What is ‘quiet quitting’ and what can you do about it?

A few months ago, we were all talking about The Great Resignation and the impact it was having. The new topic of HR conversation is ‘quiet quitting’.

What is ‘quiet quitting’, where did it come from and what can HR teams do to combat the affects?

What is quiet quitting?

Quiet quitting is a term coined in a video posted on zkchillin’s TikTok account, that has since gone viral. As he puts it, quiet quitting is when ‘You’re still performing your duties, but you’re no longer subscribing to the hustle culture mentality that work has to be your life.’

Quiet quitting is paring back productivity to deliver on what is required, no more. It is doing the bare minimum to not be flagged as a non-performer while limiting long hours at work. You could say it is setting clear boundaries around work in the pursuit of a more equitable work-life balance.

Catchy new name but checking out of the hustle is not a new phenomenon. Employees have been doing this for years for any number of reasons. Poor conditions, low pay, lack of engagement or being burnt out.

Quiet quitting is an evolution of presenteeism - being physically present at work but mentally absent. And like presenteeism, quiet quitting is a concerning sign for employee wellbeing and engagement.

What is even more alarming for HR leaders is that quiet quitting is not an internet fad - even though that is where the buzz started. There are huge numbers of people subscribing to the idea of quiet quitting which adds a layer of complexity for people managers in what is already an exceptionally challenging time.

Why quiet quitting is attractive to employees?

After the last few years of relentless disruption and realignment, employees are re-evaluating what they want from life. Many are burnt out or have just had enough of being pulled in so many directions.

Add to this the pay or promotion freezes in place at many companies and the workload imbalance that has increased since the pandemic. Many employees are expected to do more, take on greater roles or learn new ways of operating, with no commensurate increase in compensation.

This has led many people are making life changing decisions like aligning work with their purpose, re-defining what they want from their career and what they are willing to give up to get it.

A global survey by Gartner found 50% of respondents ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that expectations of their employer has changed since the pandemic. The same study found 65% either ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that COVID-19 had made them reconsider the status work has in their life.

However, the economic outlook means the option of leaving a safe job to take on something new and unknown is not all that attractive. In the past, those consider a move would have resigned, taken a few months off and defined what that move was going to be.

In light of the current climate, these employees are sticking with the safety of what they know rather than risk joining the unknown of a new organisation. Rather than resigning, employees are resigning their commitment in search of a better life. Best of both world’s for the employee.

What does quiet quitting mean for the company?

It is well researched and widely accepted that high employee engagement drives overall success for companies so checked out employees are a huge concern.

As post lock-down research is now emerging in Australia, we can start to quantify the impact of quiet quitting.

The 2022 annual Gallup State of the Global Workplace study found that most employees are either not engaged or are actively disengaged. In Australia and New Zealand, the number that are engaged sits at just 20%.

With the cost of disengagement said to be more than $33,000 per year in Australia, or 34% of salary, you can see the financial impact quiet quitting can have.

However, the impacts are not only financial. With the increase in individual workload across almost every industry, employees are already struggling. When employees who are engaged see the quiet quitters’ efforts diminishing, team morale will nose-dive. Employees will start to resent those not putting in discretionary effort. Teamwork will take a hit, your people will start to work for themselves rather than to reach company goals, things will be left unfinished, deadlines will be missed.

And at a time when delivering exceptional service matters, ultimately it will be your customers and your culture that suffers.

How to limit the impact of quiet quitting.

People don’t intrinsically want to be job zombies. We want to be engaged in something that is valuable and meaningful.

So rather than accepting that quiet quitting is here and you will feel the financial and cultural fallout in a few months, put things in place now to limit the impact.

Listen to your employees.

Listen openly to your team. Every employee will have different challenges so ask them questions that get to the bottom of their situation.

If they are struggling, what is causing the most strain? Is juggling work with personal life too much right now? Are there outside factors affecting how they perform at work? Don’t forget that many people are still feeling disconnected by working from home so consider all the impacts on their work life.

Are they bored in their role and looking for a new challenge? Promotional freezes can affect engagement as employees can be left feeling like there is no career path for them.

Are they getting enough mental down-time to really re-energise? Do they need a break from work or simply a break from workload? Can some of their tasks be reallocated?

Listening to your employees thoughts and ideas, making them feel heard and understood, is a good place to start in the battle against quiet quitting.

Take action to re-design their work.

Re-design work based on the feedback your employees have provided. Many will not be asking to do less, but do different.

Where possible, re-arrange timelines and priorities so your team don’t feel so stressed. Move projects to other team members or shelve things that can be done at a later date to help an employee who is overwhelmed.

Consider mandating time off the job – either a few hours a week for everyone or days at a time for some. This not only allows your team to rest and recover but will work down some of the leave balances too.

Now you have been in flexible or hybrid work mode for a while, review if this is working. There may be some tweaks you can make to help your team get a better balance between work and life activities.

Recognise your team.

Recognition drives engagement by making employees feel appreciated and connected. You don’t have to make grand gestures, but let your employees know that you appreciate the work they are doing.

Don’t forget, recognition may look different than it did six months ago. It may feel like you are recognising activity that is ‘just part of the job’ or ‘something they should just do’. But this recognition makes a big difference.

If an employee is struggling, knowing that they are doing the basics well and you have noticed, gives them a confidence boost and encourages more of the same. Remember, if your team are overwhelmed and overworked, even the small things feel big.

You don’t have to give rewards with each action you value. It can be as simple as a quick post on your recognition wall letting the person know how much you value their contribution. Takes a few minutes but has a lasting impact.

Support your team through this time.

Support your team through the challenges and changes that are taking place.

Once you have defined new ways of working, it is important to check back regularly to make sure the action plan is having their right impact. Regularly check-in on workload, how they are going, what has changed and what can still be adjusted. Remember, your employees are likely to have a good idea of what needs to change to stop them from quiet quitting, so keep asking questions to support them.

Even if the challenges are outside of work, keep following-up on how things are going. While it may not be a work issue, the impact on work is certainly real. Supporting your team through non-work challenges as well as what happens at work shows them that the company genuinely cares about them as a person, not just a number.

Do these things and while you may still have employees disengaging, quiet quitting, turning off – the impacts will be diminished.