A few months ago, the phrase “Quiet Quitting” exploded across social media platforms and quickly made national headlines. If you aren’t familiar with the term, let me break it down for you. 

Quiet quitting isn’t outright quitting a job, but rather quitting the idea of standing out as an employee who goes above and beyond. Workers who “quiet quit” aren’t physically turning in their notice, but have resigned themselves to doing the absolute bare minimum during their shift.

Basically: if it’s not in their job description, they aren’t going to do it.

Whether it be culture shifts within the workforce, the rising cost of living combined with relatively stagnant wages, or any number of other factors, the ‘not my job’ mentality is growing. And what starts as one employee with a bad attitude can quickly spread like a virus throughout your entire organization. 

With budgets growing tighter and high turnover still rearing its ugly head, managers are looking for more ‘universal workers’ to serve as the backbone of their organization. Having a few well-trained and versatile employees can be far more advantageous to a business than having a surplus of disengaged, uninterested workers who are just going through the motions. More staff doesn’t necessarily equate to better operations. 

But as a manager or business owner, how can you get the proper employees to stick around?

The solutions can be found in the numbers. A survey from Gallup revealed that only 32% of American workers felt engaged in their job. That’s a staggering TWO-THIRDS of the nation’s workforce asleep at the wheel every single day. 

So, here are a few ways to re-engage those lost workers and stop quiet quitting before it starts.

Proper Training

The first step is evaluating your process for onboarding and training. The beginning of a relationship with a new hire is pivotal. Either you are going to provide proper training to keep your employees safe and proficient on the job, or you risk losing that employee’s engagement just a short time into their role. A survey from Forbes found that 28% of employees quit within the first 90 to 120 days of employment due to a lack of training and support.

Using an online training system helps employees learn and retain crucial information, while allowing management to monitor their progress, assign applicable courses, and gauge their level of understanding through quizzes and assessments.

Upskilling 

Managers need to understand that training doesn’t just end when an employee is able to carry out the task they were hired to complete. It’s ongoing, and for several reasons.

Retention: So, you’ve trained your new hire and they’re becoming self-sufficient while on the clock. Great job! That’s one less employee to worry about, right? Not quite. In just 6 months, that employee will have forgotten 90% of the training you taught them, forcing the need for ongoing development and re-training. This ensures quality work and an overall reduction in workplace accidents, potentially saving your organization untold costs. 

Policy/Procedure Changes: Secondly, we all know that things change. An existing process or procedure might be different next year than it is right now. Perhaps your organization purchased a new piece of equipment. New quality or health standards may lead you to change how you operate. Whatever the case, employees deserve the knowledge and know-how to be compliant with the new way of doing things. 

Development: Finally comes the development of your staff. Upskilling is taking training a step further, helping employees not only better manage their current responsibilities, but also teach them new skills, outlining a pathway from a job to a career. As an example, someone working in a senior living facility as a dishwasher might be far more engaged in their work if they’re given the chance to learn something like knife skills and basic food prep, opening possibilities for a promotion down the line. By offering the pathway, you’ve now successfully re-engaged that employee and provided motivation for them for work even harder.

Rewards & Recognition

Somewhere along the way, good employees began to be penalized for getting work done efficiently. Their punishment? More work and higher expectations. Don’t punish good employees, reward, and develop them. 

Part of the burden of preventing quiet quitting is on management’s ability to properly recognize and reward those employees who go above and beyond. 52% of people reported one of the main reasons they quit a job was because they didn’t feel valued by their managers. If an employee sees no direct benefits for going the extra mile, why would they bother completing anything outside of their job tasks? They see no reason to assist a company that won’t recognize them for their effort.

There are several ways to tackle this.

Positive Recognition: At the end of the day, your employees want to be more than just a number. Only 30% of workers say they’ve recently received recognition or praise for doing good work, and 79% of employees would rather stay in a job where they’re valued, even if it means making less money. Remember that your employees are people, just like you, and want to feel like their efforts are appreciated.

Rewards: Monetary rewards can be extremely beneficial when it comes to incentivizing and motivating your employees. Some organizations provide a small hourly raise to workers who complete a certain number of training hours because they’ll be able to take on additional duties and cover for other workers. Other managers create fun contests with rewards like inexpensive gift cards, time off, an extra-long break, etc. as ways to motivate their team. Any combination of these can help re-engage those lost workers and create a positive work environment while also boosting morale. 

Final Thought

With fewer people feeling engaged at work each day, look for easy solutions to recognize employees for their efforts, invest in their development, and capitalize on the results. 

What are some ways you keep employees from quiet quitting? Let us know in the comments, and as always, be sure to follow Pineapple Academy on social media as we examine the depths of the labor crisis and present solutions for managers.  

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