By Bryan Robinson, Ph.D. Contributor
The phenomenon of "quiet quitting" has taken hold in the workplace in which employees do the bare minimum. Before the pandemic, employee engagement and well-being were escalating globally, but in 2022 it leveled off, according Gallup. The phenomenon of “quiet quitting” among the American workforce has contributed to this problem, costing companies as much as $150 billion annually by some estimates—even more than absenteeism.
The Tell-Tale Signs Of ‘Quiet Quitting’
An employee might be a quiet quitter if he or she is chronically disengaged at work, doing the bare minimum of what is required. When employees are not functioning fully, it can become an invisible drain on a company’s engagement and productivity. “There has always been quiet quitting, according to Joe Galvin, Chief Research Officer at Vistage Worldwide. He told me that it manifests itself in B and C players. “Those people that were always in meetings but never did anything,” he said. “Quiet quitting is made easier in the hybrid or remote work model as it’s easier to hide. Quiet quitters are managing only to the minimum set of performance expectations.”
Galvin listed six indicators that a quiet quitter is among your ranks.
1, Disengagement on a chronic basis.
2. Performance only to the minimum set of performance standards
3. Isolation from other members of the team
4. Withdrawal from any non-necessary conversations, activities or tasks
5. Attendance at meetings but not speaking up or taking action
6. Teammates report a sudden increase in their workload in having to pick up the slack
Don’t Judge A Book By It’s Cover
On the surface, the profile of all quiet quitters looks the same. But it’s important that employers exercise caution in judging the motives of quiet quitters. A deeper look unearths a variety of factors that can lead employees to check out and not measure up to their potential. A disgruntled worker, overlooked for a promotion or raise, might operate from a place of passive-aggression and deliberately withdraw and drag feet out of anger.
But sometimes an engaged worker does the bare minimum to maintain work-life balance. They do their jobs and reach their goals but don’t go above and beyond what’s expected, because they put their mental and physical health ahead of work. Gen Z’s and Millennials, for example, are engaged workers, looking for a workplace that has their best interests at heart and where they can enjoy work-life balance. Twenty-two year old Cindy told me it’s not that her generation doesn’t want to work. “We Gen Z’s don’t want work to consume our lives like it did with our parents,” she said. “My dad hated his job so much. He complained all the time about how he dreaded going into the office. And he was there practically every day, all day. After seeing how miserable he was, I don’t want that kind of life. There are too many other things to live for.”
That is the rallying cry of a new generation of workers looking for something different. “Gen Z employees are empowered,” Galvin told me. “They entered a working world where they have options, as opposed to those who graduated in 2008 and were afraid they would not find a job or get let go or fired. They want to know how their work is impacting a larger mission in a way that we really haven’t seen before. They are not willing to put up with bad behavior or give up their life outside of work. They won't go above and beyond their job responsibilities without receiving a corresponding raise, bonus or title increase.”
