Quiet quitting: A misnomer or myth?

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Quiet quitting: A misnomer or myth?


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Quiet quitting refers to a situation where an employee does the defined minimum requirements of their work and shows no discernible enthusiasm and effort to go the extra mile to add value or perform beyond the obvious expectations. PHOTO | POOL

Quiet quitting as a workplace issue began appearing in 2022, and attracting the attention of psycho-social players, management, human resources specialists, employers and inevitably – employers.

It has gained traction during and after the Covid-19 pandemic slowed down.

Quiet quitting refers to a situation where an employee does the defined minimum requirements of their work and shows no discernible enthusiasm and effort to go the extra mile to add value or perform beyond the obvious expectations.

The employee however does not “quite quit’ employment. It is therefore a misnomer.

At a glance, one wonders what is unusual about doing the bare minimum of what is required of your job because that is what most employees do, and are expected to.

Quiet quitting has attracted attention largely due to a notable change in workplace behaviour and attitude to work, especially by the millennials ( also referred to as Generation Y -born in the early 80s to late 90s).

It is this group that seems to have less loyalty in the workplace and has high expectations from employers to meet their material and job satisfaction.

They get easily distracted or bored if not challenged or lack resilience. If they are unhappy with a workplace, they “quit’ for real without notice or withdraw their energy.

On a positive note, they are open-minded, innovative, freely express themselves, exude confidence, free thinker, flexible and open to experiments and new ideas and new lifestyles.

Another term for quiet quitting would be disengagement, where employees feel disengaged from the company’s mission, vision, or values.

Performance and commitment are limited, they allow things to go wrong as long as it’s not their direct responsibility, or won’t be held accountable.

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Yusuf Saleh, deputy director of Human Resources & Administration at Business Registration Services says “it’s all about the attitude towards work, which shapes the work culture. It could be a result of dissatisfaction due to other factors which could be intrinsic or extrinsic”.

But is this behaviour limited to millennials? It seems some of the behaviour being frowned upon today was exhibited by the same generation that is most perplexed by the millennial’s behaviour – each generation resists control by the generation in authority.

The “quiet quitting phenomenon” has yet to attract academic research. Information is based on polls from the western world.

Research data would help address the underlying issues, and determine how it’s affecting organisations’ performance, employee productivity, and employee mental health.

Quiet quitting cuts across industries, and the technology, health, and fintech sectors seem to be the most hit, as well as the sales force.

Nurses have the highest quiet, and real quitting rates, possibly due to the young workforce, demanding and stressful work, low pay, and inadequate resources.

Corporate leaders should listen to the quiet quitters for they too have their stories from which we could learn how not to “quietly fire employees’.

This is a situation where an employee becomes “quietly frustrated by hostility, rejection, withdrawal of duties and responsibilities, and allocation of less prestigious roles inconsistent with their qualifications, competencies, and hierarchy.

It was common in the public sector, where errant employees were transferred to far-flung places. In the private sector, it’s practised by denying employees responsibilities and confining them to small corner offices.

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HR and corporate leaders must interrogate the causes of quiet quitting, and researchers provide data on its impact on employee well-being, and organisation performance, and come up with intervention measures.

Employees must also reflect if they are quitting for selfish reasons, personal values, or inability to handle challenges.

Mr Muya is a HR strategist, Career and Leadership Coach: [email protected]

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