Have you heard of the term “Quiet-quitting”? Well, it’s not a new term or concept that is impacting organizations. However, it came back onto the world-stage in 2022, as a TikTok trend, seemingly started by user @zaidleppelin. His video talks about the phenomenon as a way to reform the way that we work, with his video text defining quiet quitting as, “Quitting the idea of going above and beyond at work,” with the ending statements of the video, “Work is not your life. Your worth is not defined by your productive output.” For this post, we’ll focus on employers and offer some additional ideas and guidance with best practices.
Other aspects to consider are the wide-spread toxic changes in workplace culture that allowed employees to be laid off in mass quantities without empathy, dignity, or respect. In one of many instances, over 900 employees were laid off via an impersonal and unprofessional video call. In another, after the acquisition of Twitter, Elon Musk laid off half of the employed workforce. There are many reasons that a company may need to complete a lay-off, when it’s absolutely necessary. Organizations move through checking the efficiency and importance of their employees to “right-size” their workforce quietly. If the stats are posted in advance of the layoffs, employees may be able to find their company on the WARNTracker.com website, and prepare themselves, their families and financial impact. Dennis Henry wrote about the effects of these layoffs, for both groups, those laid off, and those that survive the layoffs.
The remnants on both groups are important to note:
1. Long-term mental health effects
2. Loss of community and support
3. Heightened anxiety and fear
4. Burn-out risk due to increased workload
5. Loss of trust and commitment
Ultimately, to do well by employees, whether upsizing, maintaining, or right-sizing, the key principals remain for organization leaders to support a healthy work environment and encourage employee engagement and involvement going above the minimum of their job duties to exemplary job performance. In addition, for employers’ documentation is key so having everything in a written format of the plan of action along with company communication to the remaining workforce and the steps taken to support, encourage and address employee questions and concerns along with any changing job expectations is critical.
1. Create a healthy culture of support and open communication with managers and non-managers, ensuring that all employees are heard. Give employees opportunities to be heard in a meaningful way that allows them to feel safe in communicating and acknowledged for their effort. This can be through an anonymous survey, during team meetings, or in strategic collaborative sessions. Bonus points if your organization goes for all three. Also, when there is a clear need for change such as with right-sizing or down-sizing, based upon the situation potentially alerting effected teams ahead of time if timing allows and using an appropriate communication method.
2. Ensure that all employees have the support and resources they need. Support and resources can be a great opportunity to provide to laid off employees and a highly desired recruitment tool to candidates interested in joining the organization. These may include financial or support counseling, and continued benefits. In addition, remaining employees need support and resources within the organization as a way to support mitigating quiet quitting potentially happening.
3. Focus on continuous trust and career development through effective leadership. With time, we come to the understanding that trust is easily broken, and not easily repaired. For organizations to perform well, trust should be baked into every facet of organizational culture. Trust comes from transparency, honesty, empowering employees with everything that they need to do good work, company-wide accountability, consistency, communication, inclusivity, and acknowledging team accomplishments consistently.
4. Maintain the “human” side with any necessary business change impacting the workforce. Continually acknowledge the accomplishments of employees with their various contributions to the organization. Provide clear effective communication with employees and executive staff to create community emphasizing that each person in the organization is part of a team that comes together in support of one-another.
It’s clear with the news showing organizations laying off volumes of their workforce staff in positions that were once seen as stable and permanent that there will be challenges and risk with liability involved with exiting and remaining employees if your organization is faced with the same or similar position. Bottom line is organizations will need to adapt and expect fluctuation based upon many internal and external influences, and may need to maneuver through tough decisions that impact the workforce and overall organization.
If you need help developing a human resources strategy that strengthens your organization against instability through necessary changes and mitigating quiet quitting or need help to ‘right-size’ the organization the right way, give me a call (951) 254-3868 or send me an email sp@hrconsultpro.com
