Photo by Luca Bravo on Unsplash
Quiet Quitting
It’s hard to imagine that many reading this have not heard of the viral term “quiet quitting” yet, but just in case you aren’t aware: quiet quitting is a term coined by Gen Z that took off on TikTok a few months back. Quiet quitting is rooted in the idea that employees should do the jobs they are paid to do and are rewarded for doing, and should not be expected to go above and beyond at work. That’s right: those who are “quietly quitting” should not be answering emails after hours, attending forced-fun team events that overlap with their personal lives, or planning the office baby shower. Quiet quitters log in at 9:00 and log off at 5:00, without letting thoughts of work stress creep in to their precious evening, early morning, or weekend hours.
For some of us, the thought of quiet quitting sounds like a far away, unattainable dream. For others, the idea of quiet quitting being a viral sensation causes us to roll our eyes and ask the question (which many others are also asking), ”Isn’t ‘quiet quitting’ just called ‘working’?”
Boundaries + Culture
Where you fall on this spectrum depends on two main variables: your personal ability to set and maintain boundaries, and the culture on your team at work. If you want to sit on the far end of the spectrum where “quiet quitting” just feels like “normal working”, these two variables need to be aligned. Meaning, you must be excellent and setting and communicating your personal and professional boundaries, and your culture at work must be one that does not glorify overwork (or penalize those who do not go above and beyond). Unfortunately for most, that is not the case. Chances are that one of these two variables, if not both, are out of balance in some way for most.
Whether it is your personal boundary setting that could use some work, or your workplace culture that needs to be addressed, our message for those lusting after quiet quitting is the same:
Quiet quitting isn’t doing you any favors in the long run.
Sure, in the short term, you may be buying yourself some extra time and reducing some stress. But just like pulling a weed at the stem doesn’t keep it from coming back, making a change without addressing the root causes doesn’t create lasting impact.
Advocating Loudly
In order to create workplace cultures that value employees without burning them out, we must have purposeful discussions about boundaries with our managers, our teams, and ourselves. We need to align with our managers and teams that the items we take off our plates to reduce overload are the right ones, and that we keep the tasks that enhance our careers and grow our skillsets as our main focus. We need to ensure that we can set boundaries while still advancing in our careers, and that we can do so in a way that does not inequitably benefit some and penalize others.
Remember: one of the two main variables involved in quiet quitting is workplace culture. As I have already stated, if you have a work culture that embraces work/life balance and values employees’ for the work they are paid to do, that’s great. But in examining workplace culture, we must also examine the inequities that exist in that culture, especially in the expectations we have for our employees.
For women and marginalized employees, the stakes of quiet quitting can be much higher than those of their majority counterparts. Despite reporting higher levels of burnout, women (and women of color especially) often feel that they cannot set boundaries without getting penalized. These penalties may come in the form of subtle snubs and micro aggressions, or they may come in bigger, more professionally detrimental forms like not being promoted or being laid off, among other things.
Source: Gallup
Just as we said before, quiet quitting doesn’t do anything to create lasting change. And for the people who are the most burned out, who feel as though they are least likely to be their full selves at work, and who are held to higher standards of performance than their counterparts, lasting change is exactly what we need. In fact, it’s beyond overdue.
While the conversation around quiet quitting has been polarizing depending on which end of the spectrum you fall, the conversation around the importance of setting healthy boundaries for everyone is not. In having those conversations, remember:
Look inward to see how you may have personally reached the point of (what feels like) no return in terms of overwork and burnout.
Come to the table with realistic short and longterm changes your teams can make to reduce collaborative overload.
Flexible work can itself be problematic, so be prepared to address the things that make employees feel they should “always be on”.
But most importantly, remember to include advocacy for all employees in these conversations.
If you benefit from white privilege and/or male privilege, use your privilege to be an ally for those that are more than likely being inequitably judged in these areas. Advocate for objective metrics that all employees can measure their performance against, and hold yourselves and your teams accountable to checking for bias in these processes.
In doing this, we can forget about quiet quitting, and instead focus on loudly and proudly rejecting the culture of overwork and overwhelm for everyone.