How did we get to a time when terms like Quiet Quitting and Quiet Firing are commonplace and there are more help wanted signs than people to fill the jobs? Is it true that we have lost the will to work or that work ethic has steadily degraded over time? Is it the impact of the pandemic or is there more to it?
Quiet Quitting
How do you quietly quit? Well, it isn’t actually quitting, it is described as doing the job activities during work hours and only doing the precise job activities that fall within the job description. Interesting. I looked around the internet to try to appreciate how this became a thing. Here is a quick summary of what I found;
- Employees report feeling unappreciated and treated as if their time is not valued;
- Staying late to finish a presentation only to find out his/her boss removed the employee’s name and took credit for the entire project and presentation.
- Regular crisis at the end of the day with pressure to stay late, despite daycare limitations.
- Overlooked for a promotion repeatedly and each time asked for something different to get to the next level.
- Expectation to be available 24/7 without added compensation.
- Reaction to stress and burnout.
- No upside to giving extra effort.
I appreciate there are two sides to every story, however I have been in the workforce for a long time and have witnessed more than one of these on multiple occasions. Then, in contrast to Quiet Quitting, we now have Quiet Firing.
Quiet Firing
Is Quiet Firing the retaliation of managers everywhere to Quiet Quitting? I don’t think so and unfortunately Quiet Firing has been around for a long time only not with the catchy name. Quiet Firing is ignoring poor performance and instead, giving bad assignments, ignoring questions and overlooking the employee with hopes they will quit out of frustration.
This is passive aggressive behavior. The manager is likely avoiding a difficult conversation or may not know how to have the conversation. This is not new and happens every single day. It is bad for the employee, the manager and the organization.
The Connection
My theory is that Quiet Quitting and Quiet Firing have a connection– poor leadership. In organizations across the country we promote based on the wrong criteria. People are put into positions of leadership because they do well at a task, because they know the industry and sometimes because they have been there the longest. We rarely choose a leader because she or he knows how to lead. Sometimes that person moves up and leads more people, but has not improved her or his leadership skill level. What can we do?
Cure
I believe organizations need to place more emphasis on the quality of leadership and the value of growth within core leadership competencies. Leadership development should be prioritized and have a multi-prong approach that is based on where a leader falls in his or her career and skill level. There are numerous assessments available to help with this, but to get started, I suggest the three points below;
- Know your Workforce – Connect with each of your direct reports on a regular cadence; get to know them personally (significant other? kids? aging parents? pets?), ask standard questions such as tools and equipment to do their job, barriers to performance, career goals, etc. Continually ask yourself, what am I learning from my team? Be humble and relatable. Offer pieces of yourself in these conversations but make sure it is at a level that builds relationships. Make recognition part of your daily activities.
- Managing Performance – Utilize pre-determined key metrics (goals & objectives) to determine performance and discuss them at regular intervals with your team. Use quarterly action plans to drive results and performance related conversations.
- Coaching and Development – Make performance conversations a regular occurrence, tie them to goals, objectives and 90 day plans and they will no longer be uncomfortable. Developing and growing the team is the most important thing that a leader is charged with. How does an employee know they aren’t performing unless you tell them? Coach employees with a growth mindset. 90%+ come to work wanting to do a good job.
Personal Development
Assist your leaders with their own growth and development in a manner that promotes a learning culture. Share industry articles and relevant podcasts and ask them to do the same. Host a book club where you get together at regular intervals to discuss. Activities like this help your team and build engagement.
Lastly, remember your team is more than a group of employees who report to you. Each person holds many roles in their life. The more that you can support, appreciate and respect them as individuals, it is likely they will do the same for you and the organization.