Engagement Strategies to Head Off ‘Quiet Quitting’
By Caitlynn Sendra and Cindy Waxer
Once reserved for human resources professionals and organizational psychologists, discussions on “quiet quitting” are now being had by average employees and TV pundits alike.
“Quiet quitting is when someone is essentially checked out of their job to the point where they don’t want to lose their job but they’re not willing to do any of the extra effort that is typically required to advance within the organization or to stand out,” says Jessica Kriegel, chief scientist of workplace culture at Culture Partners, a California-based consultancy that helps companies improve their corporate culture.
Although there is no single indicator of “quiet quitting,” manifestations may range from entire teams of employees clearing out of the office precisely at 5 p.m., to the occasional individual team member contributing the bare minimum to crucial projects. The range of what is considered “quiet quitting” can vary widely, from lacking enthusiasm while completing tasks to outright refusing to take on new responsibilities.
Regardless of scenario or scope, for many, the days of working twice as hard on tasks that often exceed the boundaries of a job description are over. Today, quiet quitters – disengaged employees who emotionally detach from their jobs – make up at least 50% of the U.S. workforce, according to a 2022 Gallup poll. And U.S. workers aren’t the only ones simply putting in their time. Only 14% of European employees are engaged at work, Gallup found in a global survey. That ranks Europeans last in employee engagement, 19 percentage points lower than their peers in the United States and Canada.
Human resources leaders are taking note: 51% of HR professionals say they are concerned about quiet quitting, according to research conducted in 2022 by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Research Institute. Specific concerns include diminished employee morale in the workplace (cited by 83% of 1,234 respondents), reduced employee productivity (70%), or decreased quality of employee work products (50%).
Complicating matters for HR leaders? There is no single factor dissuading employees from going above and beyond expectations at work. Disengagement drivers range from pandemic-induced burnout to a lack of job satisfaction.
And if left untreated, quiet quitting can lead to problems such as “a drop in retention, a drop in productivity, and erosion of the values and guiding principles of an organization,” says Alexander Alonso, chief knowledge officer for the SHRM, a professional human resources membership association in Virginia.
But if management teams carefully examine their workplaces for signals of the symptoms of disengagement, the detection and response also can be a reawakening for an organization’s culture. This creates a prime opportunity for leaders to review their relationship with workers, create mutually beneficial policies, and execute strategies that not only encourage mental health and greater work-life balance but also deliver impressive bottom-line benefits.
Why workers are calling it quits
While quiet quitting as a human behavior is hardly new, the stressors related to the COVID-19 pandemic have been an undeniable factor. The boom in videoconferencing erased long-standing home office barriers, literally opening windows into people’s private spaces that were historically private. A Microsoft report reveals that since February 2020, the average Microsoft Teams viewer saw a 252% increase in their weekly online meeting times. By blurring work-life boundaries, the pandemic not only popularized remote work; it forced a renegotiation of the social contract that exists between employer and employee. Observing a spike in workers quitting their jobs by the millions in 2021 during the pandemic’s height, Anthony Klotz, a Texas A&M University professor, coined the term “great resignation” to describe the trend.
Workers’ responses made eminent sense, given the circumstances. “If work is going to spill over into our homes and personal lives, then employees need to ensure there is more work/life harmony,” says Jennifer Moss, workplace wellness expert and author of The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It. “Employees are pushing back on the idea of ‘always on’ culture, especially when going above and beyond hasn’t led to upward mobility. For most employees, that feels unfair.’”
– Jennifer Moss, workplace wellness expert
In addition to the loss of work-life balance, Moss says stressful conditions introduced by the pandemic, including job loss, illness, and isolation, have culminated in higher rates of burnout – a condition, she says, results from constant exposure to emotionally taxing circumstances.
“We can handle a fight-or-flight surge capacity for a couple of weeks,” Moss says. “But we’ve had to be in this state for an incredibly long time, which has led to exhaustion, fatigue, burnout, and ‘The Great Resignation.’ People have hit a wall.”
In fact, according to 2021 research from TotalBrain, a San Francisco-based mental health software provider, the pandemic dramatically increased workers’ risk of experiencing stress and anxiety. Even as life begins to return to some sense of normalcy, other societal concerns, such as war, civil unrest, and worsening economic conditions, have continued to cause workers’ increased levels of stress. For many, quiet quitting offers a respite from an emotionally and psychologically challenging work environment that doesn’t require sacrificing one’s livelihood.
