While “quiet quitting” might be a trending topic on social media recently, it’s not a new phenomenon— for employees, there has always been a battle between doing the bare minimum and going above and beyond. Today’s quiet quitters are rejecting hustle culture and making a conscious decision to invest less of themselves and their mental well-being in work.
According to an August 2022 survey from ResumeBuilder, 21 percent of US employees are doing the bare minimum, while 5 percent say they are doing less than they're being paid for.
Quiet Quitting: A Difference of Perspective
For many employees, quiet quitting is a way to take control to achieve a better work-life balance. People who quietly quit may realize that they have been trying to live up to unrealistic workplace expectations that have negatively affected their personal lives or left them burned out. Quiet quitters draw their own boundaries and take action to respect them.However, this may not work well for employees looking to advance within an organization, since promotions and professional rewards tend to be awarded to those who go above and beyond. In addition, quiet quitters may find their approach leaves more on the plates of their co-workers.
Meanwhile, leaders can approach quiet quitting in two ways: as a threat to be curtailed or as a wake-up call that things need to change.
There’s no question that quiet quitting can be disruptive to business if it affects productivity. But for an effective long-term solution, employers need to get in touch with why employees are quiet quitting. This means listening to employees and taking their views into account when setting expectations. If those expectations—spoken or unspoken—are unrealistic, employees may feel no alternative but to opt out.
Quiet Quitting and Underrepresented Employees
Underrepresented employees, including women and people from various racial and ethnic backgrounds, may not feel they have the luxury to quietly quit. For Black professionals, quiet quitting is most likely not much of a trend, according to Shaun Harper, a provost professor at the University of Southern California. He has conducted workplace climate studies at businesses, agencies, and institutions across industries for nearly two decades and found there are several facets that limit quiet quitting as an option for diverse employees.- Double Standards—According to Harper, the Black professionals he has talked to say they are still dealing with double standards at work, meaning they must work twice as hard to get half as far as a less accomplished White colleague.
- Hypervisibility Paradox—For many Black professionals, their value in the workplace is often rendered invisible by their White colleagues, while at the same time, they are subject to greater scrutiny than their White peers. This situation can also occur for women employees.
- Representation Burden—Many underrepresented professionals also feel that they have the responsibility to do well not just for themselves, but also so that other employees like them will be hired after them.
With these factors and others in play, many minority professionals may not feel that they have the option to quietly quit without serious repercussions to their careers.
How to Re-Engage Employees
To curtail quiet quitting or better establish work boundaries, companies need to recognize employee concerns and find ways to re-engage workers in ways meaningful to them.- Mentoring—Offering employees a chance to communicate how they feel about work and establish advancement avenues are keys to supporting them and keeping them engaged. Mentoring provides an ideal opportunity for employees to connect with others, gain new skills and knowledge, and open up about their struggles in a supportive, encouraging environment. Not only can mentors offer a listening ear, but they can help mentees find solutions that better establish boundaries while improving productivity and satisfaction.
- ERGs—Employee resource groups (ERGs) offer another avenue for support. These groups provide an outlet for employees to form strong connections at work and take part in honest discussions about workplace challenges and solutions—all elements of strong workplace engagement.
- Stay Interviews—Stay interviews provide an opportunity for employers to get feedback directly from employees about how they are doing in the workplace and what they would change. These interviews can be an excellent way to learn about problems and head them off before an employee quietly quits or leaves altogether. While employers may not be able to change everything an employee mentions, asking, listening, and taking action (where applicable) goes a long way toward creating trust.
- Career pathing—Career pathing is the process of mapping out an employee’s potential trajectory at a company. When employees have a plan that they help create, they are much more likely to be engaged—and more motivated to put the work in to achieve it.
For an effective long-term approach to curtail quiet quitting, get in touch with why employees are choosing to disengage. Listen and make changes when you can. Seeing the organization take action and change in response to employee feedback can encourage your people to opt back in.
