Employees have had to deal with a lot of change at work over the past few years and it’s taken its toll on workforces all over the globe. Recently, change fatigue, employee burnout and quiet quitting have become buzz topics for employers and employees – trends that have alarmed business leaders and HR professionals who are concerned about employee engagement in the face of a recession.
Last year, in the aftermath of ‘the Great Resignation’, came ‘quiet quitting’ – a term which was made popular on social media and refers to the practice of employees becoming disengaged from their work, not taking calls or responding to emails out of hours, or not taking on duties beyond those listed in their contracts of employment.
Is this a new issue for HR?
While the term has a new found popularity, the practice is nothing new. For years many workers have quietly quit their roles to look for a new job and have become disconnected because of lack of career growth.
The difference now is that for many people, the pandemic forced them to re-evaluate their priorities and question their career and work-life balance choices. People had time to assess what was important to them and what made them happy, as well as gave them time to consider the things in life that made them unhappy or caused more stress.
For some, quiet quitting can mean doing the bare minimum level of work acceptable to avoid being subjected to a performance management process. For others, there may be no drop in output, but the employee works strictly to the terms of their employment contract by arriving and leaving on time, taking a full lunch break every day, and not checking work emails in the evenings or at weekends. In this sense, it is a rejection of going ‘above and beyond’ for an employer.
The next phase in the Great Resignation
Like another recent employment law trend, ‘the great resignation’ – a growing wave of employees resigning and moving elsewhere for better conditions – quiet quitting is a result of a buoyant job market, which has empowered employees to seek changes to their working lives. Unlike the great resignation, quiet quitting involves the employee remaining at their employer, albeit working with reduced capacity.
Whether seen as a sign of serious employee dissatisfaction, or simply the concept that work shouldn’t take over a person’s life, in response to the ‘quiet quitting’ trend, employers should consider whether they have unreasonable expectations of their staff, and, where necessary, adjustments need to be made to keep those staff engaged and productive.
Spotting quiet quitting is more challenging where hybrid or flexible working patterns are in place. Some indicators may include a lack of enthusiasm, missing meetings, disengagement from activities, a drop in productivity, and a reluctance to take on tasks outside of normal duties.
Of course, some of these pointers can be steps employees legitimately take to reduce workplace stress and burn out and are not necessarily indicative of a problem; understanding the motivating factors is key, whether it is an individual concern or a larger group of employees showing a change in behaviour.
What can you do to prevent employees from quiet quitting?
Employee experience: According to research by CIPD, 69% of HR professionals reported that employee retention will be the biggest challenge for 2023. This is followed by performance management (50%), diversity, equality and inclusion (48%) and hybrid and flexible working (48%). Other issues included financial wellbeing and cost of living.
It’s critical that organisations recognise the causes of job dissatisfaction and employee disengagement and take some steps to prevent them. Research from Glassdoor, recently showed that employees are most satisfied when a company’s culture and values match their own and the organisation offers strong senior leadership and access to career opportunities. By putting the employee experience at the heart of your business planning, quietly quitting will soon lead to increased worker attrition. Offering the best employee experience and supporting employees in all of these areas can ensure that employees are happy at work and not ‘as’ affected by larger, organisational change.
Encourage your people to talk and make them feel heard: If employees feel able to raise issues about their work satisfaction, including in relation to pay, hours, relationships with colleagues, you may be able to nip satisfaction issues in the bud at an early and informal stage. If you can’t agree to an employee’s requests, for example for a promotion, explain why.
Communication is key: Talk to employees to discuss how you could best help them feel valued and appreciated in the workplace. For some, regular words of encouragement can go a long way. Others might be bored and looking to take the next step in their career and challenge themselves further. If employers collaborate with the employee and work to put an effective plan in place, all parties can benefit. Furthermore, ensure that people are engaged in their work and that work provides purpose and meaning for people. Employees need to feel part of a bigger picture, to have autonomy and control, and to feel psychologically safe – all the things that we know make a good day at work.
Use data to help identify trends and patterns: Invest in HR software to keep a close eye on exit interview records, absences and performance management. You could take this one step further by using software that provides clarity to all ER issues being discussed across the business. Easy access to key employee metrics and information will help inform key decision-making and identify trends which may lead quiet quitting, so you can take steps to action improvements.
Make mental health a priority: With the cost of living crisis and the repercussions this will have throughout 2023, three-quarters (75%) of HR professionals surveyed by our sister company WorkNest revealed that mental health and wellbeing would be the most crucial area for HR to support employees over the next 12 months. If employees are struggling with their mental health, consider ways to support them. Referring them to occupational health is likely to give you more information about how you can support.
Appraise your managers: Effective appraisals in which direct reports are able to give honest, constructive feedback are key to guarding against slipping managerial standards.
Starting a formal process – when to take action
As a best practice, employers should be monitoring and measuring an employee’s output to ensure that their productivity is at an acceptable level. Quiet quitting should not be seen as an opportunity for the employee to shirk their responsibilities or to miss targets. However, employers should exercise caution when disciplining employees who have performed their duties in accordance with their contract but go no further.
Some issues may well be relatively easily resolved through existing mechanisms. For example, an employee ‘quietly quitting’ because they feel like they don’t spend enough time with their family may wish to make a flexible working request.
If quiet quitting is proving an issue in your workplace and it is not possible to resolve it via informal means, it is possible to deal with such behaviour under a formal disciplinary or performance process. However, care and consideration should be taken before starting along this route to ensure that the behaviour warrants such action and that a full and fair process is followed.
Unsure how to approach quiet quitting issues in your organisation?
If you have any questions about performance management, or need help with any other employee relations issue, get in touch with out employment law experts to find out how we can help.
