Quiet quitting: 5 tips to help employers

The quiet quitting phenomenon is here to stay for the foreseeable future. We share our top five tips for how employers can help prevent it. Check them out.

Quiet quitting: 5 tips to help employers

As we all know, the pandemic triggered a lot of changes, which included new ways of working. It also made people think differently about their approach to work too.

Many employees – at least half of the US workforce - are now embracing the concept of quiet quitting, which has become quite the global phenomenon. A video published by a US TikToker has been linked to fuelling the quiet quitting trend, which is essentially when employees do what’s in their job description and nothing more.

If you read all the reports about it, people are becoming quiet quitters to protect themselves from the risk of burning out. (For more insight on what quiet quitting is and to see that viral TikTok clip, read our blog, ‘Shhh…what’s quiet quitting all about?’)

While quiet quitting is a whole new trend employees the world over are embracing, it’s also a whole new challenge in itself for employers. Not only do they have to contend with employees’ new outlook to outputs, they have to deal with the wider effects of quiet quitting. For instance, colleagues having to take on additional work or deciding to become quiet quitters too.

What can employers do?

The impact and implications of quiet quitting will undoubtedly vary from workforce-to-workforce, but there is some best practice guidance out there for employers to help nip it in the bud before it happens. We’ve rounded up five our favourite top tips:

1. Spot the signs

Before people become quiet quitters, they reportedly tend to give off small signs they’re going to do it before they actually do it. These signs include not contributing in meetings or group discussions, lacking confidence, a sudden drop in productivity, lack of enthusiasm and becoming outwardly cynical in relation to their work or general workplace.

2. Support your managers

Managers are ultimately responsible for establishing and building relationships with employees. However, they’re not immune from feeling the pull of quiet quitting either. Feeling stressed can be a key contributor to quiet quitting, so it’s important managers feel supported at all times, and if they do feel overwhelmed, know they aren’t alone in dealing with it.

3. Make short-term increases

In relation to workloads, not pay. If employers do need staff to take on some extra work, then it should ideally be on a short-term basis. It should also be clear how long they need to do it for. If the additional tasks need to be carried out for longer, then employees should be promoted or compensated for the additional outputs.

4. Reward your team

Not feeling as though the reward, i.e. the pay, is worth the extra effort is another reason why people turn to quiet quitting. Making sure employees are paid a competitive wage that’s in line with the current cost of living is essential. So too is making sure salaries are reviewed on a regular basis and there are realistic opportunities for staff to earn more money over time.

5. Prioritise staff wellbeing

We live in an age where mental health and wellbeing is openly championed and discussed and that includes in the workplace too. Some employees see quiet quitting as being essential to looking after their mental health. Where possible, demonstrate your support for staff wellbeing by implementing a dedicated wellbeing programme. You could also introduce flexible working, encourage breaks, introduce a four-day week or workplace yoga. There’s lots that can be done.

By the look of things, quiet quitting isn’t going anywhere just yet. No employees are immune from it, which means it can impact employers at any time. Fortunately, there are some clear indicators employers can pick up on before quiet quitting kicks in. There are also many (the five tips above are among a long list of many) things employers can do to help prevent their team(s) from becoming a workforce of quiet quitters, many of which stem back to listening to, supporting and rewarding their employees.

For more practical advice, take a look at this blog, ‘How to handle redundancy – a guide for employers.’