Time for a reset
It’s easy to understand why managers would want to address quiet quitting, especially in today’s tight labor market. With an estimated global shortage of 85 million workers by 2030, according to Korn Ferry, organizations can’t afford to lose workers to poor morale or burnout. Nor can many manage the costs associated with mediocre performance: unengaged employees cost the world $7.8 trillion in lost productivity – 11% of the global GDP, reports Gallup.
But quashing quiet quitting would be a mistake, according to Kriegel. “When employees are operating at 120% capacity, that’s not sustainable,” she says. “There is a balance that needs to be had.”
Quiet quitting signifies a person’s effort to help themselves. The issues that contribute to quiet quitting, such as burnout and depression, are part of what the World Health Organization reports is a significant problem: an estimated 12 billion working days lost annually to depression and anxiety, resulting in a price tag of US$1 trillion in lost productivity.
Moss points to the idea of employees “hitting a wall” as an expensive risk for employers that goes beyond losing valued workers to having to manage costly insurance claims tied to mental health.
Seen in this light, Kriegel says that, in today’s fast-paced work environment, “there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with a worker who doesn’t go above and beyond.” In fact, quiet quitting can serve as an important mechanism for restoring balance in the workplace, especially at a time when workers are under extreme levels of stress and facing economic challenges.
The key is for organizations to examine how they treat employees, provide them with opportunities to develop professionally, and encourage them to set boundaries in ways that not only preserve their mental health and foster greater job satisfaction, but also support an organization’s corporate goals.
– Jennifer Moss, workplace wellness expert
Here are a few of the steps HR leaders can glean value from quiet quitting while minimizing its negative impacts.
1. Put promises of work-life balance in writing.
Set clear expectations for employees in terms of both workload demands and the time afforded to live their lives.
There is momentum building for codifying such social contracts. A growing number of countries are enacting legislation that allows employees to disconnect outside of regular office hours without suffering negative consequences. For instance, in December 2021, the government of Ontario, Canada, enacted a law that requires companies with employees of 25 people or more to have a written policy on disconnecting from work. The law defines “disconnecting from work” as “not engaging in work-related communications, including e-mails, telephone calls, video calls or sending or reviewing other messages, to be free from the performance of work.”
European countries such as France, Italy, Belgium, and Spain are also at varying stages of introducing “the right to disconnect” legislation in an attempt to improve the quality of the lives of workers.
If a company doesn’t have its own established policies, such regulations can provide HR leaders with a powerful and objective written framework to restore work-life balance for employees in ways that minimize the risk of quiet quitting.
2. Build where employees can access mental health allies and assistance programs.
For many employees, quiet quitting is less of a stance and more of a tactic for staving off burnout. That makes it vital for managers in general, and HR leaders in particular, to encourage a culture in which employees can find mental health allies at work.
For example, Alonso says HR should embrace its role as a mental health ally in the workplace. For example, SHRM recently partnered with PsychHub, multimedia software for mental health education, to develop an online certificate program for HR leaders that includes multimedia courses covering topics such as common mental health conditions, substance use, suicide and violence prevention, diversity and bias, effective communication skills, and safety planning.
In addition to providing tools for recognizing the varying mental health challenges facing today’s workforce, Alonso says the online certificate teaches HR professionals the intricacies of “how to go about asking employees about their mental health without invading their privacy.”
Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) can also offer support to employees struggling with personal and work-related problems. These workplace wellness programs are designed to improve employees’ performance by helping them resolve personal issues.
“Companies should ensure that every manager knows exactly what’s available in their EAP,” says Moss, adding that all staff should receive basic training in mental health first aid. Organizations also benefit when they hire a chief well-being or chief mental health officer to lead these programs, according to Moss.
While online certificate programs, EAPs, and first aid training are valuable initiatives, Moss says basic human emotions can go a long way toward encouraging employees to reach beyond their allotted responsibilities.
“Active listening is a big part of developing empathy,” she says. “HR leaders don’t have to be a therapist or a mental health professional, but they can be a mental health conduit – a source of knowledge that directs employees to what they need in the moment.”
