Quiet Quitting: Disengagement, Boundaries, and TikTok Trends in the World of Work

The term “quiet quitting” started popping up earlier this summer but really began striking fear into the hearts of HR professionals in the last couple of weeks when LinkedIn included it in their News section.

When you ask people what it means to them, it boils down to essentially three camps:

• Disengagement
• Boundaries, level-setting, and combatting burnout
• Blatantly hate the term (and probably a mix of the above)

When we consider the intention behind the alarming term, the reality is that it’s probably a combination of the first two.

DISENGAGEMENT

In HR, we’ve long known disengaged employees are a significant topic of concern. Kelly Keefe, ERC President, recently shared on LinkedIn that “while 79% Of ERC member organizations ranked engagement and culture as a top HR priority in our recent poll, only 18% only have a dedicated role for it.”

Addressing employee engagement is imperative for HR and organizational leadership. If you’ve seen John Bernatovicz’s HR like a Boss presentation, you know that according to Gallup, 2/3 of employees are not engaged. According to Google, employee engagement has been trending upward since 2006, and we continue to see it grow, including a massive spire in September 2021.

We know that the benefits of employee engagement include

1. Lower regrettable turnover (aka less need to hire during a talent shortage)
2. Increase in productivity and revenue (aka more money for the organization to invest in their #1 resource: people)
3. Better customer service (aka happy customers yielding a better reputation in the marketplace)
4. Improved employee safety and health (aka greater focus on safe procedures, less stress, and emphasis on employee advocacy).
5. Inspiring creativity and collaboration (aka coming up with innovative and disruptive solutions to your company’s pain points)
6. More effective leadership (aka improved communication at all levels)

One of the most important activities you must conduct regarding employee engagement is listening to your EMPLOYEES. Don’t give them a pizza party when there’s something more aligned to their needs land hi your budget control.)

When this term equates to disengagement, HR pros might find themselves worried about the commitment to the quality of employees’ work, the level of pride and ownership in what people do, and how to help these employees achieve greater success. Don’t forget to challenge your assumptions about what’s going on and use FACTS when trying to understand the issues behind disengagement.

If your focus (and concern) is on employee engagement, be sure to include it in your 2023 planning, strategy, and budget. If you’re not talking about it now, will you be able to make it a priority next year realistically?

BOUNDARIES, LEVEL-SETTING, AND COMBATING BURNOUT

As this term originated on TikTok, it’s important to remember the Gen Z and Millennial perspective. Both generations have seen adverse world events as they entered the workforce. This has significantly impacted their opportunities and earning potential. Combining this with potential tech efficiency and changing world attitudes, these generations have different approaches to completing their work. They prioritize greater work-life integration and set safeguards against burnout.

So often, employees are told if you work hard, put in extra hours, take on more assignments, go above and beyond, and prove yourself, you’ll see the results in the forms of more money, promotions, and greater happiness. However, employees are not seeing the reality of these promises.

Quiet Quitters in this category might still be top performers-or at least setting meeting the expectations set, they’re just more likely to do it between standard hours and not at 10 pm. If you’re worried about managing people remember to:

• Respect reasonable boundaries that are set
• Discuss with them the expectations and standards of the job
• Listen when they ask for help
• Don’t create a culture where more hours on the clock = employee success.

The alternatives are that an employee might quit for greater alignment to their needs/boundaries, might stop meeting expectations, or could burn out entirely. Chances are you don’t want any of these. Don’t forget to challenge the assumption that these employees take their jobs seriously. You’ll only know if you talk to them.

Sherry Green, a sales consultant at Keylan Management Group, offers this advice, “When you focus on life/work balance, your “work” life will ebb and flow… How much time you spend in each is a balance you need to own to achieve your definition of success.”

BLATANTLY HATE THE TERM

From its alliteration to its negative connotation, “quiet quitting” is a term meant to incite conversations. And it’s done just that. In the last few weeks the searches on Google have increased by 88 times. It’s the term du jour, but chances are we will return to calling it employee engagement and expectations while understanding that the world of work is drastically changing.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

If you’re worried about quiet quitting or other employee engagement issues, you have to start by having conversations with your employees in alignment to your organization’s people strategy. At Willory, we conduct Stop-Start-Continue discussions with our team members regularly. It helps us keep a pulse on what’s important to them, what we can improve, and what we’re already doing well. If you’re unsure about your company’s people strategy, contact Willory to discuss!