Have you ever heard of quiet quitting? It’s become a coined phrase on social media but the concept is nothing new. Every day an employee goes to work they have the decision to do the bare minimum of work necessary to keep their job for the sake of a paycheck or put more energy and effort into their work and overachieve their duties. 

So, What is quite quitting?

Photo of Life and work balance scale graphic

More recently, especially following the shutdown of 2020, more people have shifted their focus to more work-life balance. A quiet quitter is someone who rejects the idea that work should be the central focus of their life. Instead, they set boundaries that resist the expectations of going above and beyond and putting in extra hours. 

Overall, the concept of “quiet quitting” is not new behavior. For decades, people who were not willing to go the extra mile for their companies have existed. For the most part, it is not because these people are lazy, it typically is a direct result of bad leadership. More than likely, most people experience leadership that causes them to quiet quit at some point in their career. This usually comes from the employee feeling undervalued and unappreciated. Typically the reaction from an employee is a result of the actions of leadership. 

Setting Boundaries 

Overall quiet quitting is just setting workplace boundaries. The most common are working within one’s hours, sticking to your assigned task, and taking vacation time off. On a business aspect, the phrase sounds negative but in reality, it’s employees realizing to take care of themselves. The term stems from companies over-exploiting their employees, taking advantage of them, and creating a culture in which the company only benefits from overworking their employees without additional compensation. Quiet quitting isn’t actual quitting. Employees are quitting and going above and beyond for bad leadership. 

 

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