How to spot (and Stop!) Quiet Quitting
Update: Since this article, we’ve also published an activity you can do with leaders to help find and address quiet quitting in your workplace. You can find it here: Activity: Your Managers are the Key to Stopping Quiet Quitting
Quiet quitting isn’t new—it’s just a new term for a specific kind of workplace disengagement. Experienced leaders are already familiar with employee disengagement, but the quiet part is what makes this trend different.
What causes quiet quitting?
We’re talking about a subtle kind of disengagement that can be hard to spot. Employees are “quiet quitting” when they do the bare minimum to meet the requirements of their job. It stands to reason that if they’re getting the job done, it’s not really a performance issue.
It’s about attitude and outlook. Many leaders—especially those with a more old school perspective—think of this as an attitude problem with the team member. They say things like, “why won’t they give 110%?” “When I was coming up, I worked harder than all my peers to get ahead.”
And here’s our hot take on the topic: it’s not always the employee’s fault that quiet quitting happens.
Especially when we consider trends with younger generations, the employer-employee relationship has changed. Workers are no longer looking for a career-for-life and a gold watch when they retire. They’re looking for work that is meaningful, aligns with their values, and where they can learn.
So while quiet quitting can be an attitude issue with an employee, we urge leaders to consider whether they are providing the kind of work—and work environment—that people want in the first place.
What are the signs of quiet quitting?
Disengaging employees sometimes interact less with their colleagues, and the company as a whole. They may begin to withdraw from work-related activities, and begin to lose interest in their job. This can be a major problem for a business, as it can lead to decreased morale. A drop in communication can also mean less teamwork and innovation.
You might also spot a quiet quitter by a lack of participation or interest in non-mandatory work events. Someone who routinely avoids socializing with colleagues by skipping team outings (or by minimally participating in them).
Lastly, a common sign of quiet quitting is a drop in productivity. Someone that’s proven to be a top performer that starts turning in work late or with errors is creating a delta that you can see.
How to prevent employee disengagement
Whether someone is quiet quitting, or is pulling back some enthusiasm for a non-work reason, the approach you take as a leader should ultimately be the same: talk to them.
Yup, it’s that simple. You put the person first, and treat them like you would want to be treated: presumably, with empathy.
Leaders who are quick to judgement are going to lose great talent. But by asking what’s going on and how you can help, they may instead uncover information that’s incredibly valuable to the company.
Suppose a team member is disengaging from work culture. Through conversation, you might learn that they’re not getting frequent enough feedback, or the right kind of feedback to help them grow. If that’s true for one person, it’s probably true for others.
So instead of incurring the costs of lower productivity and eventual turnover, you now have the opportunity to create an engaged internal promoter
The very real benefits to addressing quiet quitting
When leaders talk with team members they think are quiet quitting, sometimes you’ll uncover something really big. Like a team that feels its project doesn’t align with the values or mission that they signed up for. Whether the solution is a realignment of the project or communication to help the team understand it differently, you’ll be glad you took the time to address the person and not just the behaviours of quiet quitting.
Another effective way to prevent quiet quitting is by providing opportunities for employee development and growth. By offering training, mentoring, and other opportunities for employees to develop new career skills, employees will feel more fulfilled and more motivated to stay with the company. This proactive approach can prevent quiet quitting from even coming up in the first place.
Putting it all Together
Across every industry, it is important to remember that people are diverse and will have different needs and motivations. There’s no one-size solution to copy/paste. By taking the time to understand and address individual needs, businesses can create a culture that is engaging, inspiring, and supportive of all employees.
At the risk of repeating ourselves in this blog, all of your HR and people strategies are related. Quiet quitting isn’t happening in a vacuum. How you communicate to job candidates sets the tone for culture and vision, and once they’re hired your onboarding needs to reinforce that. Over time, your performance reviews should walk the walk, serving as a key tool in retention.
And if you’ve got those processes in place but still see quiet quitting, it’s probably time to ask how you can iterate on your approach.
How to Get Started
Your first step is to identify what quiet quitting would look like at your company, based on the above. Next, ask yourself (or your team of leaders) if anyone meets that description. If the answer is yes, make a plan to speak with them, from a positive perspective. Do not single them out or put them on the spot. Do approach them with kindness and a genuine intent to improve their experience.
Your goal in addressing quiet quitting in the first place shouldn’t be about any one individual’s behaviour, but rather how you can better shape your culture and work environment so that people don’t end up wanting to quiet quit in the first place.
Moving to a people-first HR strategy is not a small feat. It’s an investment and it will take time. Even if you have an entire HR team, they’ve already got daily ops on their plates. Hello HR provides expert strategic consulting and insight. We’re like a superpower both for leadership and HR teams!
Drop us a line and we can get the ball rolling with a free discovery call.
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