Saturday, August 20, 2022

Quiet quitting: What the workplace trend sweeping social media actually means
 
The idea is sweeping social media: “quiet quitting.” But for most advocates, the movement is quite different than what the name suggests.



Jessica Mundie - Yesterday - National Post

This trend, which is growing especially on the social media app TikTok, has nothing to do with leaving your job. Rather, it supports the idea of meeting expectations at work and nothing more — avoiding going above and beyond.

The divide is about whether this movement is suggesting slacking off to the point of not getting work done, or if it is just encouraging workers to fulfill the duties of their job description to the best of their abilities within normal working hours.

Some experts suggest it’s just a controversial name for doing your job with healthy work-life boundaries, while others say dedication is still important for advancing your career.

Developing a healthy work-life balance is important, but going above and beyond in your work is not always a bad thing, in fact having ambitious people on a team is important, said Mary Ann Baynton, workplace relations specialist and CEO of Mary Ann Baynton & Associates Corp.

“The problem comes when the going above and beyond is expected without compensation,” said Baynton.

If two people were to work the same job but one is very ambitious and works more hours for recognition, the other should not be punished for just doing the work they were hired for, she said.

It is important, said Baynton, that employees are doing the work they were hired to do to the best of their abilities.

High rates of COVID-19 burnout could lead to shortage of health-care workers
The folly of the work-life balance
Experts say Ontario's right to disconnect law too vague to help work-life balance

There’s another phrase in the conversation, too, and that one’s even more contentious: “retire on the job” refers to someone who shows up to work just to slack off and ends up offloading duties on to their coworkers.

“They do not get the work that is expected of them complete,” she said.

Victoria Grainger, founder of Wellness Works Canada, a not-for-profit workplace health and performance association, said the phenomenon of disengaging from one’s job has picked up pace and is disturbing in light of already dismal engagement rates.

“Employee engagement directly correlates with job performance,” she said, in an email. “And if employers want healthy, performing organizations, they need to step up to the task of meeting employee needs.”

Related video: What is 'quiet quitting'? Inside the viral trend sparking controversy
Duration 3:56 View on Watch


There is something to be said for going above and beyond in your work, said Grainger. Savvy employers will notice this and provide recognition, reward, compensation and opportunities for advancement that they deserve.

But, she said, it is also important for employees to be vocal about their needs and to set healthy boundaries that prevent harm to their psychological health.

Kelsea Warren, a workplace wellbeing coach and consultant, said she does not like the term “quiet quitting” for the ideology that it describes.

“It just puts a negative connotation around people doing their job descriptions,” she said.

The trend is not necessarily new, said Warren, who is pursuing a PhD in industrial and organizational psychology. The ideas behind work-to-rule and unionizing are similar to the quiet quitting ideology.

Warren said many times when people start a new job, they are excited by their role, engaged in the work, and want feedback on their progress. But when their hard work is not acknowledged by management, all they are told is what they are doing wrong, and job requirements keep changing, the employee starts to feel less valuable.

“People are just not as motivated to continue going above and beyond when they’re not seeing any benefits of doing so,” said Warren.

This may appear to management or people on the outside of an organization as employees not doing their jobs because they are no longer exceeding expectations, but in reality, they are just doing the minimum work they were hired to do, she said.

Quiet quitting is also about avoiding burnout, a state of total exhaustion caused by excessive stress, which became relevant especially during the pandemic.

“People who at one time felt being ambitious, having poor personal boundaries, and making work the centre of their life, have changed their mind,” said Baynton. “Maybe their sole desire in life is not to achieve at work, maybe it is family, friends, or their health.”

There were also shifts in the way we work, said Warren. Jobs are more remote and there is no need to commute to an office every day.

“Work is important and work can be fun, I do believe that people should love their jobs,” she said. “But post-pandemic I think people are realizing that there is more to life than just work.”

Some people on social media see this trend as overwhelmingly positive, like TikTok user Clayton Farris, who in a video said he still works just as hard and still gets just as much accomplished.

“I just don’t stress and internally rip myself to shreds,” he said, in his video.

Others, like user Shini Ko, who has a full-time job in tech while also running a farm in Perth, Ont., say quiet quitting has negative connotations as it suggests the idea of not going above and beyond is “quitting.”

In a video , Ko says there have been times in her career when she has gone above and beyond her job description and has “let work-related problems live rent-free in her brain.”

“But I don’t do that anymore because it’s so not worth it,” she said, in the video.

Ko said the idea of quiet quitting sounds like a “coping mechanism” and “disengaging.”

“I’m still showing up to my work, I’m still putting in a fair amount of effort to do my job right,” she said, in the video. “I’m just saying no to things that don’t bring value.”

Warren said that if employers see this trend happening in their workplace, they should look at what kind of processes and systems they have for wellbeing and engagement.

“I think identifying the values of the employees and trying to help combat those misalignments is important for organizations that want to keep talent,” she said.

No comments:

Post a Comment