A guide for leaders on embracing and encouraging the viral trend

By now you’ll have seen the Quiet Quitting trend, originally starting on TikTok and now firmly in the mainstream media. Whilst it’s been extensively debated (including vast misinterpretation), if we look closer at the real meaning of ‘quiet quitting’– employees setting boundaries and reverting back to their agreed hours – it’s essentially a continuation of a long-standing trend. Pandemic burnout, work-life balance, the Corporate Villain Era – employees want their lives back. And with workers putting in 25% more hours since the pandemic and 49% reporting they’re burnt out, can we blame them?

But with a recession looming, there is a risk that Quiet Quitting will lead to the organisational version of fight or flight. Leaders will either ignore it completely and it’ll organically permeate the culture, or they’ll try and fight it – leading to introductions of harsher productivity measures and/or stricter remote working rules. With numerous reports proving that working harder and longer can have the opposite of its intended effects; we strongly caution these knee-jerk reactions.

Of course, workers who are effectively downing tools need to be re-engaged. But for those that are seeking boundaries, our motto is “If you can’t beat them, join them.” As experts in business psychology, change management and employee engagement, our recommendation for organisations – particularly those with high volumes of Gen Z employees – is to embrace, and even encourage, the trend.

Embracing employees working fewer hours; are you mad?

We hear you; business performance is a top priority, particularly as tougher economic times are upon us. In case you or your leadership team need convincing, here’s a handy list of the benefits of embracing quiet quitting:

I see your point; what can I do about it?

For CEOs, HR, culture and employee engagement leads there are some tangible steps you can take to demonstrate you’re embracing this trend:

  1. Call it out – be bold, address it head on. Run an internal communications campaign showing you’ve acknowledged the trend and hear people. Follow up with open and honest dialogue with employees on their reflections on the trend.
  2. Understand who is who: Through the above, make sure you distinguish those not pulling their weight from those seeking balance and treat them differently. Before going down a path of counting hours, have open conversations and give encouraging feedback, which will prevent a culture of fear emerging.
  3.  Harness purpose – there is a clear link between discretionary effort and purpose, if people are on the fence of quiet quitting, purpose is how to re-engage them. Evidence shows motivation to contribute is driven by purpose and appreciation, at least as much as flexibility and getting a fair deal.
  4.  Revisit your Employee Value Proposition – as well as emphasising purpose, focus on the way the company allows for work-life balance and embraces people having lives outside of work
  5. Trial it – Explore what you can do to tangibly show you’re on board with this trend, even if it is just an experiment or pilot initially e.g. everyone will be locked out of their computers after a certain time, or a policy offering time off for innovation and creativity.
  6. Make a long-term change to your culture – this trend is here to stay and for too long organisations have been putting a band-aid on the issue with tactical initiatives and wellbeing solutions (the 2019 yoga classes eye-rolls are still doing the rounds on LinkedIn – see below). For some organisations it’ll require a holistic culture change and leadership behaviour change from a counting-hours, presenteeism and ‘input mindset’ to an ‘outcomes’ culture.

We hope this has given you pause for thought or a business case for your leaders if you’re concerned about their reactions to the Quiet Quitting trend. If you’d like any more advice, research or practical tips; please contact: [email protected]. 

The case for improving women’s access to C-level positions has never been stronger. Not only does research confirm that companies with more women in senior executive positions report stronger financial performance, but the reputational and brand advantages are also significant. Yet, although seven in 10 global executives of both genders think it’s important that the universe of female CEOs expand, the number remain very small: Just 5% of U.S. FORTUNE 400 and 4% of FTSE companies are run by women. On a global basis, just 9% of CEOs and managing directors are women. At Weber Shandwick, we wanted to know how people who run global companies view this paradox, where they believe impediments lie and how they envision moving forward.

To get some answers, Weber Shandwick and KRC Research sponsored a survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence United (EIU) in the spring of 2015 to produce a comprehensive global study on gender equality at the C-level. We define gender equality in this context as having approximately equal numbers of men and women on a company’s top leadership team. This includes both the chief executive office and executives in management who report directly to the CEO.

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As I was finishing a Zoom call recently, a couple coworkers asked me if I had time to reconnect later in the day. “My schedule is CRAZY today, guys. I’m so sorry,” I said, before disconnecting. As soon as I’d gotten off the call, I realized my matter-of-fact response — to which I didn’t give much thought in the moment — could have been unintentionally insensitive. For starters, neither of my coworkers were male. Also, I personally dislike using “crazy” as an adjective when any other word would better connote my intention without possibly offending anyone who may have been referred to as “crazy” at some point, in a negative light. (As I remind myself, “crazy” rhymes with “lazy” — as in, push myself to think of a better adjective.)

The truth is — language is powerful, especially in the workplace. The right turn of phrase or messaging can win over a stakeholder, engage an employee base, sell a product. But many of us don’t realize that the words and phrases we use daily often carry additional meaning hidden between the lines. Certain words can imply a bias toward a particular age, gender, ability, educational background, social class and so on. As a result, continued use of this type of language can inadvertently exclude and offend audiences, including clients and employees.

Common workplace phrases to avoid

By using inclusive language in both written and verbal communications, we can ensure messaging resonates with all audiences. Inclusive language avoids biases, slang or expressions that discriminate against groups of people.

The challenging part is distancing oneself from phrases and words that have become common, but that are rooted in racism, colonialism and patriarchy.

Here are a few examples:

Terms like “pow wow,” to indicate a meeting, or “low on the totem pole,” to indicate low priority, or “master document,” or “grandfathered in,” should be terms we phase out of our language, especially in the workplace. Pow wow, totem pole, tribe and spirit animal are terms that have been appropriated from Indigenous people. Whereas master immediately connotes slavery — and grandfather (when meaning legacy) is unnecessarily gendered.

Instead of relying on these familiar yet harmful terms, be clearer with your message. Swap tribe for community, team or group. A master document becomes a principal document (be careful not to label it a “bible,” either). Not only will your messaging be clearer, it will also be mindful.

Actionable guidelines to employ — starting today

Establishing an inclusive language guide for the workplace — a living, co-created document that includes phrases to avoid and their suggested, acceptable counterparts — is one way to move an organization toward being more inclusive. Organizations can introduce it as a ways-of-working agreement and ask that employees acknowledge or sign it as part of compliance efforts to ensure employees understand the company’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

But the broader point is that each of us has that power: Each of us can decide to adopt more inclusive language, right now — and make an immediate impact within our teams, across our organizations and communities at large. Whether you go the policy route or the personal one, here are five simple guidelines to keep in mind:

Will everyone always get it right? No. Language changes and evolves over time. And certain resistance comes into play when training the mind to steer away from common but hurtful words and terms. The most important — most mindful — thing to remember is to consider the impact of your language and to be willing to learn and adapt.

Adjusting how we communicate in our everyday goes a long way toward shifting mindsets and creating a more inclusive workplace — and hopefully, society.

Additional reading:

Google, All-in inclusive marketing terms: https://all-in.withgoogle.com/

National Center on Disability and Journalism: https://ncdj.org/style-guide/#:~:text=NCDJ%20Recommendation%3A%20%E2%80%9CDeaf%E2%80%9D%20or,use%20those%20terms%20for%20themselves.

American Psychological Association: https://www.apa.org/about/apa/equity-diversity-inclusion/language-guidelines

The Diversity Style Guide for Media Professionals: https://www.diversitystyleguide.com/

Linguistic Society of America: https://www.linguisticsociety.org/resource/guidelines-inclusive-language