Why I believe we all need to SHOUT loudly NOW about quiet quitting.

Posted August 6, 2022

In Blog, Company Culture, Employee Engagement

This newsletter was meant to be for after the summer. But after seeing an article in the Metro about “quiet quitting”. And as some amazing things are happening at Your FLOCK. I decided to publish one anyway. Life work balance. Kinda not. But:

“When you are passionate about your work you can’t burn out.”

FOLLY! AND NONSENSE.

True. The above statement, like a lot of toxic positivity, is rather dangerous.

But this time said in jest to segue into this HORROR SHOW from the Metro. All around the future of work and the term: QUIET quitting. Which at first sounds like what I have been alluding to for years, and in my ted x talk (out soon) that if you don’t love what you do. Then you might be the first to quit. And with burnout on the rise post pandemic (which we have already spoken about.) And disengagement rising and The Great Resignation.

All hot topics for hot takes on the future. I read with HORROR what some people really mean by this term….

QUIET QUITTING.

Quoted from the piece about the term… Which they say is on the rise…

‘You’re not outright quitting your job, but you’re quitting the idea of going above and beyond. You’re still performing your duties, but you’re no longer subscribing to the hustle culture mentality that work has to be your life – the reality is, it’s not.’…It might be saying no to projects that aren’t part of your job description. Or you don’t fancy doing. Leaving work on time or refusing to answer emails and Slack messages outside of your working hours.

WOOOOOOW

Ok. So I run my own business. Your FLOCK the team engagement platform. And have previously run teams and businesses. And have had bosses too. (No shock there.)

But are saying that the employee employer contract has become so poor. That NOT being open to being abused for your time at work is a problem.

As Daniel Richardson from UNLEASHED said:

“When I first heard about ‘quiet quitting’ I thought of someone sneaking out of the office to never return. Dream escapes aside, it has turned out to be a controversial term about doing the minimum and setting boundaries in work…..There’s no easy answer to this one, and I think that’s why ‘quiet quitting’ has sparked such a debate online. So I decided to dig a bit deeper and get a range of opinions on this topic as we got to the crux of people’s issues….One of my biggest takeaways was that employers need to look inwardly at why employees are less engaged and look at the internal working culture.”

It’s what ALL leaders should be doing. Right now. Looking into their internal working culture and environment and their policies. Whether it’s like Spotify and allowing all employees more freedom to work from anywhere. And keeping people at their company for longer than ever.

As Fortune reports:

“While many companies saw increased turnover during the Great Resignation. Spotify’s [employee] turnover actually went down, and the company improved diverse representation.”

This is the gain from going fully remote. But perhaps you aren’t in the tech world and you are going hybrid and wondering how to do it more effectively. Like many of our legal clients and teams at Your FLOCK.

Your key thing as a team leader / leader or boss is to be using this time to work out what everyone wants to do next. It’s to ask. Pure and simple. Like Spotify did. (I wonder where the 6% of people that moved… Moved to…)

LEADERS:

The future of work is Not about what YOU want to do. It’s about what your team wants to do next. And as for us employees.

The last bit of advice in this METRO piece is essential

“Quiet quitting could be a useful tool for a short period of time, especially if it’s coupled with looking for another role. Once you start a new job, it’s much easier to set boundaries from the get-go – thus removing the need to “quiet quit.””

PEOPLE “QUIET QUITTING” SHOULD BE SOMETHING WE ALL SHOUT ABOUT.

As it makes everyone unhappy. And we want people to be happier at work. As this means happier customers. And even happier stakeholders and shareholders. But surely, it’s about making the world of work a happier place and so making the world a better place too.

On a deeper level new analysis shows, post pandemic, that for every £1 spent on supporting employees’ mental health. Organisations could see as much as £5 back. In reductions in presenteeism, absenteeism, and staff turnover.

Which seems to me an easy win. The latest data from the Health and Safety Executive. Shows that work-related stress, anxiety, and depression account for more than half of all sick days taken in the UK. And nearly two-thirds of employees experienced an impact on their mental health during the pandemic. Attributed their work-life as being at least partly responsible.

Whilst the most recent survey by Access. Found that 90% of HR managers agree that employee wellbeing has become a key consideration following the pandemic. And yet, half of all organisations still don’t have a standalone wellbeing strategy.

I am not saying that Your FLOCK is part of this well being strategy. But the feedback it gives team leaders helps people be happier as they are listened to more.

