ssshhhh, it's oh so quiet...

No need to panic I’m not going to burst into song just yet but how familiar are you with:

Quiet Quitting & Quite Cutting…

Two separate areas of major concern for me but all coming down to issues with communication with businesses! 
 
Quiet Quitting

• This is where individuals are slowly disengaging from their roles and responsibilities.  It might be they are working less hours than they used to, not achieving the level the previously had. 

 
Quiet Cutting

• Highlighted in an article by People Management quite cutting is a term now being applied to ‘silent sacking’ where employers try to get there workforces to resign either through changing or reducing their responsibilities…  whilst you may first think ‘why haven’t I thought about this’ this is riddled with risk and also ethical and morale issues.  

 
The fact that both of these have been given the word ‘quiet’ in front demonstrates that there is a concern that businesses and individuals are not communicating let alone potentially doing the legal, morale, ethical and generally right thing! 
 
Two-way communication has been bounded about as long as I can remember as a pivotal role within a business, the information goes up, down and sideways in a business hierarchy but what has potentially changed?

• Is this an impact of covid? 
• Of employees burning out?  We know that for many professions there is a serious concern of this, people not being able to get that life/work harmony in play.  Whether that’s because we are connected to the business world 24/7 through social media or for another reason maybe?

 

What are the risks? 
 
Whilst they are multiple and I’m not going to attempt to cover them all here are a few that really spring to mind! 

• Increased disengagement 
• Customer dissatisfaction  
• Higher attrition 
• Reputational damage
• Constructive dismissal
• Unfair processes could be due to discrimination / potential protective characteristics   
• Let alone when the dust has settled, if the business makes it that far, recruitment and candidate attraction could be as silent as the quitting and cutting in the first place! 

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What can be done about this?

That’s simple in my mind.  Mind you it may cost more initially but it will save you money in the long run!

Quiet Quitting

• Manage this, bring in the right policies to support the business
• Support the employees, get them reengaged! 
• Drive motivation and engagement – whether you start off completing analysis on the areas for their motivation or disengagement or by just talking to your employees – get it done!

Quiet Cutting

• Hopefully by tackling your quiet quitters the business bottom line has improved so there isn’t the consideration required to reduce roles or responsibilities but if that hasn’t worked.
• Consult with the individuals 
• Do the right thing
• Protect the business from risk whether its financial or reputational!  Negative thoughts about a business always spread quicker than positive ones!

And of course

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bring back communication!!!

If this article resonates with you then please do make sure you contact Apiary Solutions as we can assist you to be as noisy as possible, but again without singing!  ​

 That’s not our forte! ​

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