It seems one can’t meet with family, friends or colleagues; go on social media; or read a newspaper or business magazine without coming across the ubiquitous idiom “quiet quitting.”
Quiet Quitting Defined
Quiet quitting is typically defined as an employee who does exactly what is required without contributing more or trying to advance their career. It isn’t a movement to be lazy as much as it is a movement to reach a healthy work-life balance. There is no volunteering for additional projects or work-community activities. Employees who are “quiet quitting” don’t participate in any outside work-sponsored events, nor do they step in when someone is struggling with a project or needs help organizing one of the events. Quiet quitters do the bare minimum, check out and go home.
What Can Leaders Do?
Though employees are quiet quitting for a variety of reasons, there are four steps leaders can take to alleviate the situation.
- Keep employees engaged. Engagement begins with employees feeling that they are doing meaningful work. Without meaningful work, it’s just a job. Leaders are advised to provide careful listening and advocacy, set and maintain realistic expectations, monitor engagement, recognize and reward accomplishments, and create a psychologically safe culture.
- Take time to understand what isn’t working. Encourage your employees to be clear and transparent in their communication as you model the same. Set healthy work boundaries and help your team members prioritize—especially your newer, younger employees. Connect with those you lead on an appropriate and authentic level.
- Hold one-on-one conversations. They are the perfect environment to help younger employees break down larger projects into bite-sized tasks that do not overwhelm them. Honor their time away from the office by putting email on send delays and connecting with them only during business hours.
- Encourage efficiencies. Allow everyone to lean into less by finding ways to focus on efficiency and the elimination of unnecessary tasks. Be cautious that quiet quitting may not stem from work stress alone. Encourage employees to create healthy boundaries to preserve their home life.
By creating an environment in which employees can pursue work that is meaningful to them, while at the same time protecting them from task overload in a fear-based culture, employees can find a more productive and fulfilling alternative to quiet quitting.
From an article by Rod Brace, PhD (rod@reliahealthcare.com), and Michael Shabot, MD (michael@reliahealthcare.com), partners, Relia Healthcare Advisors.
ACHE Blog
The Noisy Problem of Quiet Quitting
Healthcare headlines are full of scary predictions about the gap between how many healthcare workers we need and how many we will have. Data from the American Hospital Association indicates there will be a shortage of up to 3.2 million healthcare workers by 2026. Hospitals are already struggling to hire staff (both clinical and ancillary).