Have you heard the news? People are quietly quitting.
I am fascinated by the press on this, as I don’t think I’m the only one who might be wondering if this is breaking news. This has always been business. This has always been people. This is a new name. This is not new news.
Gallup has been surveying employees around the world for over 25 years to measure their engagement. The percentage of employees engaged in their work – that is, involved in, committed to, and excited about their work – has barely moved from the 30-33% range in all of that time. Interestingly, the highest level of engagement was in June 2020. Yes, near the beginning of COVID. A topic for another blog, but I believe the reason for that is communication; we have never communicated as much as we did during that time. In addition, while so many businesses were shutting down, there was a greater appreciation from those who had a job.
The publicity around quiet quitting, though, is a great reminder for leaders, managers, and supervisors to be more aware. Look around you. Statistics show that every person on your team is:
What do we do about it? It’s a simple concept; it’s not an easy process. Here are the action steps.
In a time when the workforce is smaller than ever before, this might seem like the last thing you want to do or even feel able to do. I challenge you, though, to think about the time wasted and dollars spent when ultimately, most of this group is not using their strengths in their current role, they are not the right culture fit, or they are simply not in the right place. It doesn’t mean they won’t succeed elsewhere, but it’s too much time and effort to move them up the engagement ladder. Life will be better for all parties if we allow or encourage them to move on.
Gallup’s famous Q12 questions can be a great way to get started. These questions can be a survey for your organization or team or can just be asked and discussed during coaching or review sessions. They first appeared in Gallup’s early 2000 book, Now, Discover Your Strengths and include, once again, some simple concepts. Gallup’s research on these 12 questions showed that the best teams were able to answer yes on the majority – or all – of these questions.
Note that these questions are like running up a hill. If your answer to #1 is no, you won’t even get to #2 – much less 12. Start at the bottom of the hill.
Do you need assistance with employee engagement? Reach out to us at Purple Ink to learn more about our training, facilitation, and consulting teams.