Quiet Quitting: Losing Staff for Not Saying Thank You?
Quiet quitting happens when employees choose to stay in their jobs but pare back their contribution to the bare minimum required by the role. It usually coincides with job dissatisfaction and can be preceded by stress and burnout. This article will help employers, HR professionals, and business leaders understand the phenomenon of quiet quitting, its causes, and how a lack of appreciation may be driving it. We’ll give you practical employee retention strategies, centered around recognition and gratitude.
What is Quiet Quitting and Why is It Happening Now?
We’ve all heard the term, but what is quiet quitting? It’s not actually a type of resignation, but rather describes a situation when an employee chooses to no longer go above and beyond. Instead, they’ll clock in, work their hours, and clock off.
In some cases, this isn’t a problem for employers. Employees who reduce their unpaid overtime and how much mental load they’re carrying home from their jobs may be more productive, happier team members, and less likely to suffer burnout. We can all agree there’s nothing wrong with setting healthy boundaries and meeting your role requirements within your normal work hours!
However, quiet quitting has an insidious side that can often snowball into more extreme behaviours. Quiet quitters can become increasingly disengaged from their work, no longer bringing enthusiasm, care or commitment to their role. That’s a problem for everyone involved.
The phenomenon first shot to fame in 2022 with a viral TikTok moment. This came after the upheaval of the pandemic years had us all reflecting on what it means to work, how we want to spend our time, and what truly makes our lives meaningful. Today, job insecurity and cost-of-living pressures have left many people finding their jobs and salaries less gratifying. At the same time, they’re not willing to sacrifice secure employment to enter into a volatile job market. So, they stay on at a job they’re only halfway invested in, present, but far from engaged.
Signs of Quiet Quitting Every Manager Should Watch For
It shouldn’t be an immediate cause for concern if an employee starts clocking in and out of work on the dot, even if this fits the definition of a quiet quitter in the original sense of the term. Healthy boundaries and work-life balance should be something we all strive for and actively encourage in our team members. Instead, it’s the signs of dissatisfaction and disengagement during work hours that we should be on the lookout for.
The behavioural signs that one of your team members is quietly quitting will likely be subtle. Look for patterns over time. Do they seem disengaged? Are they no longer excited, or willing, to take on new projects, challenges or opportunities to develop in their role? Have they stopped helping out their colleagues when they used to be willing to lend a hand?
You might also notice signs of poor mental health in a quiet quitter. These include an increase in sick days and a withdrawal from the social aspects of the workplace. The link between quiet quitting, burnout and poor mental health outcomes is not linear. That said, burnout often precedes quiet quitting, and if that’s the case for your employees, then it’s time for you to take a close look at your organisations' employee retention strategies, including company culture, workload and – as we’ll explore in more detail below – recognition for your team members
Quiet Quitting Statistics That Might Surprise You
Since the term’s been in circulation for a few years now, you might be wondering whether quiet quitting is still relevant today. Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Burnout, disengagement and low employee satisfaction are more prevalent than ever:
Between 20% and 59% of workers are quiet quitters (McKinsey; Deloitte)
Over 70% of managers are disengaged at work (Gallup)
Globally, employee disengagement costs US$438 billion per year (Gallup)
34% of UK adults experience work-related burnout (Mental Health UK)
9 in 10 UK adults experience ‘high or extreme levels of pressure or stress’ at work (Mental Health UK)
66% of employees say that a lack of appreciation would drive them to quit their job (Forbes)
Why Saying “Thank You” Could Make All the Difference
A number of analysts have linked the quiet quitting phenomenon to workers experiencing unmet needs. Maslow’s hierarchy theorises that we humans require our needs to be met in a certain order before we can realise our full potential as self-actualised beings. As workplace leaders, we need to consider whether we’re meeting these requirements for our employees to flourish.
First comes basic physiological needs. Humans need air, food, water and shelter to survive. If we’re paying our employees a fair living wage, we’re helping them meet this requirement.
Then comes safety. If we’re implementing health and safety procedures and actively and adequately safeguarding our employees against physical and psychological harm in the workplace, we’ve met this need. A sense of job security is a safety factor, too.
Next in Maslow’s hierarchy is belonging. This is where a strong workplace culture comes in. How are you helping your employees to feel like connected and valued members of your team?
The last requirement is esteem, which covers everything from self-esteem to recognition, respect and a sense of achievement. According to Maslow, this sense of respect is vital for us to realise our full, creative, purpose-driven potential as humans. And employees who can be their fully realised, self-actualised selves at work are the opposite of quiet quitters!
