What is Quiet Quitting, and Should Your Organisation Embrace It?
In this blog, we’ll explore why embracing the quiet quitters in your workplace could improve your bottom line.
Quiet quitting has been heavily covered in the business press recently, a term which describes employees choosing to do the minimum requirements of their jobs, putting in no more effort than necessary.
Some say this is not a new phenomenon, but many business owners and HR managers are only now recognising that it indicates low morale in their workforces.
Is Employees Quiet Quitting Bad for Business?
Statistics have shown time and time again that stressed, burned out, and overwhelmed employees are less productive, negatively impacting your organisation overall.
The truth is that employees shouldn’t feel expected to give more time and effort to your business than they’re contractually obliged to. At the same time, it’s only fair for you to ask that your employees be optimally efficient during their contracted time at work.
The good news is that by supporting employees to protect their personal time outside of work, you can expect to have less stressed, more productive employees during working hours in return.
How Can You Embrace Quiet Quitting in Your Workplace?
Currently, only 60% of working hours are considered productive (Source Atlassian), leaving an enormous amount of time wasted and, with this, substantial potential for improved productivity.
Productivity has to be planned, using these three central tenets:
- Total focus from the employee and the employer
- Rigorous time management
- Improved communication and collaboration
Why Are Employees Quiet Qutting in the First Place?
Most employees you may consider to be quiet quitters will have been driven to that point by feelings of disengagement, disappointment and stress. These are purely negative emotions, where the workers in question have lost their positive intent and motivation - possibly even for their personal lives as well. If the reward from work is not worth the sacrifice of their personal time, employees will experience resentment and frustration, leading to further disengagement from your business.
Unlike coasting, a quiet quitter is not someone who is necessarily slacking while at work. Anthony Klotz, associate professor at the University of College London’s School of Management, says workers tend to strip back the above-and-beyond aspect of a job to its core nine-to-five responsibilities.
“Arriving early to work and staying late, helping a colleague out at the expense of your own tasks, showing as much dedication to your role as possible – these are extra behaviours that go the extra mile for an organisation but can take a personal toll.”
However, It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way
Once you’ve understood that a happy personal life will help your employees to be more productive at work, you need to do everything in your power to support a good work/life balance for your staff.
The important thing is to make every moment of their contracted hours count, maximising individual and business productivity. If businesses could fully engage and commit employees during the working day, they wouldn’t rely on them going ‘the extra mile’ and certainly not on the inevitable burnout as a result.
I was reflecting recently after reading a post from David McLean, MA (Leadership) CHRL, asking; “What is your organisation’s employee wellbeing strategy?” McLean shares, “Organisations must embed a focus on employee wellbeing into their day-to-day operations, culture, and leadership to thrive in today’s environment.”
The key is honesty and transparency from both the employer and the employee. It’s about acceptance: accepting that trust doesn’t take away control, agreeing that work and personal commitments should be respected, valuing each other’s time and effort, assuming positive intent and creating a culture based on trust and honesty.
Turn your quiet quitters into vocal ambassadors of your business and your culture by helping them gain control of their focus and their time. Mastering time management helps individuals to thrive by assisting them to achieve 20% more productivity per week at work and home, thus attaining that coveted work/life balance.
For more information about how Avilio could help you and/or your organisation, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our founder, Philippe.
Alternatively, why not read our blog on how to successfully manage employee burnout?
