries
It's becoming increasingly clear that many of us are facing significant stress, anxiety, and sleeplessness. These challenges are impacting not only our personal lives but also our work performance. Thankfully, we have the power to take action and make a positive change by setting clear boundaries between our employees' work and personal lives.
In our role as leaders, it falls on us to take care of our employees' well-being by aiding them in setting up boundaries that work for them. We can accomplish this by defining two kinds of boundaries: hard and soft. Hard boundaries are the ones that are essential and cannot be compromised, while soft boundaries are more flexible and can be discussed. We can apply these boundaries in various ways, such as advocating that our team members prioritize their personal time or creating guidelines for after-hours communication.
How Optimal Insight can help you prevent it
Quiet quitting does not happen overnight, it happens gradually. Similarly, combating this issue also takes time - as the saying goes, Rome was not built in a day.
Although the above tips and solutions may seem perfectly easy to do, why is it that quiet quitting is still so prevalent? This phenomenon is not new! At Optimal Insight, we believe in acknowledging quiet quitting and creating a positive work environment that fosters a sense of belonging. Most organisations do not see it as a top priority as it does not directly impact the company’s bottom line but by the time top management does realise that it is a problem, everyone scrambles to figure out how to combat the issue, only to feel this way “where and how do I start?”. This is not an uncommon occurrence as we have seen it with many of our clients. Despite the above solutions being seemingly easy to carry out, they actually are not. It requires a deep dive into the company culture, a proper structure and monitoring after execution. Optimal Insight has the capability and expertise to provide your organisation with the insight that it needs and craft bespoke solutions that will suit your needs. We help organizations identify and address issues to create a Generative Culture that supports employee well-being and success.
A Generative Culture empowers employees by encouraging autonomy, ideation and experimentation by prioritising diversity, equity and inclusion which leads to greater innovation, improved decision-making and purpose. Through a Generative Culture, trust, respect and psychological safety is built in the organisation. We believe that these are attributes all organisations will need to possess when facing the future of work.
Now, we know this may just sound like a bunch of words to you… but fret not because Optimal Insight can break it down for you and provide you with actionable steps using our Generative Model framework to drive a Generative Culture in your organisation. To learn more about Generative Culture, we also have a book called “Future Shaping”, written by Optimal Insight’s Founder and CEO, Michele Sagan which will be dropping really soon. So, stay tuned!
Finally, if you think that quiet quitting is happening in your organisation or if you are confused as to what is happening, feel free to contact us at contact@optimalinsight.org to pick our brains and get a free consultation. With a track record of success working with clients across a range of industries, Optimal Insight is a trusted partner for companies looking to transform their organisations and drive long-term growth. We would love to hear from you!
Do you think Quiet Quitting is happening in your organisation?
Yes. I see the signs.
No. My employees are happy.
I'm not sure.