It’s no surprise that Google searches for “quiet quitting” have spiked over the last month. Everyone seems to have a hot take on this topic, referring to an employee's decision to detach emotionally from their day jobs, instead of physically handing in their resignation letters. Although the buzz around the subject is new, quiet quitting is a workforce phenomenon with which many of us are all too familiar.
As TikTok user zaidleppelin pointed out in a post that launched a thousand think pieces, quietly deciding to coast through your job responsibilities is a way to reject hustle culture. (Ever heard of it?) However, it also raises questions about why nine-to-fivers feel the need to phone it in at work in the first place.
So is “quiet quitting” a product of a lack of inflation raises as the cost of living continues to increase? Or does it stem from the fact that 59 percent of managers are reporting feeling overworked as of 2021? Maybe it’s something else! While there’s no one culprit of quiet quitting, here’s five founders to offer their honest opinions about why quiet quitting has a loud message about workplace happiness (and one thing leaders can do to keep quiet quitting out of their company culture).
Monisha Bajaj, Founder and Business Strategist of m times v
“Instead of accepting the status quo, people are starting to zoom out and redefine their personal relationship to work,” Bajaj says. She attributes quiet quitting to a cultural shift in how work fits into our lives. “At the same time, we still live in a society where work is how you make money to support your livelihood. So, in part, people who are deciding to quiet quit may not feel they have the power to change how their workplace is structured or the need to make a living, but they’ve realized they can control how they personally show up.”
Bajaj’s advice for how leaders can support employees in the age of quiet quitting: “As leaders, it’s important to actively foster a healthy workplace that promotes autonomy and that is free from any kind of coercion, shame, and blame,” she advises. “When you show people respect through how you structure your workplace and the culture you create, it gives them room to show up fully engaged.”
Lekisha Middleton, Founder of The Good Success Network
Some argue that “quiet quitting” is a fancy, 21st-century term for simply doing what’s in your job description, and calling it a day. Middleton is in that camp. “If quiet quitting is quitting anything, it's the hustle and grind culture. It's doing exactly what you were hired to do and providing an even exchange between the work you're doing, the value you're adding, and the compensation and benefits you're receiving in return,” she explains.
Middleton’s advice for how leaders can support employees in the age of quiet quitting: “Leaders should not expect employees to go above and beyond their assigned job duties for the same compensation and benefits,” she says. “People have a right to keep strong boundaries between their work and personal lives, and human-centered leaders both understand and respect that right.”
Jess Podgajny, Co-Founder and CEO of LLUNA
Hybrid work culture is on the rise, and as we WFH, WFW, and do some blend of both, the idea of the “office” needs to evolve for the better. “We cannot simply put a policy in place [for where people should work] and then expect everyone to operate exactly the same way as before, yet within a whole new context. Companies need to engage employees differently, motivate them regularly, and, most importantly, connect employees with the purpose and meaning of their work in much more intentional ways,” Podgajny shares.
Podgajny’s advice for how leaders can support employees in the age of quiet quitting: “In the age of hybrid and remote work, leaders and companies must prioritize clear messaging and regular dialogue with employees to convey the meaning of a job, and connect daily outcomes to purpose. Hard work is easy when the purpose is motivating,” she adds.
Kimone Napier, Founder of Hire Breakthrough
Napier says that “quiet firing” is yet another factor contributing to people feeling disinvested from work. “Quiet quitting is a direct correlation of quiet firing. For years, employees have fired workers at will and without any indication. Although quiet firing is tied to legalities to avoid a lawsuit, workers feel this approach is not inclusive. As a result quiet quitting is workers taking power into their own hands when it comes to their positions and the future of work,” Napier says.
Napier’s advice for how leaders can support employees in the age of quiet quitting: “Business owners and leaders need to be aware of the signs of quiet quitting (less enthusiasm, lack of contribution, lateness, etc.) amongst their workers. Rather than ignoring the signs, employers need to speak to their workers to get their feedback once they notice the signs,” she advises. “They should also look at the worker's workload, look at their career paths, and help them to set some work boundaries.”
Rachel Kanarowski, Founder of Year of Living Better
“Ultimately, quiet quitting is a management issue,” Kanarowski says. “It's not about the caricature of ‘The Lazy Employee,’ but more about knowing what you truly need from each member of your team, and being comfortable if that is exactly what they deliver, no-more-no-less. When leaders cannot define what success looks like for a role and how that success will be measured, they are inadvertently creating an adversarial work relationship where their people can never feel certain they've done what's expected of them.”
Kanarowski’s advice for how leaders can support employees in the age of quiet quitting: Kanarowski is a big advocate of “stay interviews,” or bi-weekly, one-on-one meetings held with everyone on your direct team, to gather feedback about what’s working and what isn’t. “Think of this as a relationship check-in; it shouldn't be combined with a status report or other functional meeting where this person would be presenting to you,” she says. “While it might seem counterintuitive to add more meetings, research shows that ‘stay interviews’ decrease turnover and increase engagement, and research by Gallup shows a direct correlation between decreased communication and a perception that their organization doesn't care about their well-being.”
Written by Kells McPhillips