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs shows that feeling appreciated is one of our inherent psychological needs. But even though saying ‘thank you’ is a simple thing to do, it’s something that is too often overlooked by workplace leaders. That’s why employee recognition – everything from a simple thank you to a company-wide recognition program – is such a powerful tool in helping us improve employee morale, retention and productivity.
Recognise Employees with Thankbox!
Engagement deserves encouragement. With Thankbox, you can recognise teammates who go the extra mile. A kind message, fun GIF, or gift card shows their efforts are seen—and valued. Create a Thankbox today and help stop quiet quitting before it starts.
Understanding the Deeper Reasons Behind Quiet Quitting
In order to address quiet quitting, we first need to understand why our workers are disengaging. There are usually a range of cultural and personal factors at play, and a good leader will work to address them both at a personalised individual level and a broader workplace strategy level.
Poor communication
Poor communication is a fast track to employee disengagement and, ultimately, quiet quitting. It’s easy for workers to feel disconnected from their job if they’re not communicating their organisation’s core values in a way that aligns with their values. Employees need to feel that they are making a purpose-driven contribution when they come to work each day.
Alongside company-wide communications, individual attention is also vital to preventing quiet quitting. Make regular formal and informal one-on-one check-ins part of your retention strategy to recognise employee achievements, provide feedback, and address any concerns before they snowball.
Lack of growth opportunities
If workers don’t see a future for themselves in your workplace, they’re unlikely to go above and beyond their basic job description. On the other hand, if there is a clear and enticing pathway for career progression, employees will be motivated to lean into challenges, take on extra projects, and look for opportunities to extend and prove themselves at work. Communicating these opportunities clearly and ensuring they’re offered to all employees on a fair and consistent basis is key to preventing quiet quitting.
Burnout and mental health
Lack of work-life balance has become a widespread concern since the pandemic years. According to Mental Health UK, 34% of adults in the UK experienced work-related burnout in 2024, and a whopping 9 in 10 experienced ‘high or extreme levels of pressure or stress’. This chronic stress and dissatisfaction put workers at high risk of disengagement, at which point they may turn to ‘quiet quitting’ as a way to cope.
With the younger generations entering the workforce, expectations around work hours are shifting. Many no longer wish to ‘live to work’, and instead, they want fulfilling employment that allows them to lead an equally fulfilling life away from their workplace. But workers shouldn’t have to resort to quiet quitting to achieve this sense of balance and well-being. As an employer, leaning into this desire for healthy work-life boundaries and actively supporting your employees to find this balance within their role means you’re all on the same team, pursuing the same goals.
Inadequate recognition
Feeling undervalued or overlooked at work is another common reason for employees to disengage. And it makes sense: if you’re putting in 110% and nobody even notices, why bother? Recognising your employees’ achievements – whether it’s a small win or a major milestone – will provide them with reinforcement and reassurance that their efforts don’t go unseen, and that they matter to you and the rest of the team.
Toxic leadership
Last but far from least, toxic leadership is a surefire way to demotivate your employees – fast. If an employee doesn’t feel safe and respected at work, they’re not going to put their all into their job. And why should they? It goes without saying that healthy and respectful workplace behaviour should be ingrained at all levels of management, and stamping out toxic leadership is sure to improve your team’s morale and wellbeing.
The Hidden Impacts of Quiet Quitting on Your Workplace
A quiet quitter, or disengaged worker, will be less productive compared with a highly engaged worker. But their potential to impact and influence the broader workplace is, in many ways, the more concerning outcome for those of us in leadership roles.
Cultural erosion
A quiet quitter can quickly bring the morale of your team down. While disengagement at work is often expressed passively, it can still be terribly demotivating if you’re surrounded by coworkers who aren’t bringing their all to the workplace. The most dissatisfied workers may also actively oppose your company and/or its values, which can also start to degrade the cultural fabric of a workplace.
Team dynamics
In a similar vein to the erosion of workplace culture, quiet quitters can drag team dynamics down to their level. They can set a demoralising example for other team members, and you risk a lack of enthusiasm becoming the cultural norm. Disengaged workers are also much less likely to go the extra mile to assist their colleagues and share the load, which means more active team members are picking up more load, and the cycle of burnout and workplace stress continues.
Client experience
Quiet quitters are less likely to convey company values in their interactions with clients, worsening your clients’ experiences. For those of us in industries that rely on client satisfaction, which, ultimately, is all of us, there’s a real risk that quiet quitters will provide a subpar client experience, eroding client trust and damaging your organisational reputation.
