Quiet Quitting Explained: Everything You Need To Know To Prevent It
Desislava Cholakova
08 April 2024
“Quiet quitting” has become a bit of a social media trend—but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a real problem. Research has shown that millions of employees may not be satisfied with their jobs and are quietly coasting through their workdays.
So how can you combat this? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Join us at Thankbox as we explore quiet quitting–what it looks like, what causes it, and how you can stop it.
Let’s get to it.
What is quiet quitting?
“Quiet quitting” refers to a phenomenon where employees limit their efforts to the bare minimum, avoiding additional tasks and responsibilities beyond their core job description.
The concept of quiet quitting isn’t really about underperforming. Instead, it reflects a resistance to the expectation of going above and beyond without corresponding recognition or compensation.
Here are prominent quiet quitting signs you can look out for:
Decreased engagement
Increased absenteeism
Isolation from team members
Increase in complaints
Decline in work quality and performance
Poor teamwork
Lack of enthusiasm at work
This behaviour signals a broader dialogue about workplace dynamics, where the balance between professional contributions and personal well-being is renegotiated.
Combat Quiet Quitting With Thankbox!
Quiet quitting often stems from feeling unseen and undervalued. Fortunately, Thankbox addresses these core issues by making appreciation tangible and frequent. So why wait? Send a Thankbox today and watch your workplace light up!
What are the reasons quiet quitting happens?
Quiet quitting can happen for a variety of reasons, many of which are rooted in workplace culture, employee well-being, and company management.
Let’s take a look at some prominent causes:
Burnout: A major recurring problem is the widespread experience of burnout, made worse by high stress levels and a lack of employer support to manage these stressors. In these cases, employees aren’t willing to go above and beyond their basic duties.
Poor work-life balance: The post-pandemic work environment helps individuals reevaluate their priorities, emphasising the importance of a healthy balance between professional obligations and personal life. Nowadays, employees are setting firmer boundaries to maintain this balance, and if it’s disregarded, they won’t hesitate to step back.
Lack of recognition: Feeling unappreciated is a strong motivator for employees to limit their efforts. When employees perceive a lack of acknowledgement for their work, they’re less inclined to invest additional energy.
Job dissatisfaction: According to the UK’s largest study on work happiness, only 17% of employees in the UK claim to love their job, while 36% claim to be unhappy.
No clear advancement path: Many employees don’t like to feel stagnant so career progression is important for their motivation and engagement. If visible growth opportunities are lacking, your employees have no reason to make considerable efforts.
10 tips to help you combat quiet quitting at work
Now that we understand that quiet quitting is often the result of a company’s inadequacies (sorry!), let’s get into what you can do to stop quiet quitting before it begins.
1. Respect work-life balance
One of the most important things you can do is respect your employees’ time off outside work. After all, it’s necessary to avoid burnout and promote a healthy work-life balance.
Create and implement workplace policies on downtime and workloads to protect your employees’ mental health. You can also incorporate employee wellness programs to show them how much you value them as individuals, instead of just a metric.
2. Celebrate and reward achievements
A major key to a happier workplace is rewarding and celebrating big and small achievements as a team. After all, showing genuine recognition is the first step to showing your employees that their efforts are appreciated.
Fortunately, you can use Thankbox to express your gratitude in the most personalised and sustainable way. As a team, you can create the perfect e-card filled with encouraging messages, entertaining GIFs, photos, videos, and even digital gift cards, that everyone can contribute.
Through collective gift-giving, you’ll be facilitating meaningful connections and strengthening workplace bonds.
3. Open and honest communication
To help keep your employees involved, you will need to step up your communication skills and channels so that nobody feels sidelined.
Engage in direct conversations with your team members to understand their concerns and perspectives. This approach helps you identify underlying issues and demonstrates that you value their opinions and well-being.
4. Stay transparent about workloads
In addition to effective communication, it’s essential to be clear about employee role expectations and how they can progress from the outset. This helps you manage workload surprises and prevent resentment among your employees.
5. Compromise
It is important to recognise when your demands may be unrealistic, especially when your employees raise concerns about it. Consider striving for reasonable compromises that can improve your employees’ work experience, without hindering the completion of your projects.
Trust us, your employees will appreciate you asking for their input.
6. Avoid micromanagement
Trust your employees to manage their tasks and responsibilities without constantly breathing down their necks. You should provide guidance only when necessary to prevent feelings of mistrust and disengagement.
7. Invest in growth opportunities
Offer opportunities for professional development and career advancement, showing your employees that the company is invested in their future.
You can also conduct periodic performance reviews to provide constructive feedback and help your team members align their career aspirations with your company goals. Ultimately showing them that they are always considered as part of the bigger picture.
8. Provide effective management training
As we’ve found out, company leadership often pushes their employees towards quiet quitting because they don't consider their needs.
So, it’s a good idea to develop positive leadership skills among your managers through training activities to engage better and empower your employees. Reinforcing and nurturing employee-management connections is a great step to show you care.
9. Address issues immediately
Interestingly, quiet quitting doesn’t start quietly. If you pay attention, you’ll find that employees might express their concerns and leadership either acknowledges them and fails to sort them out or disregards them completely. This, unsurprisingly, leads employees to take action with inaction because the trust has been lost.
Making an effort to actively listen to your employees, validating their emotions, and taking helpful steps to rectify situations goes a long way toward keeping them engaged.
10. Regularly check-in
When we say ‘check-in’ here, we mean finding out from your employees how they are coping. There could be times when you might notice an employee lagging behind, which may not be due to the company’s fault, but it may be something they are going through outside of work.
It’s important to provide an open-door policy where your employees can express specific issues they may be facing that hinder them from performing well. When this happens, you need to be able to offer the support they need.
Combat Quiet Quitting With Thankbox!
Quiet quitting often stems from feeling unseen and undervalued. Fortunately, Thankbox addresses these core issues by making appreciation tangible and frequent. So why wait? Send a Thankbox today and watch your workplace light up!
Wrapping up
And there you have it–with these actionable suggestions, we’re sure you won’t find your employees quiet quitting any time soon. By creating a supportive working environment and listening to your employees, you can maintain trust within your workplace.
Recognition is not a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have.
At Thankbox, we deeply believe this, and that’s why we offer an amazing service to help you show your employees appreciation, even if you have a remote team. The best part? We ensure same-day or next-day delivery, so you never miss the opportunity to show employees you care.
Create a Thankbox today and make every achievement a special one!
Images: Cover | Friends on a picnic in a park | Colleagues making an agreement | Leadership written on a black background | Tax documents on a table
