Quiet quitting, a relatively new term for an age-old workplace issue. It’s when an employee reaches their limit at work, has had enough of trying and so only does the bare minimum. They resist and disengage from workplace culture, subverting any expectations of them putting in 100% of their energy. They often refuse to take on anything they believe to be above what is expected of them. Sound familiar?

This newly coined phrase describes something that has long been a challenge in the workplace. Quiet quitting can easily be identified in surveys with questions like ‘are you motivated to go above and beyond at work?’ According to studies, quiet quitting is usually more about an employee’s leader and their ability to build meaningful relationships with their team, than an employee’s work ethic or creativity.

Research shows that managers who rated high in their ability to “balance getting results with concern other’s needs” made employees feel like the “work environment is a place where [they] want to go the extra mile”. The least effective leaders had up to 14% quiet quitters in their team, while more effective managers had four times less in some cases.

Some key points lie beneath the surface of a person’s likelihood of disengaging:

• Feeling undervalued
• Feeling underappreciated
• Managers have bias towards other members of their team
• Managers acted inappropriately

How To Manage A Quiet Quitter

If you manage a quiet quitter, or several, then it is essential to ask whether the problem lies in the team or with your leadership style. Ensuring that your people feel valued and appreciated is critical. Having open and honest conversations with your employees can help everyone understand the expectations that you have for each other. Opening dialogue early can be a preventative measure to mitigate quiet quitting, or help ease an employee out of it.

However, the most important factor in this whole equation is trust. Trust is the fundamental building block to reversing this silent process and preventing other members of staff from doing the same. Research suggests that when employees trust their managers they also assume that their manager cares about their well-being. So how do managers improve trust with their team?

3 Ways To Build Trust

This is much more of an elaborate question than we can answer in one article. Alchemist’s leadership programmes offer in-depth and knowledgeable teachings to enhance all aspects of what it means to be a leader. There are three elements of behaviour that will begin to nourish trust with your employees:

1. Consistency. As a leader, you need to deliver on what you have promised. Leaders often think they are more consistent than their people do.
2. Creating and nurturing positive relationships. Connecting with your team can come in many different forms and some individuals will be harder to form bonds with than others. However, this is vital to creating a sense of trust and belonging within your team.
3. Be the specialist. Your expertise likely helped you land a managerial role, so make sure that you keep up to date and not only lead people, but be a thought leader in your field. Forward-thinking, knowledgeable leaders create environments of trust.

It’s very easy to criticise employees that are quietly quitting and attribute their behaviour to a lack of motivation or even laziness. People have the same two choices every morning: to put a minimum amount of effort into their work or to go above and beyond and produce the best results they possibly can. It’s clear that people want to give their energy and time to the leaders that work hard for them. It works better for everyone if you foster an environment where your people want to make that choice.

To find out more about Alchemist Leadership programs, explore the leadership development area of the site.