個案總覽

The notion of “quiet quitting,” or only fulfilling the bare-minimum requirements of one’s job, achieved zeitgeist status in 2022. When someone quietly decides to no longer go the extra mile for their employer, two ingredients of a healthy working relationship—trust and clear communication—are typically missing. And while many factors beyond a manager’s control might contribute to an employee reaching this point, three particular issues tend to drive workers into a “quiet quitting” experience. First, a lack of transparency at an organization—including managers keeping employees out of the loop of organizational realities—can lead to quiet quitting. Second, a lack of direction can lead to quiet quitting, because workers are not mind readers and can hardly deliver results when they don’t have clear guidelines. Third, a lack of boundaries can contribute to quiet quitting, especially in toxic corporate cultures that demand too much from workers. When any of these core values are weak or missing in an organization, employees may appear to be limiting engagement and commitment as part of some new trend. But when you take a real look at quiet quitting (and its counterpart, “quiet firing”), it’s really a symptom of failed business leadership. The solution, of course, is to be serious about proactively building these values into your workplace culture to foster trust and an authentic rapport with employees, which increases engagement and decreases the need for morale-depleting practices like clock watching.