Quiet Quitting

Quiet Quitting – the What, the Why and the How?

What is #quietquitting?  A new term in corporate lingo has finally reached the Indian shores.

The term is used to describe a situation, where #employees  do the bare minimum of their job, are clock watchers and are there more for their mandatory presence of 8 hours, to collect their salary at month end – no more, no less.

You’re not actively quitting your job in this  case but you’re quitting the idea of going above and beyond.

You’re doing your responsibilities, without subscribing to hustle work culture where ‘Work is Your Life’

In extreme cases, it may just mean going through the motions with boredom, rather than finding fulfilment and meaning in work.

The Great Resignation and a sellers market also have been contributing factors.

There’s no denying that many are quiet quitting because of: being overworked, underappreciated, unrecognised, on verge of #burnout , micromanagement, not being sufficiently rewarded, or even being victims of ‘ageism bias’. 

The belief is that working long hours does not necessarily ensure a successful future on the career front.

Putting more work into your hours (as against the reverse) is no longer aspirational, as it’s felt to lead to burnout, ultimately.

Employees are looking for better work-life balance, rejuvenating and spending more time with family and kids.

Or just to socialise and do something they love.

The challenging times of the pandemic have taught us the value of health, mental wellness and importance of family.

Working long hours is out of sync with flexi abd hybrid working.

Employees’ tresh hold  of tolerance
of authoritarian bosses  and toxic work culture has reduced drastically.

But the reality of the situation must also sink in, that a mediocre performance will result in mediocrity in career growth.

According to a study done by Deloitte, 95%of C- suite  leaders agree that companies need to do much more for employee wellbeing and 83% of the them say that they plan to ramo up this area in the next 3-4 years.

Adam Grant’s take is that quiet quitters are not lazy per se.

The problem is that companies look at executives as resources to be managed, and not Humans to be Valued.

Prioritising employees over performance could help to change the context.

Sunder Pichai puts it  a bit differently in his recent 4 worded advice :  ‘Reward effort not outcomes’
(0f course, the underlying assumption is that when employees see fairness in rewards, they are more likely that not, “willing to walk the extra mile.”

Do you agree with some of the views expressed here?

Please share your perspectives in the comments below.