How to Protect Your People and Your Brand from Quiet Quitting

At Resonate, we believe that Brand stewardship extends to all areas of your organization. Brand should be more than your logo or even your external reputation, but it should also be something meaningful and motivating for each person on your team. Team alignment is critical to organizational advancement. 

“If they move my desk one more time I’m going to quit.” One of my favorite clips in movie history. It’s poignant. When people transition from one job to another, or from a job to no job, there’s usually a reason. For employers, it’s nice to know that reason so that we can work against excessive turnover and improve our culture so that our teams are happier and our brand reputation is stewarded faithfully. 

Sometimes, though, team members “leave” their roles without any formal announcement or explanation—simply performing the bare minimum to fly under the radar in their roles. It’s a silent departure that can have serious implications for both the employee and the employer. The phrase for this is “quiet quitting.” 

As quiet quitting is gaining traction, with over 50% of the workforce supposedly jumping on board—it is also making its debut in the leadership conversation.

For the employee, maybe their enneagram style predisposes them to be allergic to confrontations and negative feedback. To be perfectly honest, we think quiet quitting is usually a selfish approach to work—it is a way to keep the pay coming without giving any extra or pursuing any growth for themselves or the people around them. We understand sometimes people don’t have the opportunity to pursue a healthier workplace, and that is a more complex issue. But generally speaking, and you can call us old fashioned, we believe that hard work usually yields good fruit. 

And quiet quitting comes at a cost to the person engaging in it. Our work relationships have a way of rippling far into the future, and any bridges we burn will almost certainly prove to be needed somewhere down the road.. 

For the employer, quiet quitting does help avoid the same confrontation, but few employers would count this as a benefit worth mentioning. When someone quiet quits, they do the bare minimum requirements and nothing more, leaving a heavier burden on the team that does want to be there; not to mention, it mitigates everything that’s good for a team: productivity, morale, quality and efficiency.

Leaders, here are a few ways you can work proactively to prevent quiet quitting: 

1. Employers should focus on creating a positive work environment that supports and engages employees. A ping pong table in the break room can’t solve every problem, but it might solve one or two. 
2. Providing an avenue for open communication between leadership and team goes a long way toward empowering team members to voice their concerns and complaints. Make it safe to share concerns, reward it even, and you can bet fewer people will leave. This goes both ways. Team members also have a responsibility to speak up about their own concerns. They should take the time to evaluate their own job satisfaction and determine if their current work environment is meeting their needs and goals.
3. Likewise, team members should be encouraged to work together and have each other’s backs. That’s huge for morale. But if someone is consistently and intentionally not carrying their weight, teammates should be encouraged to make their leadership aware of the issue. 
4. More traditional moves are important as well. Cultural commitments like providing fair pay, opportunities for growth and development, and a culture that values and respects employees are non-negotiable. If you want to foster longevity on your team, it’s going to be necessary to provide for those base level needs. 
5. Employers need to be proactive in addressing any concerns or complaints raised by employees to minimize their team from feeling discouraged to the point of quiet quitting. 
6. Lastly, face those hard conversations with dignity and mutual respect. Employers: sometimes people leave. That’s okay. Encourage your team that if they are looking to make a career transition, there is a path to leaving well. Perhaps you cover this in onboarding or mention it in a quarterly team meeting. Show people (and, mean it!) that you are invested in them and their growth, and ask them to give you and your organization the same respect. 

To land this plane back in our lane—quiet quitting does impact your brand. It can give the impression that the company is not a desirable place to work, which can deter potential employees and customers from considering the company in the future. Employee retention impacts brand reputation, and companies that can demonstrate that they value their employees and create a positive work environment will be better able to attract top talent and maintain a positive reputation in the marketplace.

‍But more importantly, we want to help you become a brand that doesn’t just look good, but that IS good. By focusing on creating a positive work environment and addressing employee concerns, we want to see organizations using brand stewardship to create and advance cultures where people can truly thrive!