Shhh! Listen carefully, are your employees 'Quietly Quitting'?
Released On 12th Aug 2022
‘Quiet quitting’ is one of the latest buzz phrases to hit social media. Have you heard it talked about? Seen the TikTok videos? Or is this all new to you? Read on to understand what quiet quitting is, how to spot the signs and what you can do to avoid it.
Quiet quitting sounds to me like an employee quietly tiptoeing out of the office never to be seen again. This is not what it is. It is a trend where employees do the bare minimum of work, at work, to avoid being sacked. In other words, they are staying put but switching off. In some cases, doing the bare minimum without repercussions is being celebrated by social media users.
The rise in quiet quitting is linked to a rise in job dissatisfaction. If you are at work doing as little as possible, it’s probably because your heart is no longer in it. Post pandemic, employees’ relationships with work and ways of working have changed dramatically. People have been questioning their work-life choices and balance as well as their career. In many cases, the stress of the pandemic, home schooling, social isolation and health concerns have led to work exhaustion, burn out or ennui. Coupled with the current cost of living crisis, employees may be quietly quitting to retreat from hectic workloads in order to feel like they have more of a work-life balance.
The stats back this up. For example, in the latest NHS staff survey, it showed that employee morale had dropped to 5.8/10, below the 2017 level having been improving steadily each year to this point, and that staff engagement had dropped to 6.8/10 down from 7.0 in 2017-2020.
On social media debate has been sparked because employees are arguing that work shouldn’t take over your whole life. Fair enough you may say. In some cases, setting boundaries with work and allowing employees to feel that they can say no, can help employees avoid burnout or disinterest. Do encourage employees to turn off emails out of hours, do encourage them to take their contractual breaks. Healthy boundaries are a good thing and can contribute to better performance at work.
So what are the signs of quiet quitting?
They should be fairly easy to spot. Have you got employees that were previously conscientious suddenly not turning up to meetings or reducing their productivity? Are they no longer contributing to the team? Arriving late, leaving early?
What causes it?
More often than not, it is feeling undervalued, lack of work-life balance or even the dreaded burnout. By trying less hard at work, employees may feel as though they are putting less priority on their work and therefore readdressing some of the above.
What can you do as employers to reduce this trend in quiet quitting?
Your first instinct may be to treat this as a conduct issue. Whilst this may be required if things do not improve, it is important to first meet with the employee to find out how they are feeling, why they are less motivated and what can be done to improve things.
Regular catch up between employees and managers can help build positive working relationships and resolve issues without having to move to any formal action. Clearly with hybrid and more remote working you need to make sure managers are actively checking on employees. If not, employees may be slipping through the net, and you may be at risk of them quietly quitting.
Staff surveys, team meetings or even general catch ups are a great starting point for identifying issues. Once the issues are identified you can think about what measures can be put in place to improve staff morale and engagement.
Are they bored? Think about what you can do to help them take the next step in their career or to challenge them further? Do they feel undervalued? Can you look to amend job roles to give employees more control over what they do, more responsibility if they want it and accordingly more pride in their work? Alternatively, if they are feeling overwhelmed, look to address their workloads, are expectations unrealistic? What can you do to improve this? Enabling managers to have these conversations, to build empathy and personal relationships with their team along with the authority to make meaningful changes should help avoid employee disengagement and low morale.
It is vital to think about mental health and what you have in place to protect your employees. Our recent e-bulletin on how to support employee mental health can help you with this. Think about safeguarding your own workforce before looking to hire any new employees, especially within the current challenging recruitment climate.
If you require any help or assistance regarding this topic or anything else employment law related, then please contact our Employment Law Team.
