Silent quitting refers to withdrawing effort without communicating dissatisfaction to an employer. It is characterized by those quitting and doing the bare minimum to scrape by without getting in trouble or drawing attention to themselves.
This makes quiet quitting so insidious—unlike collective bargaining through unions or an overt refusal to work, it can be difficult to detect and remedy. There’s also no formal process for dealing with employees who appear to be working as usual.
Once quiet quitting is an established practice, the negative impact can spread. Society and economies rely on people and organizations functioning to the best of their ability, so the implications of a ‘make-do’ culture are profound. How can employers identify and counter silent quitting?
What does silent quitting look like in practice?
If you’re an employer, you will rely on the goodwill of employees who go the extra mile and do work outside their job description to keep the wheels oiled. Businesses would soon fail if employees didn’t occasionally volunteer for overtime, take on extra work, or draw attention to potential problems and suggest solutions.
Quiet quitting can also lead to employees setting a higher bar for employers; this can take the form of requests for more time off and more money, with no thought for the organization’s needs.
Why is this suddenly an issue?
The 2020 pandemic saw an increase in quiet quitting as businesses temporarily closed. Many people got used to staying at home whilst being paid, and the subsequent return to work was a wrench for some. Following the return to work, it has been a struggle for bosses to get employees to attend the office in person, with staff preferring to work from home.
A 2022 Gallup poll conducted in the U.S. shows quiet quitting was on the rise, with 50 percent of employees stating they were ‘not engaged’ at work. The other 50 percent consisted of 18 percent of ‘noisy’ quitters actively disengaged from their work. Out of those surveyed, only 32 percent felt fully engaged.
Engagement is the keyword here. While the pandemic has undoubtedly proved to be a catalyst, the issue has been a long time in the making. Engagement is more than being a cog in the machine. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs refers to the self-actualized person who looks beyond working for food and shelter—people want to feel that their work is valued and valuable.
Furthermore, they want to feel as though they are developing as people. Whether it’s picking up new skills, taking on extra roles for more reward, or eventually climbing the career ladder, they want to feel the time they sacrifice working is worthwhile. Wages show that the work is valuable, but an engaged employee should feel that extra effort will be rewarded and recognized.
What factors cause people to quit quietly?
Employees passed over for promotion without explanation will become disengaged. Businesses with managers who are insecure in their authority and gatekeeper access to new skills and knowledge will create demotivated employees. Employers who set unreachable standards for unattainable rewards will prevent employee engagement from happening. Businesses that tell employees to “stay in their lane” when they raise constructive criticism and make valuable suggestions will fail to improve and develop new procedures.
However, businesses that challenge their employees to do better and go further, provide support and resources, and reward those who do well will prosper. They will also be able to harvest the best and brightest from elsewhere. Businesses that don’t empower their most valuable resource don’t deserve good people, and they shouldn’t have them.
The problem is that too many organizations follow each other like sheep in a post-pandemic world. Employees have had a glimpse of a better life and decide that their work/life balance should have more life and less work. Unfortunately, many employers have responded by wielding the stick while not offering the carrot.
This has led employees to get by until retirement and quietly forget their career goals. This is a disaster for society and the economy, as the same people become disengaged in other aspects of their lives and society, and the economy stagnates. Society relies on service providers doing the best for their customers. Those with disengaged employees will constantly perform badly, people will become disillusioned, and the rot of mediocrity will spread.
What can employers do to engage with their employees?
Employers only have themselves to blame for the cancer of quitting. There is an opportunity to build a society based on excellence, which could create economic prosperity for all. Businesses should realize that they don’t exist in a bubble and that their contribution directly affects society’s functions.
If you are concerned about your staff making do, it’s time to stop trying to squeeze them dry. Ask what employees need to go further and higher, and supply it. Pushing them to be the best they can be is fine, but they need to feel that there is an objective that is worth their efforts.
If you want to prevent quitting, it may be worth asking whether your staff have given up or whether you have given up on them.
Before helming Perpetual Talent Solutions as President, Jim Hickey held several senior leadership roles in both sales and operations for two of the world’s largest Commercial Staffing organizations. Jim is a dedicated professional who has been formally recognized as a Staffing Industry Subject Matter Expert.