Quiet quitting, aka quiet ghosting, is all over the news these days. There’s no single day without “expert” articles or shared experiences on this phenomenon.
If you’re still unfamiliar with the topic, here’s a quick explanation: quiet quitting is employees not contributing beyond their contractual obligations. They still work, but only within their contractual working hours and job scope.
No more, no less.
Although the pandemic has exacerbated the issue, it is not a new phenomenon. Through the years, I’ve seen team members practice quiet quitting, either to game the system, simply find some work-life balance, or “preserve” their sanity in front of an impossible boss, at least for some time.
There are nuances and various degrees of quiet quitting. In theory, any organization should be able to absorb some level of it. Some even consider quiet quitting as a heroic act against unreasonable management requests.
But in practice, it’s more complicated, especially for those of us, knowledge workers. We’re paid to think, design the right strategies and operations, anticipating or addressing issues that would prevent our business from reaching its goals. That is barely compatible with a quiet quitting mindset.
So, how do you address it as a leader?
Let’s start with what you shouldn’t do! Here’s the most pathetic “unwritten” piece of advice I often hear for managers challenged with quiet quitting teams.
“Quiet quitters should be the first on the chopping block when the time comes to restructure and do layoffs.”
Ethically borderline and quite a waste of collective talent and energy!
Genuine leaders know what I’m talking about here.
The good news is that these very same leaders have the solution in their hands.
Addressing quiet quitting starts with leaders creating the conditions for proper team engagement. It doesn’t mean you will suddenly turn everyone into a stellar contributor who’s in love with their work and 100% engaged.
No, you will always have people in your team who are not passionate about their job. Team members who are here because they think they have no other choice to pay the bills.
That’s OK, but make sure EVERYONE is as engaged as they can be.
In other words, do at least the following:
- Explicitly give your team a reason to wake up and come to work every morning by articulating a strong and credible vision, and what success looks like for the organization.
- Spice things up by exposing team members to new people, whether peers or leaders, and facilitating mentorship opportunities.
- Have your people truly understand how the organization works, not just their slice. Enable some job rotations and cross-functional teamwork as much as you can.
- Diligently reward and celebrate excellence and progress towards your well-articulated and publicized goals.
If you handle it well, everyone in your team will start working smarter and boost their impact.
And yes, despite all these efforts, some employees might still decide to quiet quit and not engage to the best they can.
In my thirty years in the knowledge working world, the true quiet quitters ended up isolated from their peers and their poor performance eventually surfaced.
Soon enough, we were starting the more serious conversations to get to the bottom of it. Some got back on track and succeeded, some were let go and others ended up quitting the company on their own in search of a better fit.
So, do your part as a leader: ENGAGE EVERYONE!