Quiet Quitting

I’ve kept quiet on ‘quiet quitting’ (see what I did there?) for the last number of months while I listened and read and absorbed what it really meant. The overarching question for me was: is this really a new thing, or a new name for an old thing?

What is ‘quiet quitting’?

Here is a link to the original TikTok video that first coined the term. In it, he is essentially saying that quiet quitting is when you do your normal hours of work, and no more. (And not, as I previously thought when I first heard the term, quitting without actually telling anyone… effectively ghosting your job!). Essentially, quiet quitting means you are not going above and beyond.

You can check out my recent podcast episode on the topic here .

What are they saying?

I’ve heard people refer to ‘quiet quitting’ as checking out of your job, that you are doing the bare minimum just to get by, and enough not to be fired.

On the other hand, I have heard of it as practicing better work/ life boundaries, which were really impacted because of the Covid-19 pandemic and people working from home.

What does it mean for me?

As a manager, it generally means your employees (if they are quietly quitting) are putting in less discretionary effort, less likely to take on additional tasks or put their hand up for a new project. They are probably working less than they used to (which you may perceive as a bad thing), but still getting the job done. It may be that they are less engaged in the role, but this isn’t always the case.

The clue is also in the name: quiet. They are doing it without you even realising, so perhaps you haven’t even noticed. It’s time to take a closer look at your team members and see if this could be one of them.

Why now?

We can’t talk about quiet quitting without talking about the impact of the Covid-19 global pandemic.

• With many people losing their jobs and those that remain being asked to take on additional responsibilities without recognition, people became more disengaged
• It was also a time of great reflection, as employees started to think more about how they wanted to spend their time, and if they wanted to stay in the job they were in
• The lines blurred between work and home life, and people started burning out from over work, resulting in the pursuit of better work-life balance

Long gone are the days where we stay in one organisation for life. Typically in those days, loyalty was perceived as a two-way street. It later shifted to being a bit more one-sided, where employees could be loyal to an organisation, but not receive the same type of loyalty in return. This has resulted in people generally being less loyal to organisations, and less willing to put in discretionary effort.

Younger generations are demanding more from their work, and are more likely to speak up for injustices. Especially with the prevalence of technology which enables them to spread messages faster, as was the case with the viral message about quiet quitting. Perhaps many people continued to work towards burnout because they thought they had to.

Work is becoming a less prominent part of our life. Hustle culture used to be alive and well (and to be fair, I do still see it in some instances), but overall, as humans, we are realising there is more to life than working ourselves into the ground, and we have opted to prioritise other things that bring us joy, and accepted that rest is required, and we can appreciate a more fulfilled life when it is balanced across work and non-work activities.

The upsides and downsides

As with most things, there are both positives and negatives to quiet quitting. On the upside, it has brought greater awareness of boundaries between work and life, and how to strike a better balance (or fit, harmony, integration, blend… you choose) between work and life. This means employees are less likely to burnout, call in sick to work, and can be more productive when they are at work.

On the other hand, it could be an indication that there is something deeper happening - has the employee lost interest in the role? Are they less engaged at work? Are they looking at moving companies or industries completely?

Are you a quiet quitter?

One of the questions I still have about this concept of quiet quitting is… has going above and beyond become the new norm? So if someone is not going above and beyond, will they therefore be perceived negatively? Are we no longer ‘meeting expectations’ by doing our jobs? This becomes an important question in the context of the organisation you’re working in - will you be perceived as a ‘quiet quitter’ for getting the job done? And how will it impact your opportunities for promotion in the future?

Are you managing a quiet quitter?

If you think you are managing someone, or multiple people, who you fear are ‘quiet quitting’, you can find out what is really going on. Here are some tips for all management situations.

• Set really clear expectations of the team - what are the expected outcomes of their work, how much time should it take, and what is the impact it will have on the business
• Share candid feedback in the form of identifying behaviours (not character traits) that you want to address, and the impact it is having and ask them to decide a course of action (coaching rather than telling). More on delivering effective feedback here .
• Recognise employees for a job well done, and explain the impact their work has on the organisation’s and team’s objectives as well as on the end client. More on employee recognition here .
• If you’re worried that they may have become disengaged at work, it’s time for an honest discussion. One of the best ways to keep employees engaged and motivated at work is through psychological needs satisfaction. More on that here and here .

My parting thoughts…

I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments - has going above and beyond become the new norm for what we consider high performance, is going above and beyond necessary in order to succeed, and if so, why?

Additional resources

I enjoyed Helen Joy ’s take on Quiet Quitting in the People Spark blog. Read it here .

Would you like to share your thoughts or experience of quiet quitting? I’d love to know in the comments!

What to look forward to:

In the next edition of this newsletter, I will talk about imposter syndrome, and what we can do to address it. Available in 2 weeks!

On the Happier at Work programme, we focus on 3 pillars: values alignment; needs satisfaction; strengths focus. We also address the importance of psychological safety at work, and combatting issues that make people unhappy at work. Another important aspect of the programme is looking at the future of work, improving productivity, the role of personality, the role of leadership, and everyday happiness hacks to implement straight away.

You can take this quiz to find out how happy your workplace is currently, and learn more about creating and maintaining happier working environments.

Happier at Work partners with business leaders to support them to create and maintain happier working environments by focusing on the pillars of: engagement and belonging; the future of work; performance and productivity; and leadership equity. We offer speaking, training and workshops; happiness audits; research; and corporate programmes.

Aoife O’Brien is the founder of Happier at Work, a business with the mission to support organisations in retaining top talent. She is passionate about ‘fit’ and specifically how creating the right environment can help individuals to reach their full potential and support organisations to thrive. She is a self-professed data nerd, with a 20+ year career in market research in the fast-moving consumer goods industry working with clients like Coca Cola, Unilever and Heinz to solve marketing problems using data analytics. Aoife has been featured by several media platforms and public speaking events talking about imposter syndrome, fit, employee engagement, and productivity. She has lived and worked in Dublin, London, Perth, and Sydney and has a MSc in Work and Organisational Behaviour, a Diploma in Executive and Life Coaching and a Certificate in Career Coaching.?

The Happier at Work podcast , features a combination of interview-based episodes as well as solo podcasting, and has more than 55k listens in more than 50 countries. It was recently nominated for 2 awards. You can sign up to the Happier at Work LinkedIn Newsletter to receive the podcast straight in your LinkedIn notifications when it goes live every Friday!