Blogs and Articles from Third Way Forum Membrs
Sep 15, 2022
Discussion#2 The issue of disengagement: How to deal with the 'Quiet Quitting' phenomenon.
Blogs from The Third Way Working Group
- There are mainly two different reactions toward Quiet Quitting (QQ).
- One is the reaction of sympathy and understanding. People who react in this way see QQ as a new generational issue and a clear sign of dissatisfaction expressed mainly by the young people who have legitimate reasons to reject the old and outdated working culture which often one-sidedly demanded hard work from employees.
- The other reaction is of disgust and contempt. People who react in this way see QQ as a destructive and dangerous trend that enhances toxic work environment and also damages individual potential and future career.
- Quiet Quitting has been around for centuries from the beginning of human labor. There have been always some people who wanted to have an easy living by doing minimum work and avoid any hardship. What is different about today’s Quiet Quitting is that some people are bragging about it, proud of it and almost treating it like an act of a holy and heroic rebellion against the tyrannical corporate culture.
- Two things have enhanced Quiet Quitting, namely, remote working and social media. Remote working has made it possible for Quiet Quitters to hide and be protected without being kicked in the ass at the office. The social media has made it possible for Quite Quitters to justify and glorify their behaviors and go viral globally.
- Quiet Quitting has different dynamics in different work environment. In a blue collar, manual labor and product line environment, it is more difficult to become a Quiet Quitter because the value to be delivered is fixed and everybody’s output is visible. On the other hand, in a white collar/office worker environment, it is much easier to become a Quiet Quitter because the value to be delivered is more ambiguous and everybody’s output is much less visible. In a highly unionized environment, it could be harder to become a Quiet Quitter because union leaders are usually not quiet about demands of employees and their dissatisfaction and issues will be pitched to the management rather than expressed in a passive aggressive form of Quiet Quitting.
- One of the major questions regarding Quiet Quitting is who is responsible for fixing the issue of Quiet Quitting. Top management, line manager or each individual employee?
- What decisive actions should company leaders take to fix this issue? Should company leaders put Quite Quitters on PIP(Performance Improvement Plan), demote them or manage them out and replace them with Go-getters? But can companies in a country like Japan which is suffering a severe labor shortage afford to take such a tough measure? Is it better to still have someone to do minimum work than having nobody?
- Perhaps, one thing we can still count on is the fact that most human beings must have a basic desire to grow and improve one’s own life. Even though Quiet Quitters may be disengaged at work, when it comes to their own life, even Quiet Quitters must want to achieve some kind of improvement and betterment. Maybe if company leaders could tap on this intrinsic human desires everybody possess, we may be able to find some solutions to reactivate Quiet Quitters to be Engaged Starters.
- However, the desire for self-improvement has a lot to do with one’s own personal life. So if we really want to reactivate Quiet Quitters, we probably have to tap into the personal life of our employees. Quit often, performance issues are triggered by challenges in employee’s personal life. So leaders should conduct more 1:1 meetings to understand employee’s personal life challenges and take care of psychological needs of employees.
- Once the company’s needs and the one’s own personal aspirations are aligned, the employees will no longer need to continue Quiet Quitting.
- But, to what extent should company leaders get involved in and take care of the personal life of employees? That is the question.
- One is the reaction of sympathy and understanding. People who react in this way see QQ as a new generational issue and a clear sign of dissatisfaction expressed mainly by the young people who have legitimate reasons to reject the old and outdated working culture which often one-sidedly demanded hard work from employees.
- The other reaction is of disgust and contempt. People who react in this way see QQ as a destructive and dangerous trend that enhances toxic work environment and also damages individual potential and future career.
- Quiet Quitting has been around for centuries from the beginning of human labor. There have been always some people who wanted to have an easy living by doing minimum work and avoid any hardship. What is different about today’s Quiet Quitting is that some people are bragging about it, proud of it and almost treating it like an act of a holy and heroic rebellion against the tyrannical corporate culture.
- Two things have enhanced Quiet Quitting, namely, remote working and social media. Remote working has made it possible for Quiet Quitters to hide and be protected without being kicked in the ass at the office. The social media has made it possible for Quite Quitters to justify and glorify their behaviors and go viral globally.
- Quiet Quitting has different dynamics in different work environment. In a blue collar, manual labor and product line environment, it is more difficult to become a Quiet Quitter because the value to be delivered is fixed and everybody’s output is visible. On the other hand, in a white collar/office worker environment, it is much easier to become a Quiet Quitter because the value to be delivered is more ambiguous and everybody’s output is much less visible. In a highly unionized environment, it could be harder to become a Quiet Quitter because union leaders are usually not quiet about demands of employees and their dissatisfaction and issues will be pitched to the management rather than expressed in a passive aggressive form of Quiet Quitting.
- One of the major questions regarding Quiet Quitting is who is responsible for fixing the issue of Quiet Quitting. Top management, line manager or each individual employee?
- What decisive actions should company leaders take to fix this issue? Should company leaders put Quite Quitters on PIP(Performance Improvement Plan), demote them or manage them out and replace them with Go-getters? But can companies in a country like Japan which is suffering a severe labor shortage afford to take such a tough measure? Is it better to still have someone to do minimum work than having nobody?
- Perhaps, one thing we can still count on is the fact that most human beings must have a basic desire to grow and improve one’s own life. Even though Quiet Quitters may be disengaged at work, when it comes to their own life, even Quiet Quitters must want to achieve some kind of improvement and betterment. Maybe if company leaders could tap on this intrinsic human desires everybody possess, we may be able to find some solutions to reactivate Quiet Quitters to be Engaged Starters.
- However, the desire for self-improvement has a lot to do with one’s own personal life. So if we really want to reactivate Quiet Quitters, we probably have to tap into the personal life of our employees. Quit often, performance issues are triggered by challenges in employee’s personal life. So leaders should conduct more 1:1 meetings to understand employee’s personal life challenges and take care of psychological needs of employees.
- Once the company’s needs and the one’s own personal aspirations are aligned, the employees will no longer need to continue Quiet Quitting.
- But, to what extent should company leaders get involved in and take care of the personal life of employees? That is the question.
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