Quiet Quitting

“I QUIT”! Or at least that is what 50% of US workers are doing, according to a June 2022 Gallup Survey said. They call it “Quiet Quitting.”  Are you one of the Gen Z or millennials who are below age 35 and has just given up and quit?

How is “Quiet Quitting” defined? Quiet Quitting refers to the phenomenon of staying at your current job but just doing the bare minimum. That way, you get to collect a paycheck while either looking for a different job or working on your side hustle.

A recent article by Russell Moore addresses a more worrisome trend: quiet quitting is not just in the workplace but also in the church, politics, and other community organizations. Individuals in all areas of life never came back when the pandemic restrictions were lifted. They never told anyone they were leaving. They’re just gone.

What is behind “Quiet Quitting?” Here’s what the Gallup article stated as some reasons:

1. Poor Management
2. Address manager engagement
3. Managers need to learn how to have conversations
4. Have those conversations once a week.
5. Managers need to create accountability for individual performance
6. Create accountability for team collaboration
7. Create accountability for customer value
8. Employees must see how their work contributes to the organizations larger purpose.

Many of these 8 items can be attributed to a disconnect between all individuals in the workplace. Dr. Tim Elmore just released a new book called “A New Kind of Diversity.”  In this book, Dr. Elmore tells us that today in 2022, we have 6 Generations all alive at the same time. This has never happened before, and each of the 6 generations speaks a different acumen, and sees and feels work and life very differently. Everybody seems to be shouting at each other, and no one is connecting. John Maxwell wrote a fabulous book on the topic:        

“Everyone Communicates but Few Connect.”  Another author who has written extensively on these topics in the past 3 years is Jeff Henderson. He has two books, “FOR” and “WHAT’S NEXT,” which are outstanding in understanding this mentality.

Are you a quiet quitter in some area of your life?

Are you still checked out of some area in your own life?

There are lots of people just stumbling through life, not doing much of anything.

The hustle culture mentality can apparently come to an end!

One person on TikTok listed the following as rejection reasons:

• Checking Out
• Going on partial strike
• Taking charge to set boundaries

What a Quiet Quitter can do:

• Be direct
• Be positive
• Focus on outcomes, not input
• Cultivate work friendships
• Try to achieve win-win
• Update your resume and start networking
• Perhaps you have a problem with mismatched expectations!
• The job and the occupant are mismatched.
• The biggest lesson for entrepreneurs from the quiet quitting craze is to recommit to self-knowledge, openness, and communication. 

“No matter how much I hustle as a teacher, there isn’t a growth system or recognition incentive,” Perkins told TIME. “If I didn’t quiet quit my teaching job, I would burn out.” This was posted by a schoolteacher. ~ From TIME Mag. Aug 2022

Johnny C. Taylor Jr., President and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, the world’s largest HR society, says:

“.. remote work has caused severe burnout, Zoom fatigue, and made it harder for some workers to take breaks from home.”

“I don’t know a company in America that is not sensitized to burnout and the need for employees to step away from the workplace for their mental health.”

WOW! Now those are all sobering statistics and thoughts from those that keep their eyes and ears on the pulse of the American Workplace!

Okay, so what can we do? Where are the answers? Below are some thoughts.

• We can read the books referenced above to educate ourselves about how to communicate, interact and understand those in the 6 generations living today.
• Do not check work emails after a set time, such as 6 pm.
• Removing the app for work emails from your mobile phone and aiming to keep them strictly on a laptop or desktop PC reduces accessibility.
• Turning off notifications for incoming emails, and ensuring you add out-of-office replies when you are taking a break, are also useful in managing this switch-off successfully.
• Reduce the number of meetings; could one longer meeting every fortnight be more effective than a meeting every week?
• Keep meetings online rather than face-to-face when possible.
• Avoid weekend work unless absolutely necessary.
• Drawing healthy work-life boundaries
• Employee re-engagement
• Recognize and acknowledge you and your employees’ work relationships have changed, and so has the workplace.
• Re-ignite the passion for jobs
• Refusing to work nights and weekends is not rebellion; employees need a break, and you, as the employer, do too!
• Understand that when you complain about your job on social media, that never goes away and can come back to haunt you.

Perhaps what each of us needs is an outside perspective. You can find this in a coaching relationship or in a mentoring relationship. There are thousands of coaches and mentors out there who would be happy to help you navigate your way through this “quiet quitting” time even if you are the quitter. There is no shame in looking for support and help outside of your current peer group. Coaches and Mentors want what is best for you in your personal and professional life. Reach Out Today!