You’ve probably heard the term ‘quiet quitting’. 🔕
It’s when someone does what they have to in their role to be productive, but no more than that. They’re not openly causing trouble, nor are they necessarily looking to leave. But the enthusiasm is gone.
Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2023 Report shows that globally, most employees are quiet quitting. A huge 59% of people worldwide said they are not engaged at work.
This means:
⚠️ Feeling disconnected from their employer.
⚠️ More likely to be suffering from stress due to low engagement.
⚠️ At risk of burnout.
Here in the UK, it’s even worse. 72% of employees are quiet quitting but only 34% of employees are looking for a new job. That’s a lot of disengaged people who are going to stay with you.We can think of quiet quitting as an ‘attitude virus’. 😷 It can spread quickly with significant effects on other people’s performance, customer retention, and business growth.
But we’re not here to point a finger 👉 at the quiet quitters. They’re doing their job role. Let’s not conflate this with underperformance, because it’s not. Instead, we should address the causes of quiet quitting.
Some things are out of our control as leaders. We can’t solve the cost of living crisis. We can’t enforce world peace. We can’t singlehandedly change an entire workplace culture.
What we can do is focus on our influence, because leaders can solve many of the workplace issues that lead to quiet quitting.
Leaders have a ripple effect. What they say and do is magnified because of their position. They have visibility.
Do your leaders have the skill to:
➡️ Ensure employees understand what they need to do?
➡️ Get buy-in on why each person and their role matter?
➡️ Build strong relationships with and between team members?
➡️ Offer both high support and high challenge to energise people?
➡️ Give meaningful feedback?
➡️ Offer recognition and praise?
➡️ Coach and guide their team towards high performance?
If the answer to any of these is no, you have a leadership skills gap.
What an opportunity to turn things around and get more of your people engaged! 🤝
Quiet quitting isn’t a problem of lazy employees – it’s a challenge of leadership and engagement. At Keystone, we work with organisations to equip leaders with the skills to re-energise their teams and turn disengagement into commitment.
If you’d like to explore how others are tackling this challenge – or share what’s working in your context – the Keystone team would love to connect.