Put An End To Quiet Quitting With These Leadership Development Tips
Quiet quitting has become an increasingly common alternative solution to actual resignation. The concept, which gained popularity through social media, refers to employees that feel disengaged or unsatisfied with their job, but instead of resigning, they continue to execute their assigned tasks and refuse to stray from the responsibilities that are outlined in their job descriptions. In short, quiet quitting means that your workforce is doing the bare minimum to remain in your employment. How can this be addressed on an organizational level? Are there initiatives companies can implement to combat this ever-rising phenomenon?
9 Ways To Fend Off Quiet Quitting In Your Company
The answer lies in solid leadership. Not only do leaders themselves have to be able to identify disengagement among their teams, but they should also practice good leadership by establishing positive, empathic connections with their team members. So what can leaders do to detect and avert quiet quitting? A great solution is to launch development initiatives that aim to improve outreach and leadership styles in order to address quiet quitting at its core.
1. Foster Connections
Having regular check-ins with your workforce, either one-on-one or as a team, helps companies better understand the needs and wants of their staff, areas they need to improve, and what can be done on an organizational level to combat employee dissatisfaction. Show interest in cultivating a personal connection between upper management and employees by utilizing compassion and respect during your check-in times.
2. Focus On Team-Building
Set healthy precedents for your team to follow; a good leader is the glue that holds everyone together. By cultivating an environment of collaboration and accountability that focuses on the benefits of teamwork, leaders can encourage employee growth on a collective level. Make sure to lead by example and collaborate with your team in a way that works for everyone so that you give your people opportunities to practice fair play. If your team understands the impact that quiet quitting has on all members of the organization, they're more likely to be mindful of their actions and behaviors.
3. Evaluate Your Benefits Plan
Is every member of your staff compensated fairly? Employees that feel improperly rewarded are more prone to quiet quitting. After all, one of the main aspects is doing exactly what you are being paid for. If you add more value to your employee's responsibilities by compensating them based on their value, you can get ahead of the curve and combat dissatisfaction. Ask your staff what benefits they value, as it's not only monetary rewards that matter, and try to get as close as your budget allows.
4. Ask For Feedback
If you expect your staff to practice accountability in their work, then you should do the same. What can leaders do to increase job satisfaction among their employees? In order to foster positive connections built on trust and respect, one should be a good listener first and foremost. Ask your team to provide detailed feedback on company processes, their compensation packages, and, most importantly, on what their organization can do to ensure their well-being. However, it's important that these evaluations lead to concrete, actionable plans to maximize employee satisfaction and loyalty.
5. Encourage Self-Care
After the core issues, like benefits and salary, have been addressed, it is time to focus on employee wellness. If quiet quitting aims to call attention to a lack of work-life balance, leaders need to proactively concentrate on what their staff needs and expects. Promote self-care by encouraging your employees to utilize their vacation time. Respect their lunch breaks; you can add an extra five minutes if your staff seems overworked or set an extra day off as a reward for those that achieve their milestones. You can even allow for one mental health day off work per employee to give an extra boost to your staff when they need it and show that you truly care about them.
6. Respect Working Hours
What constitutes an after-hours work emergency? Make sure that your staff has a clear understanding of when responding is optional and when it is urgent. If something can wait until the next morning then it's pointless to bother someone after-hours; it shows a clear lack of respect for someone's personal time. Employees that feel like the line between work and life are blurred or easily overlooked are more prone to quiet quitting.
7. Foster Advancement
Everyone's career path and objectives look different. Utilize your one-on-one time with your employees to find out how they want to advance in the coming years. Do they have a clear outline? If so, what are their five-year plans? How can your organization and its leaders aid in those resolutions? If your staff feels like you are invested in their mobility and advancement, they are less prone to undermine the value of your company by quiet quitting. Set milestones to help them advance their career, even if it means losing them to another department that better suits their skillset.
8. Offer L&D Opportunities
A lack of Learning and Development opportunities is often the reason behind low engagement rates. Facilitate improvement in your department and foster employee upskilling and reskilling to cut quiet quitting at the root. Continuous learning is key to continuous advancement, and organizations that offer ongoing L&D opportunities prove that they're willing to invest in an employee's personal growth.
9. Recognize and Reward
Recognition of how one overcame a struggle and achieved a target can go a long way. Show your team that you are well aware of their achievements and are proud of how far they've come. Moreover, set a reward system that focuses on both day-to-day and long-term goal achievements. By implementing a reward system that centers on their development, target-reaching, and your employee's personal objectives, you can build up the motivation they may have lost along the way.
Conclusion
Realizing that your employees are quiet quitting because something has gone wrong on an organizational level is a tough pill to swallow. Discover the root of the problem and address it on a company-wide level by reconsidering and restructuring your leadership style. Finally, try to build on the leadership development plan detailed above to find out what works for your own company and your people. If you want your employees to go above and beyond for your organization, make sure you also go above and beyond for them.
Download The Future Of Work Report 2022: Culture Trends And What Employees Want to discover what employees really value today and how they feel employers are doing when it comes to creating a great workplace.
