Quiet Quitting: The New Old Trend

The worst kind of quitting happens when you don’t notice it.

You’re the boss, and an employee comes to you with a problem.

The first thing to do is listen. Ask questions and don’t interrupt them or anything they say. Don't be defensive; take their point of view seriously and consider their feelings as well as the facts of their situation (which may not be entirely clear at this point). Don't judge them or dismiss what they are saying just because it's different from what you think should happen—there's always more than one way to solve problems, so even if your solution isn't ideal for this employee, maybe another one would work better for someone else?

Quiet Quitting

Quiet quitting is when you quit a job without giving notice. It's a way to get out of a bad situation, but it can have serious consequences.

Quitting without notice or warning can be good if:

• You're unhappy with your job and want to avoid upsetting anyone by leaving suddenly or unexpectedly.
• You need the money right away and don't want to wait for the pay check on Friday (or whatever day your payment is).

But sometimes quiet quitting has negative consequences that are hard to predict because they depend on other people's reactions, such as:

If you work in an office where everyone knows each other very well, then even if they don't like you personally, they might feel obligated not only because it would be awkward but also because they might think "What did I do wrong?" For example, maybe one of those people likes talking about their kids all the time at work and this makes them uncomfortable; if so then he/she may take advantage of any opportunity he/she has since he/she doesn't want others thinking badly about him/herself as well as being worried about how much longer until his/her own kid turns into an adult too! In this case there would still be some resentment toward having been fired even though technically no real harm was done because after all we were talking about something unrelated here...right?

Quiet Firing

Quiet Firing is when you don't tell the employee that they are being fired, but instead let them find out on their own. This can be done in a variety of ways:

The employee is sent on a business trip and told to pack light.

You give them an assignment to complete, and they find out while completing it that it isn't part of their job description anymore.

Or, it could be as simple as giving an employee some additional responsibilities at work, then removing those additional responsibilities, which causes the employee to realize that their position has been eliminated due to budget cuts.

How to Tell You’re Losing Your People

You’ll know you’re losing your people when they stop coming to you with problems. They might be having trouble with a coworker or experiencing some other kind of conflict in the office. When this happens, your instinct may be to reach out and offer guidance or help. But if you do, it could make them feel worse about themselves and their situation—which means they won’t want to come back to you with more problems in the future.

Instead, let them know that you care about what they have going on by listening without judgment. Let them know that everything will be okay and no matter what happens next week or next month it won’t affect your relationship as coworkers (or friends).

How to Get Your Mojo Back

Make sure you're aware of the signs. If someone's not happy, they'll often try to hide it and hope it goes away on its own. The best way to avoid this is to ask them directly how they feel about their work.

Ask questions like:

• How do you think I'm doing as a manager?
• What do we need to do better as an organization?
• What can I do specifically for you this week/month/year?

You have to be conscious of human behavior and know things like when an employee isn’t as happy as they once were, or when they aren’t eating lunch with you anymore

As a leader, you must be conscious of human behavior and know things like when an employee isn’t as happy as they once were, or when they aren't eating lunch with you anymore. You can't just assume that everything is going well in the workforce; you must listen to what people are saying and watch what they're doing.

When someone has a problem, it's important for them to feel like they can talk about it with their boss. If there's something bothering someone at work and they don't feel comfortable talking about it with their manager or supervisor, then that could be considered passive resignation because no one knows about the issue until after the fact—unless there are many signs that point toward this person leaving on their own terms (like quitting without notice).

It takes time for managers and supervisors alike to learn how best handle every situation related specifically towards management; however, if a problem arises within your company, then there should always be open communication between management staff members, so everyone involved understands exactly where everyone else stands when faced with decisions such as these."

Conclusion

It’s important to remember that a lot of the time people make decisions because they don’t want to deal with what they think is a difficult conversation. This can be something as simple as telling their boss they aren’t interested in being promoted or quitting their job because they want more money. If you know your employees well enough, then you should be able to identify them by the behavior changes that happen before they leave.

About the Author: 

Kaitlin P. Hughes joined the ASAP team with a background in communications, public relations, marketing, and scientific research. She prides herself in becoming a subject matter expert in whatever her current field is, but she had a leg up with ASAP as she previously worked as an office coordinator managing a staff of 15 undergraduate students. Kaitlin is dedicated to professional development and helping her peers on anything and everything they can do to become a better version of themselves.