Agenda

• What is Quiet Quitting?
• The history of Quiet Quitting
• Why is Quiet Quitting a hot topic?
• 5 Quiet Quitting Hacks
• Q&A

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Jeff Waldman

Building Leaders & Teams

Founder @ ScaleHR

Upskilling HR in Tech

Worked with 60+ Companies

HR Tech Advisor/Investor

Speaker & Events (100+)

Susy Martins

Chief People @ ApplyBoard

Chief People @ Clearco

Vice President @ Allianz

Vice President @ Manulife

Experience in 20+ Countries

Managed 1,000’s employees

Let’s start with a poll

Quiet Quitting Defined & Its History

What is Quiet Quitting? Many Definitions

Doing the bare minimum at work

Source: money.usnews.com

Doing the minimum amount of work necessary to maintain a job—that’s it. Nothing more, nothing less

Source: builtin.com

Interesting Statistics

Google searches for reasons to get out of work up 630% from 2018 to 2022

630%

Source: financialpost.com

of Canadians reported currently feeling burned out

35%

Source: canadalife.com

of Canadian workers plan to look for a new job in 2023 - 2x from 2022

50%

Source: roberthalf.com

increase in the amount of time Canadians spend worrying about finances

50%

Source: scotiabank.com

Let’s Look Deeper…

49% of managers of hybrid workers distrust them to do their best work

Source: microsoft.com

Who remembers the term “Presenteeism”?

Quick Overview of Presenteeism

• The lost productivity and performance
• Employees showing up to work sick, exhausted, or too distracted by their issues to focus on work

Source: applauz.me

While different, doesn’t quiet quitting sound somewhat similar to presenteeism?

Let’s Focus on the Symptoms

• Employees appearing to be “checked out”
• Doing the bare minimum of work
• Not putting forth additional effort to go above and beyond
• Lack of motivation, enthusiasm and purpose in work
• Absence of psychological safety

Due to hybrid work, quiet quitting is just another way for issues to bubble up

Source: Jeff Waldman & Susy Martins

Why is Quiet Quitting a Hot Topic?

Why is Quiet Quitting a hot topic?

• Two years in a global pandemic—rejection of hustle culture
• Great Resignation
• Hot Labour Market—short work tenures normalized
• Inflation pressures
• Employee empowerment era
• Rise of ESG—corporations targeted by activists and employees
• Power of social media
• Policy changes—right to disconnect

Quiet Quitting is Hard to Navigate

• Many employers remained quiet on the topic
• Many senior leaders (and parents) are quick to label this as a ‘lazy youngsters’
• The results are mixed
• Employers want their teams to be engaged, managers are navigating this remotely
• Employees are mixing all workplace issues (bad bosses and other organizational ‘bad’ conditions in) with the idea of ‘quiet quitting’

5 Quiet Quitting Hacks

Hack #1: Set-up Employees for Success

• A+ Onboarding—ground in org, mission and values
• Clear Goals
• Tools / Team Rituals to execute on role
• Clear Measurements and Pay
• Know where to look and find things—e.g. wiki

Hack #2: Performance Management

• Measure Success Against Goals—how & what is done
• Measure engagement—leverage pulse surveys (Neurotech—new!)
• Celebrate Success Regularly
• Address Low Performance & Poor Attitudes

Hack #3: Invest in Leadership

• Invest in People Development
• Key motivator
• Drive consistent norms and standards
• Invest in Manager Fundamentals
• Employee cycle management, goals management, communication, etc...

Hack #4: Invest in Your Tech Stack

• Collaborative technologies—Google Workspace
• Seamless integrations
• Used across different platforms—e.g. Mobile
• Top notch user experience
• Leverages ALL communication methods—e.g. Chat
• Pare down the # of tools

Focus on getting things done instead of where you get it done

Source: Susy Martins

Hack #4: Invest in Your HR Tech Stack

Hack #5: Integrate Well-Being into HR

• Well-being is the new workplace currency
• Use Gallup’s 5 elements of well-being to guide you

Hack #5: Integrate Well-Being into HR

Career Well-Being

• Offer development opportunities
• Recognition and rewards
• Find purpose in work

Social Well-Being

• Boost psychological safety by listening to employees
• Create a sense of belonging—value ideas, know your people personally
• Increase deliberate connections with employees—1-on-1s
• Champion special interest groups—e.g. hobbies, women, etc…

Financial Well-Being

• Educate, educate and educate
• Start at onboarding—pair with an expert
• Support employees with matching programs—e.g. childcare, cleaning, transit, etc…
• Offer pre-tax options—e.g. RRSP, stock options

Hack #5: Integrate Well-Being into HR

Community Well-Being

• Provide opportunities for employees to volunteer at preferred organizations
• Companies to partner with values-aligned organizations and initiatives
• Match employee donations to charitable organizations

Hack #5: Integrate Well-Being into HR

• The goal is to touch the hearts and minds of your employees—don’t overdo it. You can’t do everything
• Know and maximize what you already have
• Communicate—”did you know…?”
• Don’t overwhelm people—put initiatives in a calendar
• Measure—ask employees if what you offer is useful
• EAP—take a proactive approach, not reactive (e.g. Recharge EAP)

Recap

• Focus on the symptoms
• Set people up for success
• A+ performance management
• Always invest in leadership
• Make it easy for employees to work—tech
• Well-being is central to everything you do

Quiet quitting is just another way of saying, �“your employees are disengaged”

Source: Jeff Waldman & Susy Martins