What is Quiet Quitting?

· 20 Oct 2022

Quiet quitting essentially means you are quitting the idea of going above and beyond in the workplace. You are no longer subscribing to the hustle-culture mentality and that work has to be your entire life. You work to the very basis of what your job description entails, and use the remaining time to prioritise other aspects of your life. The term Quiet Quitting was popularised by Zaid Khan on his viral TikTok video that sparked a rebellion against corporate hustle.

People are being proactive with their wellness and prioritising themselves, but with the recent changes in the workplace and how people are seeking a better work-life balance, quiet quitting is quite popular. Below are common causes of quiet quitting.

- Excess workload

- Poor compensation

- Lack of boundaries

- Insufficient support

- Unclear or mismatched expectations

- Unsafe work environments

- No attention from the employer to work-life balance

How can employers manage quiet quitting?

Monitor changes in behaviour

Quiet quitters are rarely the under performers, in fact, they may be your workplace superstar. These subtle changes in a quiet quitter’s behaviour may mean they are facing personal challenges or might just need a break. It’s important to raise conversation whenever a change in behaviour is noticed and maintained for some time. There is no harm in checking in with your employees!

Have open conversations

Having open conversations, especially from the start, is an important practice to have. Scheduling in 1-1’s is important not only to get a sense of where employees are in their lives, but to also make them feel valued and seen in the company.

Moderate employee’s workload

Overtime work is a very common practice in today’s society, which only leaves people feeling burnout and tired. A leader’s job is to check in and make sure employees are taking care of themselves because without the employees feeling their best, the whole business pays the price.

Address pay discrepancies

Making sure salary is on par with market rates, cost of living and the amount of workload the employee is doing is vital. Compensation should be reviewed annually and bonuses and benefits should also be taken into account. Also important to make sure salary is fair amongst the company.

Respect career decisions

Not every employee has the same career goals and things they’d wish to take away from working the job. Checking in and discussing early about what it is that the employee will take away from working the job helps the employee gain a sense of direction and how the job can help them in the future. We work to make a living, but having that work be purposeful, impactful and meaningful is also important.