Come to think of it, I’ve probably quiet quit in the past without ever having heard of the term! When you don’t feel respected by your employer or see that people above you in the hierarchy treat you fairly, it’s a knee-jerk reaction. If you are disengaged at work, the odds of recovering your motivation and becoming a star performer are not high. You will never meet your career goals if you’re not giving 100%.
So what is "Quiet Quitting"?
“Quiet Quitting” has gotten a lot of mainstream attention and companies are struggling to understand how they can avoid its effects. The term gained popularity from TikTok last year and was partly inspired by a Chinese hashtag #TangPing, meaning to “lay flat”- it was a protest at the culture of overworking. People are tired of the daily grind and this was a counter-movement to the idea of work until you drop. A further driving factor for the trend was the pandemic and its effects; people reevaluated their relationship to work and its importance in their hierarchy of needs.
Quiet Quitting describes employees who fulfill their basic job requirements but who don’t take any initiative such as working overtime or volunteering for extra projects or responsibilities. Doing just enough work to keep your job (and not get noticed by management) to get by is the norm. This can manifest itself in higher rates of employee absenteeism, lack of interest and engagement during company meetings/events and avoiding taking any kind of initiative for tasks which you don’t do.
The phenomenon’s impact on businesses is difficult to assess. In a study last year, Gallup, a global workplace consulting and research firm, asked employees to rank themselves from actively engaged, not engaged or actively disengaged at work. According to their results, quiet quitters share many commonalities with employees who are not engaged. While they may not be actively and visibly disengaged, they are psychologically detached from their work and don’t invest as much of themselves in their work. Only 1 out 5 employees is engaged at their work, while a further 1 out of 5 is actively disengaged. That leaves the middle, an astounding 3 out of 5 employees, who could be potentially quietly quitting.
Some signs you may be quiet quitting without knowing it
- Disengaged: You avoid loading yourself up with extra tasks, leadership roles or any kind of responsibilities outside your immediate job description
- Your tasks are not finished on time or delivered with lower quality
- You avoid any social events and isolate yourself from your team; you just stop caring what others think
- Absenteeism: taking a day off for sickness may not be taboo to you anymore. Your sick days increase.
Here's how a company can try to keep their employees fit and motivated
- Upskill and reskill managers to work effectively in remote or hybrid environments. The world of work has undergone a revolution in the past few years. Engaged managers need to ensure they are equipped with sufficient skills to improve their team's results and to reduce their stress loads – those that can’t adapt to the remote/hybrid environments which are increasingly the norm will suffer
- Not feeling recognized for the work they contribute to an organization, is one major factor in quiet quitting. Three out of four employees would be happy with getting something as simple as a “thank you” for the work they put in. Regularly rewarding good work from employees is important and applying an employee recognition program (think "Employee of the Month") or other strategy empowers people.
- Having a core mission and strong values, part of a company’s unique culture, can help employees identify with their organization. If workers feel empowered and that job has a real purpose, they have a sense of purpose. Some ways companies try to build this tribe-like feeling in their workforce is by emphasizing internal communications and regular town hall meetings.
What to do if you feel stuck at work
Does the above sound familiar?
If you think your career needs a jump start, TalentCloud Group’s recruitment team, is always happy to help you find an exciting new project in Switzerland, be it a permanent job or a contract opportunity. Do not hesitate to reach out to our team for a career discussion.