People have always complained about work. They’ve felt underappreciated, overworked, underpaid, overqualified, and like their managers don’t know what they’re doing. And they’ve responded in all kinds of ways, including putting in minimal effort to get through the day.
So why has “quiet quitting” just recently become such a buzzword? After gaining steam on TikTok, quiet quitting has been covered by national media, analyzed by Gallup, and even has its own Wikipedia entry despite barely registering as a search term on Google before August 2022.
Quiet quitting is one of the trendiest topics in the business world today and yet it’s not really a new phenomenon. So, what is it?
What is quiet quitting?
Let’s note from the outset: Quiet quitting is not actually quitting. Rather, quiet quitting is when an employee decides not to quit their job, but to quit the idea of going above and beyond. American work culture commands a certain assiduousness — the concept of “hustle” is seen as an admirable and sometimes expected trait by employers and managers. That puts stress on employees and can lead to burnout.
Quiet quitting, then, is letting go of this notion that you have to go far beyond the job description to be a team player. You negotiated and were hired to do a specific job and work a specific number of hours, and you’ll do that and no more. Showing up on time means actually showing up on time, not 15 minutes early.
Indeed, Wikipedia defines it along these time constraints: Quiet quitting is an application of work-to-rule, in which employees work within defined work hours and engage solely in activities within those hours.
Should HR teams worry about quiet quitting?
Contrary to the definition’s suggestion, quiet quitting is usually less about an employee’s willingness to work and more about a manager’s ability to build a productive, inspiring work environment.
Most self-identified quiet quitters reject the notion that they aren’t willing to work hard, but they equally reject that work should be the primary focus of their lives. Learning when to say no to work that seems beyond the purview of the job description is a central tenet of quiet quitting.
So, should HR departments be worried? That depends on the organization. Employees have long resented bad jobs or overly demanding managers, but the recent emergence of quiet quitting is a natural reaction to a Millennial generation that has worked harder and longer than any generation before it.
Research by the Harvard Business Review found that the least effective and most demanding managers have three to four times as many quiet quitters as effective leaders. Managers who were rated by employees as good at balancing results with relationships had the highest number of direct reports willing to give extra effort, and the fewest reports quietly quitting.
If your organization’s managers treat their direct reports with respect, value their time, and don’t make a habit of demanding extra hours or work that’s outside of the job description? Then you shouldn’t have to worry. If that’s not true of your organization’s managers, then you may have cause for concern.
How to recognize quiet quitting
How do your organization’s leaders approach getting results from team members? How often do employees stay late or complain about being asked to do something outside of their job description? How often does your organization promote from within or offer raises? Do managers go out of their way to make employees feel recognized or appreciated for their work? What kind of workplace perks are there?
Most importantly, you must assess the level of trust among team members within your organization. Encouraging open and honest dialogue between HR, managers, and employees is important.
You must assess the level of trust among team members within your organization.
HBR found that when direct reports trusted their manager, they also assumed the manager cared about them and valued their time and work-life balance. Positive relationships, common interests, consistency, honesty, and expertise all contribute to building trust.
If you sense that employees are only staying during work hours, resisting extra work, and lack trust or friendship with their managers, it’s worth investigating quiet quitting.
Quiet quitting is a new name for something people have always done. Increased awareness of the phenomenon may help you avoid it in your workplace, but it doesn’t make it any easier to spot. That said, while it’s easy to place the blame on lazy or unmotivated workers, that’s not exactly indicative of the problem’s truths. To avoid or solve a quit quitting problem in your organization, it’s wiser to fix issues in leadership and middle management.