Are you busy quiet firing?
We are hearing a lot of talk these days about the level of ‘quiet quitting’ that is taking place around the world. According to the Cambridge dictionary it means:
The activity of doing the work that you need to do in order to keep your job but doing it without great enthusiasm or effort, and without agreeing to do extra tasks.
This relates to discretionary effort, which is when people choose how much they are invested in the job that they do and what they are prepared to put in over and above that which is required or expected. They may do this because they are over achievers or want to create a good impression to be promoted, or are great team players who help their colleagues along.
It has been widely shared that many people are disengaged. Gallup in 2022 stated the level of global engagement was 23%, which was an improvement on the previous figure of 21% in 2020.
This disengagement has now been labelled as quiet quitting. People are still physically or virtually present, but they are working at the minimal acceptable level. This is sad to say the least!
What a waste of all the talent, energy and innovation that could be harnessed by organisations. It is easy to blame the individuals and to take a critical view of their lack of contribution when they could do so much more.
The fact is that many people are working longer hours to meet organisational demands and they do not have the extra energy to give, while they try to seek the myth of work/life balance.
If we turn this on its head and we ask the organisation, what are organisations doing to engage their staff so that they volunteer their discretionary effort?
Unless there is an active, deliberate plan to create an environment that is conducive to bringing out the best in employees then you may be guilty of ‘quiet firing’. You can sum it up as demoralising your employees so that they want to quit.
How are you doing that?
- Not knowing who they are, or anything about their personal life.
- Not providing them with learning and development opportunities.
- Not recognising their contributions.
- Rewarding average work the same as exceptional performance.
- Rewarding average work the same as exceptional performance.
- Not allowing them to have boundaries in place to protect other areas of their life.
- Not taking time to give feedback and giving it accurately.
- Not offering support or providing the required resources.
Forbes has a great list for employees about signs that their boss is guilty of quiet firing.
How do you ensure that you are not guilty?
- Ask for feedback from your people to see what they think of you a manager or leader.
- Carve out time in your busy schedule to check in with people, not about work. Be genuinely interested in who they are and what is important to them.
- Give praise and recognition to individuals who genuinely deserve it and provide constructive ‘feed forward’ that will help in their development.
- Provide development and stretch opportunities that will keep them engaged and learning.
- Respect their boundaries. Many people have reevaluated their lives during and post COVID and are wanting to protect their personal and family time.
- Pay people what they are worth, but know that money is not an intrinsic motivator, it is a
- necessity and therefore has short time incentive value.
Right now, you may be thinking that this is all too much, and what about you? Who is looking after you? If so you may, without realising it, be on the way to quiet quitting yourself. As the manager and leader your energy, your commitment is seen by others. If you start quitting, they will soon be following suit. The result? Everyone doing their job and nothing more = MEDIOCRITY!
Changing the energy and not quitting starts with you. We can help you to help yourself and your people to not get fired but to be FIRED UP! Get in touch now.
References:
https://www.gallup.com/394373/indicator-employee-engagement.aspx