An Alternate Response To Quiet Quitting

Unfortunately, one of the most common reasons that employees choose to make a change in employment is not a positive one. ?I think we all know the positive reasons to go, but let’s list them anyway:

• Promotion / greater responsibility ...plus
• More money ...plus
• Better work-life balance

Now what’s the primary negative reason people leave??? Poor management with no path for growth.

As someone who has helped people make career transitions, I have seen happy employees find even better opportunities thanks to their openness to change. ?But I’ve also helped those who just couldn’t make it one more day in their current employment, which is incredibly unfortunate. ?The culture of a firm shouldn’t get to that point and vice versa.

The best career advice I was ever given in my Practice Management graduate course was to make a change before you grow bitter from the culture. ?Wise words, but I would interject a step before the leaving: try to communicate?in order to effect positive change?on the culture and stay.

The “how-to” is longer than a couple bullet points, but this will get you started:

• For the manager who is causing you grief, try an outside-the-office lunch on you. Sometimes you have to “lead up” and show them the kindness you would like to see. At the lunch, share some of the challenges you are seeing and stay professional, not resorting to gossip. Nothing diminishes credibility faster than talking down about others.
• Ask if they see anything that needs to change. And listen. You aren’t going into this off-site lunch to declare your expansive knowledge of how to “fix-it.” Your goal is to show you are a leader who can listen. Everyone advances when they prove that.
• Set-up a time to circle back on the things you discussed. The ability to effect positive change in an organization is not going to happen overnight. The important thing is to show your manager or boss that you care and want to help.

The time to try is before the office environment is too bad / toxic and you have changed, for the worse. ?There are some people and managers you must just get away from, which is an article for another day. ?But if it’s not too late, give it a try. ?After all, we know the grass is not always greener on the other side.

Article originally published July 25, 2018 on RP4C's blog and shared with permission.

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