Cioffi: Should you worry about 'quiet quitting?'

Several months ago, I was waiting for my flight at an airport and was listening to a special report on "quiet quitting."

It seemed to be a pretty self-explanatory topic but in asking my human resources and hiring manager colleagues if they heard about this, the answers were either…. "No," or "Yes, I have, but I don't really understand it."

So I decided to do some research on the topic further and share with our industry. By the end of this piece, hopefully you'll understand what it is and how you might consider addressing it.

Quiet quitting is a topic of conversation globally — so what exactly does it mean?

NPR recently mentioned that while employees are not necessarily turning in their resignations, they are quitting the idea of going above and beyond in their role.

Quiet quitters are doing the bare minimum requirements of their roles while divorcing the idea that their value and worth is wrapped up in their performance in the corporate world.

While quiet quitting has become a recent topic of conversation throughout social media and the professional world, it is not a new trend.

It could be that the pause in our otherwise consistent flow of work immersion due to the pandemic pushed people to reevaluate where they focus their attention. It also could be that the relaxed environment allowed by working from home has impacted people's drive and work ethic.

No matter the cause — quiet quitting is rising in popularity.

How can employers keep their workforce engaged and motivated to avoid the quiet quitting phenomenon?

With the current climate of the candidate market, there are multiple steps your organization can take to retain your teams and attract new talent.

• Internal mobility and clear growth plans

A lack of growth opportunity is one of the driving forces behind employees' unhappiness in the workplace.

Deloitte's human capital team recently mentioned that professional growth and development opportunities are a deciding factor in where people chose to work.

Development in this sense touches on more than just title promotion, but on offering opportunities to develop personal skill sets via mentoring or training programs, chances to work on cross-functional teams and empowering your employees to challenge themselves.

These practices not only result in a dynamic and skilled workforce, but an engaged one.

• Increase employee engagement

Quiet quitting is heavily affecting employees' engagement with their work, especially in the remote setting. They may be clocked in, but they are checked out.

SHRM professionals suggest that to combat that, employers must be committed to creating an engaging environment by providing individual attention, supplying the right tools for the job, providing training and coaching, asking for employee feedback, and holding their teams accountable.

• Humanize your workforce

Hand in hand with employee engagement is humanizing your workforce.

Obviously, people spend a significant amount of their time with their employers and fellow team members. It is important for their longevity to feel valued.

To do this, employers can show they care about their employees through wellness programs, arranging social events for bonding opportunities and recognizing their employees win loudly and proudly.

Employees want to feel seen and appreciated for their contributions. Don't be scared of being silly or over the top when celebrating your team. It builds a strong culture and increases engagement.

• Competitive salaries

As we all know, the candidate market is competitive. There has been an increase in pay transparency, starting salary increases and inflation.

To ensure that you are retaining your current talent and making competitive offers, confirm that your salaries are competitive in the market. We have compiled data here, to help assist in this evaluation.

At the end of the day, I believe it's a two way street. It's on the hiring managers and leadership to make sure the team is engaged — but it's also on the employee to put in their best effort.

I imagine that the quiet quitters are noticed and will be among the first to be cut when layoffs arise.

My advice to quiet quitters is to bring value to your team if you value your position or simply use this time to find your next career step.

My advice to hiring managers is to analyze the engagement on your team frequently and motivate them to do their best.

Mike Cioffi is the founder of Tire Talent, a boutique recruiting agency dedicated to the industry. He can be reached at [email protected].