‘Quiet Quitting’ - the new TikTok trend that has spawned dozens of blog posts.
Right-wing news outlet the Daily Mail calls it ‘a worrying career trend,’ Fox News points out the ‘pitfalls’. A columnist for the Express, Carole Malone, calls Quiet Quitters ‘lazy and entitled’ and adds ‘it sounds a bit snowflaky to me.’
NZ’s Stuff magazine refers to younger workers who (quite reasonably) ‘do not want to sell their soul’ to the workplace and UK’s the Guardian states that the concept of simply doing your job and nothing more is ‘not very complicated’ and that ‘your worth is not defined by the work that you do.’
Angela Johnson, writing for the Root, points out that quiet quitting is ‘a thing for white people', but that ‘for most people of colour, quiet quitting is simply not a choice’.
Let’s unpack all of this, and take a look at what Quiet Quitting means for the modern workplace, and for burnout prevention.
What is Quiet Quitting?
In a nutshell, Quiet Quitting is simply doing what you are paid to do, and no more.
Oh the horror! Merely fulfilling your contract, as agreed at the outset with your employer? How entitled! How lazy! What is the younger generation coming to?
Back in my day, we were so desperate to go above and beyond, we spent hours after every shift shovelling snow, barefoot, out from the wheels of our boss’s new Ferrari. If we were lucky, our efforts were rewarded with a bone of faux gratitude and a bit of limp pizza courtesy of Mega Corp.
And look where all that hard work got us! Straight into the middle of a burn-out and economic crisis, and a planet that would have preferred it if we’d all dialled back the industrial efforts a tad, thank you very much.
Frankly - and this is coming from someone with strong workaholic tendencies - I cheer for all those who are saying ‘no thanks’ to hustle culture.
Quiet Quitting means setting boundaries. Saying no to unpaid overtime. Saying no to extra duties that are outside the scope of your role, and for which you will not be rewarded. Taking your lunch breaks, leaving your desk at knock-off time and not taking your work home with you.
Sadly, ‘overwork’ has been considered the norm for so long that ‘doing your job’ in exchange for the agreed pay rate has become something of a revolution.
Artist Credit: I haven’t been able to find the artist for this one - holler if you know.
How can leaders manage Quiet Quitters?
Be honest from the outset. When recruiting, be clear what your expectations are from each incumbent. If you state that you want X, but in fact you want X, Y and Z, re-work your job descriptions to genuinely reflect expectations.
Be clear about your reward system and growth path. If the reward for ‘extra effort’ is potentially a promotion, make that ‘extra effort’ result based and therefore measurable and make the growth path clear rather than a vague promise. If you are not sure what your employees want - ask them. Some may be motivated by cold cash, others by team nights out or fancy lunches.
Getting Quiet Quitters to work for you is really about clear and transparent communication. This should be the norm in all workplaces, not a new concept.
Reflect on your ability to motivate. Humans typically work harder at things that give them a sense of purpose and engagement. Try to assign tasks to people according to their preferences and skillset. Give them more of the work they enjoy, and less of what they don’t.
Reflect on your expectations. If you grew up a ‘grafter,’ then the notion of merely doing the bare minimum might grate on you. Remember that data shows employee risk of burnout is soaring (you can see some stats for NZ workers here).
Reframe ‘Quiet Quitting.’ Boundaries, and a good work-life balance, are good for us all, and good for the planet. Clear communication and expectations will make your team happier and easier to lead.
Consider neurodiversity - unclear expectations are a nightmare to anyone who must navigate the murky waters of body language and unspoken communication.
Look at the benefits rather than the negatives of this ‘new trend.’
Image Credit: Dilbert by Scott Adams (don’t you just love Catbert).
Quiet Quitters are managing their mental health by protecting their worklife balance, and there’s every reason to believe that you will get more output, long term, out of someone who works with a balanced approach and switches off in their down-time than someone who goes ‘hard yakka’, gives it everything they’ve got for a couple of years and then quits or is forced to take extended leave to recover because they can’t keep it up.
Artist credit: Unliteral
Who are all these people Quietly Quitting?
If the newspapers are anything to go by, the Quiet Quitting trend is ‘sweeping’ through workplaces across the world.
This isn’t really true.
Quiet Quitting is the preserve of salaried workers, and anyone who is in a strong enough financial position that they can afford to get fired, (or managed out, or not promoted) if things don’t go their way at the next performance review. Anyone who is paid to clean houses by the house, paid to deliver pizza by the pizza, paid to taxi-drive by the pick up (you get my drift) can’t get by without hustling.
Those in minority groups - who are higher represented in unemployment, low-paid and insecure employment, and in burnout data - have more to risk by not putting in extra effort. For some groups, promotions are harder to come by and the goal posts are already further away, because traditional ‘step ups’ to success are less likely to be available to them.
Likewise, anyone running their own business can certainly benefit from creating boundaries to prevent burnout, but the likelihood is that until a business is well established, the owner cannot skate by on the minimum.
Not everyone can afford to Quietly Quit. So, if you are in the ranks of the quitters, show some empathy for those bucking the trend. ‘Grinding’ is not always a choice.
Quiet Quitting for employees - what are the drawbacks?
I’ll admit, being firmly on the side of the revolution, it grinds my gears a little to add this caveat.
On the other hand, the thought of spending X hours per day consciously ‘doing the minimum’ makes my teeth clench. I’m with you, Quiet Quitters, but I can’t help but think that this just sounds so boring. I’ve spent my life working at a million miles an hour, simply to make the time pass. There goes the old saying ‘if you’ve got time to lean, you’ve got time to clean.’ With the exception of my own house - in which case I would take Netflix over the laundry any day of the week - I would prefer to clean than lean.
If you are planning to catch onto the Quiet Quitting trend and ride it all the way out of your office at 16:59 with your out of office reply on your coat tails then fair play to you but before you do, consider this:
Are you setting boundaries, or are you disengaged?
Artist Credit: T Peckham (website unknown).
There’s a difference between working to live vs living to work and simply being in the wrong job.
I agree that taking on additional duties for absolutely no reward at all is going to get you nowhere fast, besides straight on the path to burnout.
On the other hand, when you’re in the right job - one that challenges you mentally, or gives you a sense of purpose, or that you simply enjoy (or all of the above) - a project outside your normal scope can be a means to learn, develop, add to your skillset, explore new directions and meet new people.
Put boundaries between your work and the rest of your life. But don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Work that you enjoy, that challenges you and rewards you, can be a wonderful thing. We are likely to spend a substantial amount of our lifetime working. You might as well find an employer and a task that goes beyond something you can simply tolerate.
Before you Quietly Quit - consider whether perhaps you should actually quit. And then find a job in which you can find pleasure, as well as balance.
Not sure if it’s time to quit? Check out my blog on quitting here.
Enjoy this blog? Want to explore research-backed methods to enjoy your work more? Check out our next 90-minute lunchtime virtual workshop on Aug 25th, all about finding fun and flow at work.
Are you a Leader, interested in finding out the psychosocial status of your team, and how you can better prevent burnout and increase engagement? Contact us to learn more about our Psychosocial Risk Assessment service.
Blog by Ngaire Wallace. Contact me on ngaire@glia.co.nz or LinkedIn.