3. Make extra efforts worthwhile for employees.
There are times when doing more than what’s required is unavoidable, especially if an organization is short-staffed. To reduce conflicts, Moss recommends that HR leaders communicate in exact terms what employees have to gain by extending themselves.
“If you want employees to go above and beyond, explain what that means specifically,” she says. “Offer them training and show them pathways to new goals and how continuing to meet these goals can lead to greater personal and professional success.”
Alternatively, HR leaders can take more direct and immediate action to show employees that they appreciate their efforts by providing them with monetary incentives or public acknowledgments of their work. HR leaders can also rethink their compensation and rewards programs to factor in employee efforts that exceed their job descriptions.
4. Ensure managers engage employees in regular moments of empathy.
Active disengagement, a lack of expressed interest in projects, and a reluctance to solicit feedback can all be considered signs of quiet quitting. But they can also be indications of other work-related issues, such as interpersonal struggles, low workforce morale, and skills gaps. Fortunately, keeping the lines of communication with employees clear and open can provide greater clarity.
According to Alonso, HR professionals must make sure that people managers do three things on at least a quarterly basis:
- They ask, specifically, how an employee is doing on a personal level.
- They ask, specifically, about what kind of career trajectory the individual is focused on and how HR can help them on that front.
- They focus on the mistakes employees say they have made in their performance and how HR can help them fix those mistakes.
More than simply an act of information gathering, asking these pertinent questions can embolden employees to, in turn, ask for what they need from an employer, be it more family time, a reduced workload, or an extra week of vacation. By negotiating these terms, employees are more likely to feel compensated for their efforts and less likely to withdraw from any work opportunities that exist outside their role.
– Jessica Kriegel, Chief Scientist of Workplace Culture at Culture Partners
Striking a balance
In today’s hustle-bustle culture, quiet quitting is neither a bold act of defiance; nor is it a desperate campaign for self-preservation. Rather, Kriegel says, “There are times when we’re A players and times when we’re B players.”
The answer, she says, is for HR leaders to encourage “radical truth telling” from employees so that all parties are clear on expectations, as well as the risks and rewards of surpassing them. After all, says Kriegel, “companies are able to fulfill their goals when employees feel like they’re able to fulfill their own goals as well. There’s a symbiotic relationship there.”
By Caitlynn Sendra and Cindy Waxer
Once reserved for human resources professionals and organizational psychologists, discussions on “quiet quitting” are now being had by average employees and TV pundits alike.
“Quiet quitting is when someone is essentially checked out of their job to the point where they don’t want to lose their job but they’re not willing to do any of the extra effort that is typically required to advance within the organization or to stand out,” says Jessica Kriegel, chief scientist of workplace culture at Culture Partners, a California-based consultancy that helps companies improve their corporate culture.
Although there is no single indicator of “quiet quitting,” manifestations may range from entire teams of employees clearing out of the office precisely at 5 p.m., to the occasional individual team member contributing the bare minimum to crucial projects. The range of what is considered “quiet quitting” can vary widely, from lacking enthusiasm while completing tasks to outright refusing to take on new responsibilities.
Regardless of scenario or scope, for many, the days of working twice as hard on tasks that often exceed the boundaries of a job description are over. Today, quiet quitters – disengaged employees who emotionally detach from their jobs – make up at least 50% of the U.S. workforce, according to a 2022 Gallup poll. And U.S. workers aren’t the only ones simply putting in their time. Only 14% of European employees are engaged at work, Gallup found in a global survey. That ranks Europeans last in employee engagement, 19 percentage points lower than their peers in the United States and Canada.
Human resources leaders are taking note: 51% of HR professionals say they are concerned about quiet quitting, according to research conducted in 2022 by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Research Institute. Specific concerns include diminished employee morale in the workplace (cited by 83% of 1,234 respondents), reduced employee productivity (70%), or decreased quality of employee work products (50%).
Complicating matters for HR leaders? There is no single factor dissuading employees from going above and beyond expectations at work. Disengagement drivers range from pandemic-induced burnout to a lack of job satisfaction.
And if left untreated, quiet quitting can lead to problems such as “a drop in retention, a drop in productivity, and erosion of the values and guiding principles of an organization,” says Alexander Alonso, chief knowledge officer for the SHRM, a professional human resources membership association in Virginia.
