Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Oct 13, 2022 11:09 AM
Replying to Keith Novak
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It certainly should be considered by employers and leaders.
Quiet quitting goes hand-in-hand with the large number of employees quitting outright or finding other jobs (The Great Resignation). It's certainly not new. Many unions have enshrined it for decades, but it is either becoming more prevalent, or more visible.
People are seeing that working hard often just means spending more energy and does not result in getting ahead as promised. Unless people see that hard work will be rewarded they have a choice: a) Forget hoping that their management will pay more and simply move to a better job. or b) Stop working so hard and do the minimum work if it earns the same pay.
If shortsighted management does not recognize that failure to reward their employees causes this behavior, the lack of productivity and high turnover hurts their business rather than saves them money.
Dear Keith
Thank you for reading and answering this question.
Is this phenomenon, in your opinion, only due to non-recognition (salary + career) by companies?
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1 reply by Keith Novak
Oct 14, 2022 1:25 PM
Keith Novak
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It is not only do to lack of recognition, rather it is an understanding of personal motivation. I work very hard for some volunteer groups. They provide a personal satisfaction as to what I am supporting. I've taken or stayed in jobs with less advancement potential, because I really enjoyed the work or the people.
If the work doesn't excite you, what motivation do you have to put out more than the minimum effort unless there is some other benefit like it provides more money or time to pursue your personal interests, other than you're worried about losing your job? If fear of unemployment is the motivating factor, it's time to seek other employment anyways.
Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Oct 14, 2022 7:39 AM
Replying to Stéphane Parent
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Quiet quitting can actually be useful for a project manager. Often, project managers have to deal with the vagaries of team members' performance--peaks and valleys. Quiet quitting can actually be useful to ensure a sustained, measurable project team performance.
Don't forget, performance is based on what you measure. Output is a better measure than input. .
Dear Stephane
Thank you for reading and answering this question.
We agree when you write: "performance is based on what you measure"
How can Project Managers mitigate this situation?
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1 reply by Stéphane Parent
Oct 14, 2022 9:46 AM
Stéphane Parent
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My previous post hinted at the answer to your question, Luis.
I often had employees who thought that putting in overtime would curry favour, bonuses and raises. These are people who believe that performance is measured by what you put in to your work. Performance should be measured by what you get out of your work.
I remember at one point when my employer decided to add estimates as a performance element. They wanted us to complete our work within variance thresholds of our estimates. This fostered a culture of working to meet the estimate, rather than working to meet requirements. Needless to say, that performance measure did not stick around.
Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
Oct 14, 2022 8:09 AM
Replying to Luis Branco
...
Dear Stephane
Thank you for reading and answering this question.
We agree when you write: "performance is based on what you measure"
How can Project Managers mitigate this situation?
My previous post hinted at the answer to your question, Luis.
I often had employees who thought that putting in overtime would curry favour, bonuses and raises. These are people who believe that performance is measured by what you put in to your work. Performance should be measured by what you get out of your work.
I remember at one point when my employer decided to add estimates as a performance element. They wanted us to complete our work within variance thresholds of our estimates. This fostered a culture of working to meet the estimate, rather than working to meet requirements. Needless to say, that performance measure did not stick around. Saving Changes...
alan rossneyProject Manager| jacobs EngineeringDublin, Dublin, Ireland
I Like Keith Novak's Response. As Dale Carnegie would say we need to be "hearty in our approbation & lavish in our praise". Praise sincerely, listen attentively, show interest, and avoid criticisms, chastisement and complaints.
As project team members often don't report directly to a PM really performance is a matter of escalation with their department manager. Escalation often is a point of no return for the team member when this happens however. I wonder is it better to help and lean into the difficult conversations, and use the skills we have learned as PM's to defend the team and help communicate the broader organizational issues and help negotiate a maybe small but positive change (kaiZen) on a case by case basis.
The more important question is, why the team members are behaving in this way?
