“Quiet quitting” occurs when workers only do what their job description entails or only complete work directly assigned to them—without going above and beyond.
Common signs of an employee quiet quitting could include:
- Avoiding meetings that are not mandatory
- Not being as productive as they once were
- Contributing less to team projects
- Not participating in meetings
- Displaying a lack of enthusiasm
There are different reasons an employee may choose to quiet quit. For example, they may simply refuse to do work outside their job description because they feel they are not being compensated for it. Or, this behavior may be the result of a lack of engagement, decreased motivation or a high level of burnout.
What Employers Can Do
Employers can consider steps to engage employees and prevent quiet quitting from happening in the first place. Consider the following ideas:
- Review job descriptions to ensure they accurately reflect the expectations of employees.
- Conduct consistent performance reviews to reward high-performing employees and correct behaviors of those who are underperforming.
- Provide learning and development opportunities to improve employee engagement and motivation.
- Focus on effective management strategies to reduce the risk of burnout.
Employers should be aware of this trend and know that it will impact every workplace differently.