But if management teams carefully examine their workplaces for signals of the symptoms of disengagement, the detection and response also can be a reawakening for an organization’s culture. This creates a prime opportunity for leaders to review their relationship with workers, create mutually beneficial policies, and execute strategies that not only encourage mental health and greater work-life balance but also deliver impressive bottom-line benefits.
Why workers are calling it quits
While quiet quitting as a human behavior is hardly new, the stressors related to the COVID-19 pandemic have been an undeniable factor. The boom in videoconferencing erased long-standing home office barriers, literally opening windows into people’s private spaces that were historically private. A Microsoft report reveals that since February 2020, the average Microsoft Teams viewer saw a 252% increase in their weekly online meeting times. By blurring work-life boundaries, the pandemic not only popularized remote work; it forced a renegotiation of the social contract that exists between employer and employee. Observing a spike in workers quitting their jobs by the millions in 2021 during the pandemic’s height, Anthony Klotz, a Texas A&M University professor, coined the term “great resignation” to describe the trend.
Workers’ responses made eminent sense, given the circumstances. “If work is going to spill over into our homes and personal lives, then employees need to ensure there is more work/life harmony,” says Jennifer Moss, workplace wellness expert and author of The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It. “Employees are pushing back on the idea of ‘always on’ culture, especially when going above and beyond hasn’t led to upward mobility. For most employees, that feels unfair.’”
– Jennifer Moss, workplace wellness expert
In addition to the loss of work-life balance, Moss says stressful conditions introduced by the pandemic, including job loss, illness, and isolation, have culminated in higher rates of burnout – a condition, she says, results from constant exposure to emotionally taxing circumstances.
“We can handle a fight-or-flight surge capacity for a couple of weeks,” Moss says. “But we’ve had to be in this state for an incredibly long time, which has led to exhaustion, fatigue, burnout, and ‘The Great Resignation.’ People have hit a wall.”
In fact, according to 2021 research from TotalBrain, a San Francisco-based mental health software provider, the pandemic dramatically increased workers’ risk of experiencing stress and anxiety. Even as life begins to return to some sense of normalcy, other societal concerns, such as war, civil unrest, and worsening economic conditions, have continued to cause workers’ increased levels of stress. For many, quiet quitting offers a respite from an emotionally and psychologically challenging work environment that doesn’t require sacrificing one’s livelihood.
Time for a reset
It’s easy to understand why managers would want to address quiet quitting, especially in today’s tight labor market. With an estimated global shortage of 85 million workers by 2030, according to Korn Ferry, organizations can’t afford to lose workers to poor morale or burnout. Nor can many manage the costs associated with mediocre performance: unengaged employees cost the world $7.8 trillion in lost productivity – 11% of the global GDP, reports Gallup.
But quashing quiet quitting would be a mistake, according to Kriegel. “When employees are operating at 120% capacity, that’s not sustainable,” she says. “There is a balance that needs to be had.”
Quiet quitting signifies a person’s effort to help themselves. The issues that contribute to quiet quitting, such as burnout and depression, are part of what the World Health Organization reports is a significant problem: an estimated 12 billion working days lost annually to depression and anxiety, resulting in a price tag of US$1 trillion in lost productivity.
Moss points to the idea of employees “hitting a wall” as an expensive risk for employers that goes beyond losing valued workers to having to manage costly insurance claims tied to mental health.
Seen in this light, Kriegel says that, in today’s fast-paced work environment, “there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with a worker who doesn’t go above and beyond.” In fact, quiet quitting can serve as an important mechanism for restoring balance in the workplace, especially at a time when workers are under extreme levels of stress and facing economic challenges.
The key is for organizations to examine how they treat employees, provide them with opportunities to develop professionally, and encourage them to set boundaries in ways that not only preserve their mental health and foster greater job satisfaction, but also support an organization’s corporate goals.
– Jennifer Moss, workplace wellness expert
Here are a few of the steps HR leaders can glean value from quiet quitting while minimizing its negative impacts.
1. Put promises of work-life balance in writing.
Set clear expectations for employees in terms of both workload demands and the time afforded to live their lives.
There is momentum building for codifying such social contracts. A growing number of countries are enacting legislation that allows employees to disconnect outside of regular office hours without suffering negative consequences. For instance, in December 2021, the government of Ontario, Canada, enacted a law that requires companies with employees of 25 people or more to have a written policy on disconnecting from work. The law defines “disconnecting from work” as “not engaging in work-related communications, including e-mails, telephone calls, video calls or sending or reviewing other messages, to be free from the performance of work.”
