According to TikTok and Gallup, quiet quitting was introduced as an idea that picked up momentum in August 2022 of “you’re not outright quitting your job, but you are quitting the idea of going above and beyond in your duties. You are unsubscribing from the hustle mentality. Work is not life. Your worth as a person is not defined by your productivity.” @Zaidleppelin shares this in a viral Tik Tok video.
This emphasizes the idea that work is not all consuming and that there are clear boundaries between life and work, and the two should not mix.
A Gallup poll shares interesting information of U.S. employee engagement trend annual averages, sharing both engaged employees and actively disengaged employees. While the two lines were widening apart from each other ahead of the pandemic, there is a clear direction of the two lines coming closer back to each other in 2022. As shared in a Forbes article, “nearly half of all U.S. workers are quiet quitting.”
What are the reactions?
Since the release of this TikTok video mentioned above, many articles have been produced on the topic. Forbes, for example have published several this week alone – with a variety of opinions on what the sentiment of quiet quitting means and why organizations should care.
Should I be worried about quiet quitting?
This can be viewed in two ways. One being that employees want to remove themselves from the hustle culture and do not want to go further than the minimum. Quite carefree when it comes to work responsibility.
The other opinion looks at quiet quitting as a successful boundary setting skill. Employees, post pandemic, have seen the ability to have more time in their personal lives while also hitting work targets. This of course being possible while working from home.
What’s next?
How can organizations retain their workforce? Encourage your employees to have a healthy relationship with work. One article from Forbes encourages companies to recognize that people have personal lives and need to adjust their work life balance. They and may need to leave early for childcare reasons, adjust their hours or work remote a couple days a week.
Managers also need to recognize that their people are still trying to adapt to these changing times and they need to be trusted. A Gartner report shares, ‘’65% of employees say the pandemic has made them rethink the place that work should have in their lives.” With a statistic like that, it is no surprise with buzzwords like the “Great resignation” and “quiet quitting” have surfaced.
Has retail always been quiet quitting?
An article published by Forbes points out that retail has experienced quiet quitting for years.
“The actual quit rate in retail and hospitality now outpaces the national rate by 70%, McKinsey research shows. Retail turnover climbed as high as 65% in recent years, according to Ceridian, a human resources management software firm.”
Customers are now looking for more delivery options and are demanding more experience in the purchase, adding more pressure to an already stretched market.
What’s next?
One thing is clear, communication is king with your employees. Remain transparent and open to ideologies around what is right for your teams. Work closely with your front-line managers so they can gain critical insight and feedback from your workforce. Lean into positive change and look to listen, learn, and adjust.
By empowering, trusting, and listening to your employees, we can all work to reduce quiet quitting.
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