Innovation stagnation
The most valuable employees are the ones who think outside the box. They notice inefficiencies and come up with ways to streamline processes. They offer fresh perspectives and are willing to take a risk to float a new idea in a meeting. Since disengaged workers tend to do the bare minimum in their role, they’re not looking for ways to innovate, improve or refine. This is one of the biggest productivity losses we see as a result of quiet quitting.
From Quiet Quitting to Loud Retention: Build a Better Employee Retention Strategy
A less commonly discussed flipside to quiet quitting is something called quiet firing, where workplace leaders disengage from their employees and fail to provide the support and development opportunities they need to thrive. Alongside being legally questionable and inherently unethical, it’s also a sure way to exacerbate feelings of disconnection and disenfranchisement in an employee.
Instead, leaders should be responding to employee disengagement by building a stronger employee retention strategy. Way beyond keeping employees ‘just happy enough’ to not leave their role in a difficult market, it’s about building a nurturing workplace environment that actively encourages engagement, makes work meaningful, recognises employees for their unique contributions, and brings out the best in each and every person.
Build employee recognition into culture
Employee recognition is key to helping your workers feel seen, acknowledged and valued at work. An effective employee recognition strategy goes beyond the baseline of fair remuneration. Recognition should be part of your company culture, with positive reinforcement delivered in real-time to employees. Acknowledge achievements regularly, before they are forgotten; ensure there is a mix of formal and informal recognition strategies at your manager’s disposal; and keep your team engaged by encouraging a culture of peer feedback and mutual gratitude.
Create career development pathways
For many employees, seeing a future for themselves within your organisation is a sure way for them to feel a strong sense of connection, ownership and purpose in their role. Creating clear career development pathways for your employees will help to prevent them from disengaging due to feeling as if their work is ‘all for nothing’. It gives them a larger purpose and a reason to strive, beyond the day-to-day demands of their role.
Improve work-life balance policies
We’ve seen how vital work-life balance is to today’s workers, so if you haven’t already, now is the time to revisit your work-life balance policies. Consider increasing the flexibility you offer your workers in terms of when and where they clock their hours. Limit communications outside of work hours, or implement a ‘right to disconnect’ policy that protects workers who choose not to attend to work communications outside of their normal hours. Offer flexible leave that takes into account diverse cultural and religious practices. We can all agree that work-life balance is something to strive for, and if your employees feel like they are having this need actively nurtured by their workplace, they won’t need to resort to quiet quitting.
Regular manager check-ins and feedback loops
Focus on upping the communication and feedback that you provide to your employees. It’s important to have consistent check-ins, including managerial one-on-one time, baked into your workplace policies. Use this time to acknowledge what each employee is doing well and where they have room to grow, and learn what is important to them. This will help you to understand what motivates them at work, which in turn will help you to bring out the best in them.
Low-Cost, High-Impact Ways to Show Gratitude in the Workplace
While fair remuneration is important for worker wellbeing and satisfaction, ways to show appreciation for your employees don’t always need to be financial. You can build acknowledgement and recognition into your company culture from a range of angles.
Services such as Thankbox allow you to send personalised appreciation messages to your team at the click of a mouse. You can also integrate Thankbox into your employee rewards program and send tailored gift cards and rewards as tokens of appreciation throughout the year. Making small acknowledgements a part of your structured rewards program will help to make gratitude a core value in your company culture.
Remember, guarding against quiet quitting isn’t just about employee retention; it’s about retention and satisfaction. Discovering what is meaningful to your employees will go a long way towards preventing the dissatisfaction that can ultimately lead to disengagement. Get curious and creative, and tailor your recognition approach to suit your employees.
Recognise Employees with Thankbox!
Engagement deserves encouragement. With Thankbox, you can recognise teammates who go the extra mile. A kind message, fun GIF, or gift card shows their efforts are seen—and valued. Create a Thankbox today and help stop quiet quitting before it starts.
Final Thoughts: Are You Listening Before They Log Out?
Anyone who works in business leadership knows that you are only as strong as your team, which is what makes the quiet quitting trend so concerning. It’s clearly a lose–lose: employees aren’t thriving at work, and they aren’t contributing to organisational excellence either.
If you’re an employer, leader or HR professional, consider conducting an internal audit or management discussion around your current retention culture. After the disruption of the pandemic years, which saw a huge shift in attitudes to work, now is the time to take a good look at what is serving your team and what needs overhauling.
In the meantime, small acknowledgements can help to keep your team feeling valued, fulfilled and engaged in their roles.
Images: Cover | People gathered around desk | People shaking hands over desk | Frustrated woman
