The Cure For 'Quiet Quitting'

Glenn Hasteadt, IT Director, County of Onslow

The phrase ‘quiet quitting’ has gained some prominence lately in leadership publications. Essentially it refers to employees not working extra hours, going the extra mile, and instead fulfilling the terms of their employment to the minimum or to the point they feel they are compensated. While I am a huge proponent of work/life balance, I see this latest trend as another sign of a disengaged workforce which, in my opinion, it is a direct result of poor leadership and growing stress on individuals. Our teams have faced a pandemic, racial tensions, global conflict, and financial stress while dealing with leaders who are mostly ill-equipped to handle this additional stress, along with supply chain woes and struggling income metrics. The last few years have been difficult for everyone, and our previous authoritative leadership model exacerbates the stress our teams feel.

The authoritative model has been in use since the beginning of the 20^th century and is demonstrated by leaders who look for what people are doing wrong and correcting them, telling staff what/when/how to do a task, and basically controlling the team in the false belief that they need direct supervision constantly. This model discourages staff from innovating for fear of the spotlight failure might bring and generally increases the stress on the team to achieve arbitrary goals. There is another way.

If you, as the leader, change your mindset and perspective, you can not only have happy, productive, and engaged teams; you will also see innovation, customer service improvements, and, most importantly, a reduction in turnover. The steps are easy to understand yet difficult (at first) to do. The steps I have outlined below are not comprehensive and are derived from my own experiences and knowledge I have gleaned in discussions with other leaders. I urge you to do your own research into servant leadership and especially how to improve emotional safety.

Leadership changes that need to happen

Clear communication is essential; you must be able to communicate what your group's reason for existence is (Mission), how it will operate to complete that mission (Values), and what direction you will move in the future (Vision). These can’t just be slogans on the break room walls or in your email signatures, they must be modeled by every decision, action, and communication leadership does; It is reflected as much by what you do as what behaviors you allow. Communicate the goals needed for immediate success along with a vision for what could be achieved but leave the performance metrics and details on how it needs to be achieved aside. Focus more on the big picture items like customer satisfaction or income growth.

“If you, as the leader, change your mindset and perspective, you can not only have happy, productive, and engaged teams; you will also see innovation, customer service improvements, and, most importantly, a reduction in turnover.”

Management is essentially a relationship and, like all relationships, is built on trust; trust must be established and supported by the actions of the leader. Leaders must take the blame and pass the praise, maintain a positive outlook, get the team the tools/training they need, and never gossip or speak negatively about a member of their team. Trust is an essential precondition to any future step you want to take to improve the culture. Words without supporting action ring hollow and counterfeit; it is by finding ways to put those words into action that we can show authenticity.

As trust takes hold and direction is communicated, you can begin the most essential phase of the transformation, the creation of an emotionally safe environment. I understand how soft and ‘ooey gooey’ this phrase will sound to professionals with work to do and deadlines to achieve, but please hear me out. This environment is one where team members feel appreciated, like their contributions are valued, and they are encouraged to grow and share; in short that they are cared for and valued for who they are and what they bring. This environment is essential for innovation and inclusion and, as a byproduct, energizes engagement in the team. When people feel like their input and ideas matter, they will participate and share more; conversely, when they feel judged or devalued, they will contribute less. This environment has been identified as essential for education, with teachers being evaluated on how effective they are in creating it in the classroom. Unsurprisingly, children who feel emotionally safe answering/asking questions or contributing to projects perform better. Why would we think the same is not true for adults? People will naturally shut down when they feel like their opinions are not worthwhile.

Talking about this in an academic sense is easy, but what do we need to do as leaders in our day-to-day? Compile your communication and make sure your actions align with your values, mission, and vision. Be authentic, mean what you say, and say what you mean; show that by your actions and by the behaviors you allow. Care about your team, not just the work they do but their careers, passions, family, and growth. Model and maintain the behavior you want to see: Don’t tolerate bad conduct but instead value input and contributions as they relate to the team’s success, maintain a positive outlook and find ways to celebrate your team, and of course, protect and defend the team when needed.

The path to a great culture starts with you, the leader. When the team feels supported and cared for, they will reciprocate by caring for the mission and vision you define, and you will see engagement progress. It is hard at first to be so mindful of the environment you create as a leader, but over time it will become second nature. Besides, doesn’t your team deserve it?

Financial

Supply Chain