European countries such as France, Italy, Belgium, and Spain are also at varying stages of introducing “the right to disconnect” legislation in an attempt to improve the quality of the lives of workers.
If a company doesn’t have its own established policies, such regulations can provide HR leaders with a powerful and objective written framework to restore work-life balance for employees in ways that minimize the risk of quiet quitting.
2. Build where employees can access mental health allies and assistance programs.
For many employees, quiet quitting is less of a stance and more of a tactic for staving off burnout. That makes it vital for managers in general, and HR leaders in particular, to encourage a culture in which employees can find mental health allies at work.
For example, Alonso says HR should embrace its role as a mental health ally in the workplace. For example, SHRM recently partnered with PsychHub, multimedia software for mental health education, to develop an online certificate program for HR leaders that includes multimedia courses covering topics such as common mental health conditions, substance use, suicide and violence prevention, diversity and bias, effective communication skills, and safety planning.
In addition to providing tools for recognizing the varying mental health challenges facing today’s workforce, Alonso says the online certificate teaches HR professionals the intricacies of “how to go about asking employees about their mental health without invading their privacy.”
Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) can also offer support to employees struggling with personal and work-related problems. These workplace wellness programs are designed to improve employees’ performance by helping them resolve personal issues.
“Companies should ensure that every manager knows exactly what’s available in their EAP,” says Moss, adding that all staff should receive basic training in mental health first aid. Organizations also benefit when they hire a chief well-being or chief mental health officer to lead these programs, according to Moss.
While online certificate programs, EAPs, and first aid training are valuable initiatives, Moss says basic human emotions can go a long way toward encouraging employees to reach beyond their allotted responsibilities.
“Active listening is a big part of developing empathy,” she says. “HR leaders don’t have to be a therapist or a mental health professional, but they can be a mental health conduit – a source of knowledge that directs employees to what they need in the moment.”
3. Make extra efforts worthwhile for employees.
There are times when doing more than what’s required is unavoidable, especially if an organization is short-staffed. To reduce conflicts, Moss recommends that HR leaders communicate in exact terms what employees have to gain by extending themselves.
“If you want employees to go above and beyond, explain what that means specifically,” she says. “Offer them training and show them pathways to new goals and how continuing to meet these goals can lead to greater personal and professional success.”
Alternatively, HR leaders can take more direct and immediate action to show employees that they appreciate their efforts by providing them with monetary incentives or public acknowledgments of their work. HR leaders can also rethink their compensation and rewards programs to factor in employee efforts that exceed their job descriptions.
4. Ensure managers engage employees in regular moments of empathy.
Active disengagement, a lack of expressed interest in projects, and a reluctance to solicit feedback can all be considered signs of quiet quitting. But they can also be indications of other work-related issues, such as interpersonal struggles, low workforce morale, and skills gaps. Fortunately, keeping the lines of communication with employees clear and open can provide greater clarity.
According to Alonso, HR professionals must make sure that people managers do three things on at least a quarterly basis:
- They ask, specifically, how an employee is doing on a personal level.
- They ask, specifically, about what kind of career trajectory the individual is focused on and how HR can help them on that front.
- They focus on the mistakes employees say they have made in their performance and how HR can help them fix those mistakes.
More than simply an act of information gathering, asking these pertinent questions can embolden employees to, in turn, ask for what they need from an employer, be it more family time, a reduced workload, or an extra week of vacation. By negotiating these terms, employees are more likely to feel compensated for their efforts and less likely to withdraw from any work opportunities that exist outside their role.
– Jessica Kriegel, Chief Scientist of Workplace Culture at Culture Partners
Striking a balance
In today’s hustle-bustle culture, quiet quitting is neither a bold act of defiance; nor is it a desperate campaign for self-preservation. Rather, Kriegel says, “There are times when we’re A players and times when we’re B players.”
The answer, she says, is for HR leaders to encourage “radical truth telling” from employees so that all parties are clear on expectations, as well as the risks and rewards of surpassing them. After all, says Kriegel, “companies are able to fulfill their goals when employees feel like they’re able to fulfill their own goals as well. There’s a symbiotic relationship there.”
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