What is Quiet Quitting: A Proper Guide

Quiet quitting was not particularly common in earlier times. But lately, with more and more employees, especially the younger generation employees, constantly disengaging from work, the topic has gained importance. Quiet quitting has become more prominent since the pandemic and is still prevailing as employers are struggling to come to terms with the hybrid model of work and have been nudging employees to get back to working from the office.

In this article we will be addressing the following questions- what is quiet quitting? Why Quiet quitting happens? How can organizations address it and help overcome this effectively?

What is Quiet Quitting?

Quiet quitting is when employees only care about doing the bare minimum work and do not put in extra effort to learn more or do more. These employees are fulfilling their duties but are not really into their work. Quiet quitting mostly happens due to employee burnout or dissatisfaction with work. However, there may be other reasons for quiet quitting. One other common reason could be when an employee is quitting their job and is looking for another one.

Key Signs and Behaviours of Quiet Quitting

Quiet Quitting meaning when an employee shows disengagement in the workplace and only carries out the bare minimum job duties, which is unfair to the employer. Some of the examples of quiet quitting are-

1. Less engagement

Quiet quitting employees become less engaged at the workplace, during meetings, social interactions and do not bother about suggesting innovative ideas or be enthusiastic about their work.

2. Do not take initiative or be creative

Employees who are looking to quit quietly do not take initiative to provide innovative ideas or even seek out new opportunities to grow or improve. Their creativity is on the downside.

3. Higher absenteeism

One of the other common signs of quiet quitting is when employees take leaves without explanation. They even find it difficult to motivate themselves to get to work.

4. Decrease in quality of work

During the quiet quitting phase, employees do not concentrate on work leading to a decline in quality of work resulting in tasks getting completed at a slower pace.

5. Irritable attitude

Employees who are quietly quitting may exhibit noticeable changes in their attitude and behaviour. They may become more irritable, easily frustrated, or display a lack of enthusiasm or interest in their work.

Why Does Quiet Quitting Happen?

There are numerous factors associated with why quiet quitting can happen. Some of the common factors are-

1. Disengagement

A motivated employee would go above and beyond to excel and do more than what their job role requires of them. This motivation comes from having a healthy relationship with the organization or their respective managers or heads. Similarly, when an employee fails to feel happy and satisfied at the workplace, they become disengaged and perform bare minimum in their work lives. They show up at work, barely interact with their colleagues or others, stick to their desks, and leave.

2. Heavy workloads

There is only as much an employee can do, no matter how efficient, effective, or motivated he/she is. Dumping more work on employees, assuming they can do it, is a big mistake. Being overloaded with work not only affects their efficiency but also kills their motivation. Give them responsibilities well within their knowledge and potential and motivate them to perform well.

3. Unsupportive colleagues or work environment

Nothing is more demotivating than an unpleasant or an unsupportive workplace. And by unsupportive workplace we mean, colleagues who do not support you or employers failing to recognize hard work. You are not doing right by your employees if you are not recognizing and rewarding their hard work. Micromanagement, denying them the required resources, not providing the right training or opportunities for career growth etc., are some of the things that you absolutely must avoid.

Remember that they are the strongest pillars of your organization and, no matter the circumstances, you must be mindful of their needs if you want to see your business succeed.

Quiet Quitting vs. Burnout vs. Resignation

Quiet Quitting, burnout, and resignation are related but are different from one another. Quiet Quitting happens when employees voluntarily decide to put in less effort at work, which most often is due to burnout or feeling dissatisfied with work. Burnout is exhaustion caused due to elevated levels of stress at the workplace, which is quite often followed by resignation meaning an employee leaving the job.

Quiet Quitting could stem due to burnout, and failure to cope with work stress. Burnout can lead to quiet quitting or even resignation. Resignation followed by burnout could be after a phase of quiet quitting.

How Can Organizations Address Quiet Quitting?

It is not particularly hard to find out why employees are quiet quitting. There are only as many factors that can contribute to their disengagement from work. Once you figure it out, all you need to do is address it to the best of your ability. The HR department of an organization is one that utterly understands the qualms of employees and can relate to their problems. Leveraging their means and experience is your best bet if you are hoping to eliminate the quiet quitting of employees.

1. Prevention of burnout

If burnout is the reason for quiet quitting, there is something wrong with your workplace practices or a negative organizational culture. The mental health and well-being of employees has become an important part of the contract these days and rightfully so. With everything being so digital lately, employees always feel micromanaged as if they must be ON.

