Are your employees quiet quitting? This is what you need to know

I recently had a conversation with a client who allows their team to work from home or office at their choice (hybrid model). My client was confused about ‘Quiet Quitting’. He read articles about the phenomenon and asked: “Is this real?... How do I know if my employees are quiet quitting?... And if they are quiet quitting, what should I do?”  Hence, I decided to summarise my answers to his questions in this short article to clarify and provide some leadership tips.

What is ‘quiet quitting’?

Quite quitting is the new buzzword, but not a recent phenomenon. Organisations have always had to manage team members who were cruising and doing the bare minimum to keep their work (and pay cheques). We always had employees who did not go above and beyond and worked the bare minimum to pass by. You know, those that close their laptop at 5 PM and while at work focus on their assigned task only. Strong teams see these employees as social loafers, a burden on their efforts; hence, these individuals do not survive in high-performing teams.

Why is it more common these days?

Over the last few years, many experienced losses of family and friends due to COVID. Others lived in lockdowns and under constant uncertainty. At the same time, the talent market tightened. In Australia, there are more than 423,000 job vacancies (ABS), and unemployment is at a 48-year low. Korn Ferry’s study found that “by 2030, there will be a global human talent shortage of more than 85 million people, or roughly equivalent to the population of Germany”. Adding to COVID and the talent shortage is the global economic downturn and the rising inflation. These conditions caused people to reflect on their lives. Some consciously decided to reduce their work efforts and search for a new life balance.

Who are the quiet quitters?

Quiet quitters are not your typical employees who rate lower on disengagement. There are three types of quiet quitters. I call them the lifestylers, the self-satisfiers and the revengers:

1. The Lifestylers- are those looking for a lifestyle and believe self-fulfilment comes from outside work. This is their philosophy, and they behave the same way no matter where they work. Recently, I interviewed a “lifestyler”. She made it clear that she works 9-5 no matter what happens. At 5 PM, she goes to the beach and expects not to be contacted after hours. Due to the role requirements, she wasn’t successful in the process.
2. The Self-Satisfiers- are employees whose personal circumstances encourage them to keep their current job while focusing on outside work (family, hobbies). They believe moving a job will require effort and extra time to re-establish themselves. In their current jobs, they can put less effort and have their focus elsewhere. For example, a team member had a life-changing event a few months ago. Before this happened, he was looking for a job. But things happened, so he decided to focus on his family and do as little as he could at work (to save energy). The consequences for his employer were major client complaints and dissatisfaction.
3. The Revengers- employees that used to be engaged may have even gone above and beyond until something at work pushed them to disengagement. They are either looking for a new job or decided not to work above and beyond, as the employer “doesn’t deserve it”. A few years ago, I had a client that refused to give one of his employees a salary increase. The employee stayed at work, opened a private business, used his employer’s tools, office and technology, and worked on his new business while his office door was shut. This went on for more than a year. When it was found out and the employee was dismissed, he said he had “no regrets, his employer deserved it!”.

What are the risks of quiet quitting?

The current discussion in the media is mainly focused on the influence of quiet quitting on productivity at the employer, industry, and national levels. However, I believe that we must pay attention to other significant risks as well:

• Health & Safety- quiet quitters are emotionally disconnected from their work. They pay less attention to details and hence unconsciously can create safety hazards. Imagine construction employees who do just the bare minimum to keep their jobs. They might not report safety hazards, or they might leave their tools in an unsafe manner while they take a break. 
• Quality- people who are disconnected and do the bare minimum may overlook quality issues, focus on delivering on time, and ticking off the task. Think about nursing as an example. What will our health care look like if nurses give the medications to the patients but do not bother to report medication mistakes, pressure injuries or quality issues? The risk is that quiet quitting might evolve into an attitude of “surely someone else can take care of it”. 

Is quiet quitting contagious?

This is similar to asking whether bullying is contagious. Yes, these types of behaviours do spread and affect others. Once we turn a blind eye to such behaviours, they penetrate and become part of the organisational culture. So, the real question leaders should ask themselves is: do we prefer to have a full head count as budgeted, but with many quiet quitters, or employ a smaller driven and engaged team?

Is there a direct relationship between pay and quiet quitting?

I haven’t come across research on this topic, but my experience indicates that the answer is probably not. I don’t believe that if you increase the salary of quiet quitters, they will suddenly stop ‘quiet quitting’, start initiating, go above and beyond and increase their productivity. And if they do so, it would be for a short period until they want another pay increase. And they already know what they need to do to get it…

Tips 

People Managers

• Meet with your team members regularly (with a camera on or face-to-face) and look for the signs of quiet quitting, such as a drop in initiatives and accountability seeking.
• Ensure your team members have individual development plans focusing on their long-term career goals, not just current roles.
• Look for quiet quitting indications in job interviews. Are you hiring to have the best skilled/experienced people or those with the right attitude?

       HR and Executives

• Ensure quiet quitting is not penetrating the organisational culture. If you believe it may be penetrating, conduct an external organisational diagnosis. 
• Conduct leadership training for all managers to give them the tools to develop high-performing teams and deal with difficult situations and conversations.
• Review the work overloads of the different roles and ensure the well-being of employees is assessed.