'Unpacking The Quiet Quitting Phenomenon – What it Means and What to do'.
Words by Elliot Wise
Quiet quitting is the latest workplace social media trend that everyone's shouting about (oh the irony). But it's an interesting concept. For those of you who have been living in a cave for the past few months, quiet quitting is essentially doing the absolute minimum to get by at work.
On one side of the argument is a disenfranchised, demotivated and demoralised workforce who feel overworked and under-valued. In the other corner of the ring are employers who have just seen productivity tank, customers and clients taking their business elsewhere and co-workers who can't wait for their lazy teammates to just quit.
So, who's in the right and what can be done?
Firstly, let's look at the "quiet" quitters. I love this term, as ironically, it originated (for the most part) as a trend on TikTok. And, as we all know, TikTok is the place for quiet introspection about your happiness, ambition and life… However, quiet quitting took the social media world by storm, with scores of (mostly) Gen Z and Millennial workers deciding that they were overworked and under-valued in the corporate world, so took to doing the absolute minimum to get by. The party line was always that quiet quitting was less about being lazy or sticking it to the man, than it was about avoiding burnout, fatigue and mental health issues.
Realistically, most employees are contracted to do a particular job, to a particular standard within a particular time frame. However, contracted employment sets the agreed terms for a minimum expectation of the employee. So, in theory, yes, you can do the absolute minimum and be within your rights to do so, but in the corporate world, you'll struggle to find many people who actually agree with this approach.
Most employees have career ambitions and willingly go the extra mile to set themselves apart from the crowd. Again, of course, there is no obligation to do this – but for the most part it will help you progress your career and open up new opportunities.
But, if you want to work in a success-driven corporate environment, you have to expect that most people around you will be willing to do more to succeed. In certain corporations, this competitive nature can inevitably lead to an environment where your contractual expectations are one thing; functioning as part of the company dynamic is something entirely different.
To put it another way, if everyone around you is operating at 150%, you'll very quickly make yourself a target if you're "only" doing 100%. And this isn't just a target for being ousted by management or your employer either. It won't be long before your team is fed up with you not pulling your weight too.
Team dynamics are fundamental in any workplace. So, if the team unanimously agrees that 150% is the expectation, you'll very quickly find yourself isolated and suffering from relationship breakdowns for quietly quitting. This is an awful place to be and entirely defeats the goal of reducing stress and improving your mental health.
So, what to do about the quiet quitters… On one side, I respect the tenacity behind knowing what you want and sticking by it. If you don't want to work beyond your contractual obligations – don't. But don't knowingly put yourself into an environment where you will disrupt ambitious or competitive dynamics – especially when pay is linked to performance (such as team bonuses or targets). And, if you're part of one of these environments already, just actually quit and find somewhere with the proper working environment for you. In these circumstances, quiet quitting is plain selfish.
And, employers, if you know that a staff member is quietly quitting on you, talk to them. It's as simple as that. Find out what about their role they're struggling with and try to work with them to find a resolution. You might find a deeper cultural problem within your working environment that could seriously affect the future happiness of all your staff and, ultimately, kill the future success of your business.
Elliot Wise is a self-made serial entrepreneur, business growth expert and mentor. He is the founder of Limitless Mentoring – an entrepreneurial skills programme for aspiring business leaders.