In this article, Victoria Brown aka LadyBossHR, explains what quiet quitting is and offers her expert advice on how to prevent quiet quitting from happening within your organisation.
The Great Resignation was something that hit the press as a direct result of the pandemic. Many Employers faced employees resigning, however, sometimes not to another role. Instead, because they had had an ‘epiphany’ during lockdown and no longer wanted to work in the profession they were in. Sound familiar? It is still a problem now. However, perhaps they are not resigning, but rather switching off and going through the motions.
This is a movement of employees that are disengaged, with a mindset to perform no more or no less than they are contractually obliged to do. Do you have employees that work to the second of their working hours….a stampede to leave the office? More talk than work in your business? I read some scary statistics recently in a report conducted by Aviva. It that found 7 in 10 employees now simply view work as a way of earning money to do the things in their personal life they want. Furthermore, 2 in 5 employees are staying in their jobs because of concerns over the economy and job security.
There is evidence to suggest that this movement is most popular with Gen Z and younger millennials (those below the age of 35). They are still performing their duties, but no longer subscribing to the hustle-culture mentality. With Gen Z and millennials making up 38% of our working population now, we really do need to consider the generational differences and what we need to do to improve engagement.
The challenge for Employers is, how do you tell the difference between an employee that is disengaged and just ‘checked out’ to one that is underperforming?
Communication
Managers must have conversations with their employees to reduce disengagement and burnout. Managers need to recognise the way in which they need to change in the new hybrid working environment. Ultimately, this needs to cascade from the top and is the responsibility of the Senior Leadership team.
Just one meaningful conversation each week per employee can make a difference. It can just be 15-30 minutes long! Line Managers are in the best position to have these conversations, as they understand each employee’s strengths and weaknesses/personal goals/life challenges.
Bigger Picture and Accountability
It is important that employees understand the bigger picture and how the work they complete contributes to the larger Organisation’s purpose. This relates back to Simon Sinek’s well-known encouraging words for Employers to always ‘Find their Why’ and communicate to their team to ensure growth and engagement.
In addition, Managers need to create accountability for individual performance and team collaboration.
Do you suspect your employees are quiet quitting within your organisation? To find out more information or if you require any advice on how to prevent quiet quitting, get in contact with our team of experts.
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