It does not hurt to look beyond presenteeism. Now we are not saying “don’t have any rules.” You must set boundaries. But make sure that they are not so stringent that they are causing unrest or burnout of employees. For example,

• Make a deal stating it is ok to be logged out or unavailable on a regular workday if their daily goals are met. Do not enforce the need for them to be online continuously. It is humanly not possible.

• Have recharge days. Normalize employees wanting to take a day or two off for a day or two if they are not feeling like being available for calls, emails, meetings, or any other work mandates.

• Try deep workdays. Deep workdays are those days when meetings are completely banned for everyone, even seniors. Days where you allow them to just get by with their usual work.

2. Give them purpose

A Gartner report revealed that, post the pandemic, more than ever, people want to work for organizations that have a purpose-led EVP (Employee Value Proposition). One of the key reasons why employees feel demotivated sometimes is because they do not feel a sense of purpose. They feel that the time and effort they put into their work is not contributing towards fulfilling a bigger organizational goal.

As HR, you need to instill that sense of purpose in them.

• Have one-on-one chats

• Online meetings

• Conversations about the company’s future goals

• Conversations about how their weekly work is impacting the company’s growth

You must make sure that your employees feel recognized and are acknowledged for their valuable contribution to the company.

3. Make employee engagement a priority

Why are your employees tuning out so often? Please do not consider yourself a mind reader or make assumptions as to why. You need to ask if you want to know.

Some useful methods to find out the reasons for disengagement are-

• customized employee engagement surveys

• Pulse surveys

• One-on-one stay interviews

Toxic company culture has been cited as one of the prime reasons for employees quitting organizations, so you need to take sharp steps to find out the root cause of the problem.

4. Encourage open communication and feedback

Do not be the one who does all the talking in meetings. Listening to your employees is important, you would be surprised at how much it can be revealed about the employee and their problems, even in normal conversation.

• Listen to what they have to say

• Learn from what they have said

• Initiate actions suggested by them

• In situations where you cannot take in their suggestions, let them know why.

As HR, you may not be able to implement all their suggestions, but you can pass them on to your supervisor who can ensure they are addressed.

5. Be kind

It does not cost you anything to be kind. You might have had a rough day but bear in mind that as their HR management you must always be kind and make employees feel appreciated. According to research, employees perform their best when they feel psychologically safe and assured. Allow them to speak up, disagree, and offer feedback to management.

6. Do a “stay interview” with employees who are not quiet quitting

Of course, you must know why employees are quitting, but it is also important to know why the others choose to stay. You must know both the good and bad about your organization. By understanding the reason behind the happy employees, you can gain insight into why the others are not.

Explore before you act

There is no doubt that quiet quitting can have serious implications on the growth of the organization, but you must understand that setting boundaries is just as important and it does not mean that employees are disengaged. Having said that, you must also be aware that not everyone is ambitious. Some are simply happy in their jobs and are not looking for anything else. In which case, you must recognize employees who want to truly contribute to the greater good of the organization and give them responsibilities according to their abilities and allow them to shine.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Is quiet quitting really quitting?

Quiet quitting refers to when employees disengage from work and resort to doing just the bare minimum at the workplace, whereas quitting refers to an action when an employee formally hands over his resignation and leaves the organization. So, quiet quitting is not quitting.

2. What is the difference between quiet quitting and disengagement?

Disengagement is when an employee loses interest at work and does not put in any effort to do better, whereas quiet quitting is form of disengagement where employees only do extraordinarily little of what is required of their roles.

3. How common in quiet quitting?

Up to 67% of US employees and 85% worldwide could be quiet quitting. A Gallup report states that only 15 percent of employees are actively engaged at work, which means up to 85% could be quiet quitting.

4. Is quiet quitting a Gen Z trend?

While quiet quitting is most common among Gen Z, it is important to know why. And it is not because they are lazy or not interested to go the extra mile, but because they have lesser tolerance towards unfair treatment at the workplace.

5. How do employers detect quiet quitting?

Some of the signs that tip off employers about those trying to quietly quit are- not engaged during meetings, show no interest in social interactions, are not interested in contributing ideas during brainstorming, do not respond to emails after work hours etc.

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Rajkumar Shanmugam

Head of HR

Rajkumar Shanmugam is the Head of HR at ALP Consulting, bringing over 19 years of comprehensive HR leadership experience across India and international markets. His expertise spans talent acquisition, employee relations, performance management, compliance, and HR transformation. Rajkumar has a proven track record of driving people-centric initiatives, enhancing workplace culture, and aligning HR strategy with business goals. With extensive experience in US staffing operations and global mobility, he continues to lead organizational excellence through innovation and employee engagement.