Quiet Quitting
““Not taking your job too seriously has a new name: quiet quitting.””
I had never heard of “Quiet Quitting” until I read the Wall Street Journal article, and in the last few weeks I have heard the term a dozen times.
I was very disheartened to see that we have a reached a dangerously low level of employee engagement in the US workforce, 31% for Gen Z and younger millennials. My initial reaction was to cast shade on the work ethic and motivation of those that were quoted in the article. But I was wrong to think that way. The most likely cause of low employee engagement is leadership…. or the lack of.
It hasn’t been easy navigating our teams through the challenges of the last couple of years, in fact, it is the hardest time to lead that I have seen in three decades of leadership. When I was a youngster and playing football, I can remember the practices that followed a lost game. Most times, the coaches would have us go back to the basics… we would run blocking and tackling drills and our core plays until we got it right. If you are struggling with employee engagement, evaluate how you are doing on the basics.
The Basics
1. Clarity of purpose and values
2. Career growth for the employee
3. Right Chair
Purpose and values are foundational to your culture. Patrick Lencioni talked about the Six Critical Questions in his book, “The Advantage”. Two of those questions focused on purpose and values. Our purpose, “Why are we here?”, must go beyond profits and be authentic and inspirational in order to attract and retain top talent. The company’s values, “How will we behave?”, drive the culture inside the company and defines the type of people you wish to attract. If you are not ‘walking the talk’ and living those values, employee engagement and your influence will collapse.
Competitive salary, good benefits, company swag, etc., are all table stakes and don’t differentiate you as an employer. One of the better ways to retain an A-player is to make them more valuable in the marketplace. This is done by enabling them with substantial career growth – not just titles, but development of competencies and capabilities. That requires putting them on stretch assignments and giving them active coaching. Don’t equate a ‘stretch’ assignment as a ‘break’ assignment. It needs to stretch them beyond their past experiences, but not run them into the ground.
Lastly, make sure your team members are sitting in the right chair. We all have strengths and weaknesses. When we work on projects that play to our strengths we not only succeed, but we walk away invigorated and with a sense of accomplishment. When we work on projects that require us to play to our weak skills, it drains us, we become exhausted, and we burn out. There are numerous assessment tools to help you understand each team member’s strengths and weaknesses. Make that investment and ensure they are in the right chair.
I would love to hear your thoughts.