quiet quitting vs hustle culture- here’s how to strike the balance

Quiet Quitting is the latest workplace ‘trend’ that has been made a global buzzword thanks to TikTok. Quiet Quitting is regarded as a motion against ‘Hustle Culture’ (the state of overworking to the point where it becomes a lifestyle) and has caused some heated debate and panic for businesses and the world of HR. Naturally, there have been many interpretations and definitions of the quiet quit, including:

• Consciously disengaging from work

• Doing the bare minimum required in a role

• Deprioritising jobs and setting boundaries to recalibrate work life balance

Much controversy has arisen around whether the Quiet Quit is indicative of employee dissatisfaction or is simply a rebalance and recalibration of work life boundaries following the pandemic. Whatever the cause or definition, the importance of employee engagement, satisfaction and wellbeing within the workplace has been brought to light.

So, can curating a company culture that acknowledges these as critical factors for it’s people, be the answer for avoiding the negative consequences that surround the quiet quitting?

Forbes found that 56% of employee burnout is caused by a negative work culture and is to blame for 20-50% of turnover. Therefore, building a culture that promotes team performance, provides fulfilling, agile work AND values employees is a sure way to go towards a thriving work environment.

Here are some ways to help you try to strike that balance between 'The Hustle' and 'Quiet Quit' mentalities…

1. Emphasise Employee Wellbeing

Employee engagement and wellness go hand-in-hand, here are some ways to incorporate this into your culture

• Have a trained Mental Health First Aider

  St Johns Ambulance offers great courses for this

• Promote physical exercise and good nutrition

  Exercise is shown to help reduce the risk of joint/back pain, decrease the number of sick days and boost staff morale.

• Encourage healthy boundaries and work-life balance

  According to Deloitte, companies that promote work-life balance record two times more productivity than those that do not

2. Promote Open Communication

Feeling heard is shown to improve job satisfaction and employee retention as well as feed innovation and, build a positive culture of trust. So, to some simple steps to promote open communication are:

• Ensuring everyone has a platform to speak on

  For example, direct messaging and message boards, internal social media, suggestion boxes and polls/surveys.

• Giving your employees the confidence to contribute.

  Start with smaller small groups for idea sharing, then build it up from there. Avoid dismissive language and show active listening. Brainstorming can be a great way to create a confidence building, inclusive platform for communication.

3. Hold Regular Team Meetings

You may loathe the idea of a team meeting, but they are an essential element ensuring that project progress is underway. By meeting with the entire team, discussions about workflow and KPI milestones can be had. Beyond just task tracking, team meetings have other benefits too…

• build relationships, collaboration, and creativity.

• They emphasise group camaraderie and can improve personal accountability

“Our weekly meeting is so fundamental in ensuring the whole team knows where each project is at. But also, it’s so nice to be able to have everyone together, in person, to really feel that sense of belonging and joint goals. ” -Will Snaith, Sales Director

4. Celebrate Wins

Both big and small

According to the ‘progress principle’, small wins are fundamental in shaping how employees feel and perform. Employees- from senior executives to interns- who receive recognition and praise are 4.6x more likely to perform their best work.

• Team celebrations are fantastic for the development of a strong, balanced culture.

• Celebrating wins is a brilliant way of motivating and connecting your team

• Make sure that employees know just how their work is contributing

5. Show You Care

Showing your employees you value them and recognise their contribution is shown to benefit organisations, in fact 85% of HR specialists say that employee recognition programs positively affect organisational culture.

• Gather regular feedback

• Empower employees by enabling collaboration on goal setting

• Enable growth and career progression

• Ask for feedback on how the company could improve

6.Create Empowering Environments

The pandemic has really shifted the way we work. The move to creating empowering environments is showing to have a multitude of benefits. So it’s no wonder that 66% of leaders are considering redesigning office spaces for hybrid work. This can be done easily by:

• Providing agile spaces that enable collaboration, inspiration and focus

• Making the workplace a space people want to be and feel they can thrive

• Enlisting design experts to use their experience to adapt or create a space so it is optimised to align with your unique business goals and needs

“Design elements such as breakout areas are great for building a collaborative conducive environment.” -Lucy Mallard, Design Director

Overall it’s clear to see that the ‘Quiet Quit’, ‘laying flat’, or whatever-you-call-it mentality movement has brought to light the important role that company culture plays in the workplace. So in a world with polarised opinions, ‘hustle culture’ backlash and ‘The Great Resignation’ fearmongering, there are certainly things that can be done to create jobs and environments in which people can thrive physically, mentally, socially and professionally.