What Quiet Quitting is Really All About

I can alliterate with the best of them, but sometimes I want to say “stop” with the catchy headline and get to what’s underneath. Fact: Employees have been quitting jobs forever. Some quietly and some quite loudly. I don’t know about you, but it’s less about them and more about their leader and the culture of the organization around them. And I think it comes down to two things that should be jumping off LinkedIn rather than “quiet quitting.”

So, in the alliterate world that we live in…Here are the two reasons and the one solution.

Reason One: The organization has an Entropic Environment.  There is no order or reason for anything. Who needs best practices or building a discipline around anything? The mood of the day rules. Chaos reigns and even though many entrepreneurial leaders may believe chaos creates creative energy – it really is like swimming with your clothes on – drenched and draining. I’d find a new pool.

Reason Two: The organization has Lackadaisical Leadership. If a leader doesn’t know someone has become quiet or checked-out weeks ago then they really lack awareness or they believe people are replaceable and don’t value an individual’s unique voice, talents and needs. They don’t have the time or the desire to find out how someone is thinking, feeling, and doing – day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month, year-to-year…And you’re human (so think about yourself for a moment) it changes all the time.  Leadership takes extra energy, commitment and caring. You can’t be a quiet leader and think only of yourself. You can’t believe you are the irreplaceable one, because it’s not about you when you are in a leadership role.

One Solution:  Don’t be quiet about your values and beliefs around people – Vocal Values. How do you champion people in your organization? How do you let every person on your payroll know they matter and that you want the best for them? How do you make sure everyone can see their line of sight from their work to the organization’s vision of the future? Is every member of your leadership team living your organization’s values or are they only words on a wall?

Does it really matter if someone leaves your business with a whisper or a yell? No one can afford losing one unique talent. Discover the full extent of your employees’ talents. Know more of each employee than their job description. Let them do it their way and when you do you will create a culture of belonging, understanding and empathy – and just wait to see how vocal your employees will be about where they work – although some may still be quiet – and there is nothing wrong with that.