As I imagine most of my readers are aware, the term “Quiet Quitting” is receiving a lot of attention including via social media, HR communications, business journals, and other media outlets. I’ve spoken with executives about the topic who feel this is not a new phenomenon, but rather a new way to discuss employee engagement, or a lack thereof. In fact, my clients don’t seem to be as focused on “quiet quitting” as compared to other topics including:

• The future of work
• Connection
• Set managers up for success (including in leading virtual and/or hybrid teams)
• How to best lead in a constantly changing environment
• Ways to manage burnout (in self and others)
• Building and maintaining trust
• And so much more…

How do you define Quiet Quitting?

I had a recent discussion with a group of HR Professionals, and we addressed that there is no “one” clear definition for this new term, quiet quitting. And there are numerous perspectives out in the field about what this means for today’s workforce.

When I look at the list of topics I share above, I see a connection between each of these topics that, in my opinion, have an impact on what I still refer to as employee engagement.

What do you feel is the most important focus to ensure your employees remain engaged?

When speaking with HR professionals, many ideas, thoughts and assumptions were shared. I include the word assumptions, because that’s what they sounded like to me.

What I’ve learned in my years leading teams, leading Human Resources, and as an executive coach is that we don’t know unless we get curious. One of the biggest challenges I see in leadership today is a lack of communication. How can a manager really know what is going on with one of their direct reports if they don’t ask AND create the safe space for open and transparent communication?

If this is resonating with you, whether you:

• Have a manager who doesn’t ask and actively listen to your concerns,
• Are a manager who hasn’t created a regular practice of checking in with your direct reports – getting curious and truly listening, not only to what is being said, but also to what is not being said, or
• Are an HR professional who often is the one having to have the conversations with the employees because the situation gets so out of control you need to step in

Consider these questions:

• What do you want leaders to hear from you?
• What keeps you from getting curious and having these open conversations?
• What can you offer to others so they can adapt to leading in different ways?
• What can you do to help inspire change in your organization?

If you are seeing a lack of engagement, or “quiet quitting” in your workplace, which you likely are based on data around this topic, including from Gallup who found that employee engagement dropped for the first year in over 10 in 2021, how are you addressing it?

Are you are a leader or HR professional looking to find ways to address the challenges of keeping your employees engaged? I work with leaders, teams, and organizations helping to create healthy cultures, including how to engage in healthy dialogue, ways to create “safe spaces” to drive transparency, active listening, and much more! Curious? Let’s connect. 

“Create caring and robust connections between every employee and their work, customers, leaders, managers, and the organization to achieve results that matter to everyone in this sentence.” – David Zinger