Part of this well being might be giving them more money? But the data is showing more and more. That this singular approach doesn’t work. So perhaps it’s not purely the money. It’s turning around all the employee benefits and perks into cash towards real things. Which is what the rather wonderful Amelia Sordell 🔥 the Founder at Klowt has done. As she puts it on LinkedIn:

“I just cancelled ALL our employee benefits. They were a total waste of money 🙄.

– Unlimited holiday. Gone.

– Unlimited learning (we pay for courses). Gone.

– Unlimited books from Amazon. Gone.

Because NO ONE was using them.

So instead, we’ve introduced:

– 30 days paid holiday.

– £100 towards your commuting cost, monthly.

– £45 towards your wellbeing, monthly.

– £10 towards your home WiFi bill, monthly.

These new benefits are actually costing me more than the ones we had before, but they’re so much better.

Because they’re what the team actually want.Besides, if your employee benefits don’t benefit your employees, what’s the point of having them?”

Which you have to agree is a fair point. Perhaps it’s something you can look at – in your business – as the pay rises go up and up. Or don’t, And people leave more and more. Or don’t. Either way with the rise and rise of quiet quitting. We should all be being more vocal about what we need.

WHAT YOU MIGHT NEED.

You might need to change your relationship with work. You might need to become more authentic and truthful in your work. You might just need a holiday. You might need to go on to a four day week. The data is still out on this last one.

BUT what we do know is that, especially if you work in the legal sector. Then becoming more authentic is a route to happiness and a path to career success.

So much so we are doing our next event on this. After the holidays. With the author Hannah Beko. After our founder was inspired by her book and her work in the field.

And even if you aren’t a lawyer. Which I know many of you aren’t. We can related to:

– stressful jobs,

– with bad cultures,

– with clock watching and presentism,

– and bad mental health

– and no life work balance

– and burnout.

Heck. Most of those are why we built Your FLOCK. So come along to our next event and listen to Hannah. As I her advice will be for everyone. Not just for lawyers.

Someone who will be coming to that event. Will be our newest member of the team. Chris Marsh who has joined Your FLOCK as our brand ambassador. To say he is a legend of the tech scene in Manchester is an understatement (and it’s not just us that think so.) So we are very happy to have him with us.

WELCOME CHRIS MARSH.

And yes, he did his Your FLOCK survey and aligns with our team culture. As we do “drink our own tea”.

And on that note, I had best stop writing as otherwise my own life work balance will be off. As I am off.

WORTH THINKING ABOUT OVER THE HOLIDAYS.

What stuff do you need to stop doing or letting be done to you (and perhaps your team) so you can work at your best. And your best people don’t leave the team?

Remember for many of us, paying us more isn’t the only answer. For life and work. Is not just about the money. If it was. Life would be easier.

To be happier you would just need to make more money…

You don’t have to comment below.

But I would love it – if you did.

Just like I would love it if you joined us at our next event…

About Your FLOCK.

WE MAKE KEEPING YOUR TEAM TOGETHER EASY. INCREASE EMPLOYEE RETENTION LEVELS IN YOUR LAW FIRM BY MORE THAN 27%. SAVING YOU £10,000’s.

Our team engagement platform, gives you the feedback you need to manage your people better. In minutes – not months.

Find out more at www.YourFLOCK.co.uk – the world’s first team employee engagement platform based on values.

This newsletter series was inspired by Katy Leeson, ex MD of Social Chain who said I should write one.

About the author.

Ex marketing agency owner, digital trainer, Ted talker, keynote speaker, serial tech startup founder and now media spokesperson Dan Sodergren’s main area on interest is the #futureofwork, #remotework,#data, #greentech and #tech startups. He is co-founder of www.YourFLOCK.co.uk with Michal Wisniewski

In his spare time, Dan is a digital marketing and technology expert for the BBC. Donning the cape of consumer champion on shows like BBC Watch Dog, the One Show and RipOffBritain and marketing tech specialist for SuperShoppers and RealFakeAndUnknown. His favourite being reviewing the newspapers from a tech POV for BBC Breakfast.

He is also a host and guest on podcasts and webinars speaking as a futurist. As well as being a guest on countless radio shows. And a remote reporter / content creator for tech companies at tech events and shows.

His main interest is in the future. Be that the future of marketing, or the future or work or how technology will change the world for the better under the #Tech4Good and #Tech4All movement.

Find out more on bit.ly/DanSodergren