Quiet quitting is where employees become disengaged from work and do the bare minimum of their duties. It can take various forms such as non-attendance at meetings, a reduction in productivity, failure to contribute to team projects and silencing email/message notifications after work hours.
What is Quiet Quitting?
Recently A TikTok video that has gone viral talks about ‘quiet quitting’ and explains it’s where “You’re still performing your duties but no longer subscribing to the hustle mentality that work has to be your life.”
Over 600,000 people have so far shared their stories of ‘quiet quitting’, examples include muting their email notifications out of hours and saying no to tasks which aren’t listed in their job descriptions. As a consequence of the trend, it is seeing employee’s pull back their efforts.
Some believe that quiet quitting isn’t a new concept, but has accelerated since the pandemic where we saw people question their career choices and place more importance on their work-life balance.
Reasons why quiet quitting might occur could be that employees feel undervalued whilst at work, it could be as an outcome to burnout, or a way of re-addressing work life balance. As with any changes in employee’s behaviour, this should be addressed informally first through having a conversation with the employee to explore what might be going on for them.
Ways you might overcome quiet quitting might include ensuring that:
- Staff are engaged in their work
- Their work provides them with both purpose and meaning
- Workloads are realistic
- Mental health is made a priority for staff
We are here to help
If you require any further support with your business including your HR, Payroll or Health and Safety, please contact us and speak to a member of the team.
