Quiet Quitting—whether you have heard this term before or not—is a real problem across businesses right now and is potentially happening in yours. Quit-quitting describes employees who fulfill their job requirements but do not go beyond their prescribed duties; essentially, they are ‘just doing their job’. This can cause problems for businesses with employees ‘checking out’ slowly, increasing disengagement and running huge risks of absenteeism.

It can be difficult to spot Quiet Quitting but I have outlined below some of the top traits for you to look out for;

1. Reduction in productivity – Quiet Quitting employees are likely to be just meeting the minimum requirements of their job – this can be tricky to manage but the drop in engagement and productivity could affect targets and deadlines being met.
2. Disengagement – Low morale and disengagement can lead to a difficult working atmosphere, often with other employees being dragged down too. The last thing you need is a toxic working environment.
3. Customer Satisfaction – With employees less engaged and less likely to go above and beyond this can have a knock-on effect for customers. Customer service levels may drop which could in turn lead to damaging the business’s reputation.
4. Leadership Challenges – It can be super difficult for managers to address Quiet Quitting as it can go unnoticed for a long period. Additional pressure is likely to be put on leadership teams to spend more time and resources on these members of the team to re-engage them.
5. Increased Turnover – Quiet Quitting can eventually lead to actual quitting. Disengaged employees are likely to be looking for a better opportunity. This will increase your costs of hiring and training new staff as well as potentially destroying your employer brand.

To mitigate your risks of Quiet Quitting, I would recommend you consider and action the following;

1. Managers need to be able to identify the early stages of burnout and act quickly by providing regular wellness check-ins. Wellness check-ins can be super helpful to ensure your team is fulfilled and happy and don’t forget to check in on your managers too.
2. Conducting regular one-to-one meetings is important to ensure employees feel valued and heard. This is also an opportunity to review workloads and address any concerns.
3. Building a positive workplace culture where employees feel valued and heard is vital. Encouraging team-building activities and regular team meetings is also helpful.
4. Offering regular training and development opportunities for growth is likely to mitigate Quiet Quitting, keeping employees engaged and bought into your business and the direction of their career. It is also vital that employees are recognised and rewarded regularly.
5. Expectations including goals and targets should be communicated and regularly reviewed. Make it fun by setting challenges and rewarding performance.

By implementing the above actions, employers should be able to create a supportive working environment that addresses any underlying issues of Quiet Quitting, which in turn should lead to an engaged and motivated workforce.