The phenomenon of quiet quitting is as old as the principle of modern work itself. What is meant by this is that employees deliberately forego extra effort and simply do “service by the book”. This can have fatal consequences for the company, but also for the health of the employees. In this article, we give you 7 tips on how you can prevent having quiet quitters and motivate your employees.
In this blog:
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- What is Quiet Quitting?
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- Where Is The Root of The problem?
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- What Are The Effects of Quiet Quitting?
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- 7 Tips on How to Prevent Quiet Quitting And Motivate Your Employees
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- Conclusion
What is Quiet Quitting?
In simple terms, Quiet Quitting means that employees only perform the minimum that the employment contract stipulates. This means that employees do not work unpaid overtime, no longer go the extra mile expected by the employer, and do exactly the work for which they get paid for. Quiet Quitting affects all ages and groups of people: From younger workers from the Gen-Z and millennials to experienced senior team members – from full-time to part-time employees.
Quiet Quitting, however, is not to be confused with “mental quitting”. In this case, the employee only works as much as the absolute minimum allows.
The term became known worldwide through a viral video by American TikTok creator Zaid Leppelin. In it, he denounced the so-called hustle culture, a demanding, aggressive and fast-paced work culture. Triggered by the Covid 19 pandemic that turned working life upside down for billions of workers, big social media platforms, like Facebook and LinkedIn, contributed to the spreading.
Where Is The Root of The Problem?
The economy is growing rapidly, and this is no coincidence. In order to achieve the ambitious goals of many companies, usually more than the bare minimum has to be done. These companies therefore need employees who are fully committed to their workplace and want to make a difference. In this regard, many businesses make two heavy mistakes:
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- From the outset, they assume that employees will make the company the focus of their lives
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- They show little appreciation to employees for going the extra mile. Be it personally or financially
And this is where the problem lies. For many people, the work/life balance is much more important today than it was 20 years ago. People more often want to benefit from remote work and want to have more spare time with their family. Today, a company is expected to adapt to the lifestyle of its employees – and not the other way around.
What Are The Effects of Quiet Quitting?
According to a research by Gallup, a full 85 % of employees across the global spectrum are said to have quit quietly. Thus, it is imperative for any business not to view this problem as a novel trend. Less employee engagement results in multiple, complex and profound economic and personal impacts:
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- The health of the employees seems to be affected by Quiet Quitting and can lead to mental health problems such as burnouts and depression. This must be avoided at all costs!
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- Employee morale suffers – this can have an impact between individuals and entire teams; even if they are not directly connected.
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- In the worst case, this can lead to a person’s disengagement from the labor market.
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- Productivity is drastically reduced, which can lead to stagnation or even a threatening situation for the company.
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- Especially in an uncertain time, Quiet Quitting creates even more uncertainty. This can have fatal consequences for the economy and the health care industry.
By the way: the counterpart to Quiet Quitting is Quiet Firing. Here, layoffs are enforced by frustrating and discomforting certain co-workers.
7 Tips on How to Prevent Quiet Quitting And Motivate Your Employees
Whether it’s weekly conversations, clearly defined boundaries, or a healthy company culture: there are many ways you can prevent Quiet Quitting and motivate your employees. We have collected 7 tips for you that you should apply.
1 – Financial benefits: Unpaid overtime can hardly be prevented, but it should remain the exception and not the rule. Discuss with your employees in advance how they feel about overtime in general and evaluate possible financial conditions with them.
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- Benefits: Employee motivation and performance can be significantly increased.
2 – Hold weekly conversations: Employees want and should be heard. Try to hold weekly 1:1 meetings. Include discussion of personal issues, as appropriate. Questions like “How are you?” or “What can I do for you?” are balm for the soul.
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- Benefits: Employees feel heard and respected and you simultaneously create a healthy work atmosphere.
3 – Look carefully: Be attentive and courteous. If you notice that one of your employees is not feeling well or has been acting differently lately, take the first step and approach them as soon as possible. This is especially important for remote workers, as you see them much less often.
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- Benefits: Employees know that their health is important.
4 – Be honest: When posting a new job, you should make sure that the job description is as accurate as possible. Skillfully set the expectations in the requirements and make sure that the future tasks correlate with the actual job.
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- Benefits: Expectations are set and future employees can prepare.
5 – Set limits: Communicate clearly when you notice that employees are doing extra work for a long time. This way, you ensure that your employees are heard and get an overview of the work actually performed.
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- Benefits: You create a mutual appreciation, which guarantees a healthy working atmosphere in the long term.
6 – Work on the corporate culture: Free coffee, fresh fruits and after-work aperitifs are a fine addition. But even finer are a good working atmosphere, open doors and clear objectives. New team members in particular quickly notice how the corporate culture works.
- Benefits: Employees know that they are working for a serious and forward-thinking company.
7 – Create connectivity: A company is a living organism. Make sure that people can communicate with each other, that everyone knows what the others are doing and provide them unlimited access to crucial company insights.
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- Benefits: This way, your employees can better identify with the company.
Our tip: Try to motivate your employees to approach you with an interactive quiz or a “True or Not True” swipe game. This way, the importance of Quiet Quitting is pushed in a playful way and possible discrepancies can be identified early on. Get in touch with us – we’ll be happy to help you with the realization.
Conclusion
Quiet Quitting is real – and can have devastating consequences for people and businesses. As a business owner, you must do everything you can to make and keep your employees happy. A company is made up of people. And people want to be heard, respected and appreciated. This is the only way to ensure that employees identify with the company and go the necessary extra mile.
