Quiet Quitting
Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash
Millennial and Gen Z employees feel that they’ve done so many things “the right way.” They’ve gone to college, earned a degree or two, completed one unpaid internship after another, and even started successful freelance side hustles. They’ve made personal connections and kissed up to all the important people. However, they’ve been repeatedly rejected and given whiplash as industry leaders’ demands fluctuate. The rubber has not only met the road but has buried it six feet under.
The term quiet quitting gives the impression of a passive-aggressive middle finger to overbearing leadership and overtime hours. It’s being called the rebellion of the lazy and accused of meaning starting the workday at 10:00 a.m., leaving at 3:00 p.m., including an hour of lunch with four 20-minute breaks. To whoever believes this definition, we strongly recommend digging deeper into the concept of quiet quitting rather than the trendy phenomenon making it popular.
What is quiet quitting?
In short, we’re killing Hustle Culture.
The actual definition of quiet quitting is setting boundaries and not taking on additional work. It’s also interpreted to mean no longer going above and beyond at work. The toxic work culture that has fueled the modern employee has deceived recent graduates, women, people of color, and others who are seeking equal respect and worth in the workplace. While it’s perfectly healthy to work hard and express pride in your accomplishments, habitual overworking has destroyed or completely replaced any potential life outside the workplace. How can one have work-life balance if work is your life?
In reality, the concept surrounding quiet quitting is nothing new and is a natural response in our post-COVID work environments. Employees are simply trying to protect their personal time. Over the last two years, we’ve seen employees regain some control over their work lives, and we’ve seen a surge toward efforts to balance work and life outside work. You don’t live to work; you work to live. Nothing about quiet quitting promotes laziness or a passive work ethic.
After the Great Resignation of 2021, quiet quitting has become the best alternative for employees to keep their jobs and force a shift in perspective about work.
Hustle Culture shaped the societal assumption (uh oh - red flag word, right?) that if an employee didn’t work twice as hard as the next person, the company would replace that employee. Employees then believed that work-life balance and boundaries disqualified them from leadership roles and career advancement. Kevin O’Leary, an investor and star of ABC’s “Shark Tank” has also said, “People that go beyond to try to solve problems for the organization, their teams, their managers, their bosses, those are the ones that succeed in life.” And Kevin is right! If you work harder than your coworkers, your skills can develop faster, your overtime hours can boost your paycheck, and your leaders can associate excellent work with your name sooner.
The question is “How can you make your boss’s life easier while maintaining healthy practices at work?” Does “going above and beyond” have to mean endless days at your desk or responding to emails after work hours? Is it possible to be a dedicated, hard-working employee within the allotted forty hours each week? The concept of quiet quitting is the employee’s means of answering these questions for themselves.
How should leaders respond?
For any leader who has only heard the term but has not explored the concept itself, the term quiet quitting gives the impression of mentally “checking out” while collecting a paycheck. If that’s how leaders approach quiet quitting, there’s going to be a lot of overreacting and overcorrecting. (Google search the term quiet firing and you’ll see what I mean.) So, what can you do?
Don’t panic.
Communicate with your workforce; understand and work towards shared terminology to stay on the same page with your employees. Then, determine a level of flexibility that both parties can be comfortable with moving forward. Some leaders will benefit the most by bringing in your human resources department, unions, or third-party consultants, like ONE EIGHTY, to ensure all relevant voices are heard and to facilitate the most beneficial outcome.
Whether you’re a fan or a critic of quiet quitting, no one can deny the significant drop in employee engagement since 2019. The one thing leaders and employees need the most during this time is clear communication about what each other needs. Employees have spent two years of emotional stress in every possible area of life while companies have fought to survive a global pandemic and overwhelming resignation wave. We should all take time to develop healthy boundaries and practices as we rebuild and move forward together.
Most of the time, though, it’s safe to assume this phrase means something else, or something more, than what’s being said. As always, make sure you do your due diligence by actively listening--not just with your ears, but your eyes and (metaphorical) gut as well!