There may even be an opportunity for a PM to get approval on a change initiative within the organization if the issues are considered process bottlenecks to solve within the team/group/division/ organization rather than personal issues.
Retrospectives / lessons learned exercises frequently throughout a project are very useful in this way.
just a thought.
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1 reply by Luis Branco
Oct 15, 2022 7:28 AM
Luis Branco
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Dear Alan
Thank you for reading and answering this question.
I believe it is important to mention to the people who work with us the aspects in which there is potential for improvement
For this there are feedback techniques that allow us to do so.
Despite that....
Saving Changes...
alan rossneyProject Manager| jacobs EngineeringDublin, Dublin, Ireland
Oct 13, 2022 11:09 AM
Replying to Keith Novak
...
It certainly should be considered by employers and leaders.
Quiet quitting goes hand-in-hand with the large number of employees quitting outright or finding other jobs (The Great Resignation). It's certainly not new. Many unions have enshrined it for decades, but it is either becoming more prevalent, or more visible.
People are seeing that working hard often just means spending more energy and does not result in getting ahead as promised. Unless people see that hard work will be rewarded they have a choice: a) Forget hoping that their management will pay more and simply move to a better job. or b) Stop working so hard and do the minimum work if it earns the same pay.
If shortsighted management does not recognize that failure to reward their employees causes this behavior, the lack of productivity and high turnover hurts their business rather than saves them money.
nice reply Keith Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Luis,
yes quiet quitting is a phenomenon often/always seen in organizations.
It is a precursor for really quitting the job and is measured by attrition rates. I always ask companies about attrition rates, as they give a hint about how many 'quiet quitters' they might have (ROT: 2-3 time the attrition rate). And many other hints:
- how good are onboarding and retention programs (IBM managed to half attrition rates in India by retentio programs)
- how supportive is your company culture, in terms of psychological safety, trust, collaboration
- how ethical is the company, is bullying present
- how political is the company, does it really follow policies or are old boys networks in power, is there too much gossip, blaming
- how competitive is your environment (is the company next door looking for your capabilities?)
I found that great project managers can re-motivate people who are frustrated by the organization, leaders influence and create a nurturing environment, if needed in a bubble
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1 reply by Luis Branco
Oct 15, 2022 7:30 AM
Luis Branco
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Dear Thomas
Thank you for reading and answering this question.
I am convinced that it is possible, in organizations, for project managers to create the effect you mentioned
Will it be enough?
Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Dear Kiron
Thank you for reading and reflecting on this question.
I will read carefully what you wrote on the subject.
Thanks for your sharing Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Dear Keith
Thank you for reading and answering this question.
Is this phenomenon, in your opinion, only due to non-recognition (salary + career) by companies?
It is not only do to lack of recognition, rather it is an understanding of personal motivation. I work very hard for some volunteer groups. They provide a personal satisfaction as to what I am supporting. I've taken or stayed in jobs with less advancement potential, because I really enjoyed the work or the people.
If the work doesn't excite you, what motivation do you have to put out more than the minimum effort unless there is some other benefit like it provides more money or time to pursue your personal interests, other than you're worried about losing your job? If fear of unemployment is the motivating factor, it's time to seek other employment anyways.
...
1 reply by Luis Branco
Oct 15, 2022 7:32 AM
Luis Branco
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Dear Keith
Thank you for complementing your approach to the topic.
Quiet quitting shouldn't be considered work-life balance. When our job is also our passion, we know when it's needed to perform extra effort, and when to take a relaxed work day. It's about experience and compromise, not about a rigid decision to work always on a fixed schedule frame.
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1 reply by Luis Branco
Oct 15, 2022 7:39 AM
Luis Branco
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Dear Veronica
Thank you for reading and answering this question.
Thank you for sharing this perspective with us.
Does everyone decide to work in an organization choose the sector and the function that is their passion?
On the other hand, we know that all people can learn to like what they do, that is, in other words, all people can acquire new habits or new knowledge.
