How To Prevent Quiet Quitting In Your Company

The workspace plays a big part in the identity of the company, and the wellbeing of the team.

Employee wellbeing has been a major topic of discussion in recent years due to pandemic and homeworking.

So, what exactly is quiet quitting, and what can leaders prevent it?

What is quiet quitting?

The quiet quitting was popularised on TikTok, and the hashtag #QuietQuitting spread like wildfire.

Quiet quitting means not going above and beyond one’s basic workload.

Essentially, you’re still performing your work duties, but you do the bare minimum just bare minimum to get by at work. You may be in the process of job-searching or might have no intention of quitting yet. The point is that you no longer have the motivation to exceed expectations.

It’s basically saying no to ‘hustle culture’ mentality.

Most common reasons for quiet quitting

Workers quiet quit for different reasons— some of the most popular reasons are:

* Bad management. Managers with bad leadership qualities

* Excessive workloads. Overloading employees with tasks beyond their job description

* Wage disparity. If someone discovers they make much less than other peers in their company, a morale dropoff is almost inevitable.

How to prevent quiet quitting among your employees?

1. Become or hire managers who don’t micromanage

Not every manager is a true leader. But thankfully, great leadership can be learned through courses and coaching.

What makes a good leader? A leader is someone who others admire and look up to. It’s a person, who can motivate people to work for a common goal. It’s harder to achieve than it sounds.

Bad managers don’t have gravitas, can’t motivate people, and micromanage.

Micromanagement is an easy habit for managers to slip into. When an employee makes a mistake (or does something differently than they would), it’s second nature for many managers to step in immediately.

But when this happens too often, it becomes micromanagement.

Micromanagement demoralizes workers and creates an environment of mistrust. This toxic culture translates to disengaged employees and, of course, quiet quitting.

Great managers give their employees the freedom to make decisions and don’t micromanage them. Employees want to know they are trusted and their judgments are respected.

They want to be able to achieve objectives based on their desires, their values, and their talent. They want a sense of empowerment and to feel that they own what they’re doing.

The smarter people are always self­-directed, they are intrinsically motivated to do great work.

Daniel Pink, the author of one of my favourite books on motivation “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” explains that there are, in fact, just 3 very simple things that drive nearly each and every one of us to work hard:

* Autonomy: Our desire to direct our own lives. In short: “You probably want to do something interesting, let me get out of your way!”

* Mastery: Our urge to get better at things we like to do.

* Purpose: The feeling and intention that we can make a difference in the world.

I would add the fourth one that I think is very important:

* Fairness: Knowing that you’re being paid a reasonable amount for your work, so that money no longer becomes an issue.

2. Pay fairly

Inflation has grown out of control lately and business owners need to keep up by delivering the pay that employees require to manage higher living costs. 

To ensure that you are providing a fair level of pay, you should check what other employers are offering on the market. You can’t fall short of the averages that are in place. If you do, then employees will likely leave your business at the first chance that they get.

3. Create cosy and stylish workplace

Coming into an office that looks and feels inspiring and engaging is something that Millennials are increasingly not just seeking, but expecting.

We also want a variety of work-stations for collaborative and individual work.

If possible, provide comfortable break areas. These can be a place for employees to take a quick nap, relax, or eat lunch. It should be a quiet space and away from the hustle and bustle of the work area.

Employees want to feel like they have enough personal space and their workspace is ergonomically set up.

Pay attention to the lighting and room temperature. Try to maximise natural light and ensure that the office is well-insulated and can retain heat.

Maintaining a good work environment also helps to retain talent and can help improve mental health. Everyone wants to come to a nice place to spend their day.

4. Avoid overloading employees

Make sure employees are not overloaded with work. Everyone’s threshold will be different, depending on how they work and what their responsibilities are.

Make sure that the workload is fair and distributed evenly.

You should also ensure that the deadlines assigned to activities and projects are realistic and achievable.

If employees are overloaded with work, they are going to feel stressed, work longer hours to get it complete, and be unhappy.

This dissatisfaction and stress will lead to slower working times, and less motivation.

5. Support employee health and wellbeing

When you prioritise employees’ mental, physical, and emotional health, employees feel less need to defend themselves against potential harm by pulling back professionally.

By committing to employee wellbeing, you establish the workplace as a safe space and tap into employee’s full potential.

You can encourage a healthy lifestyle with discounted gym memberships, company-wide sports matches, and free healthy food and snacks at work.