The Employee Value Proposition
If you are a regular reader of our blogs, you know we do our best to focus on solutions to the challenges managers face. Quiet Quitting is the current workplace challenge that is creating a media frenzy. While it’s a clever title, it is also misleading and misunderstood.
No, the issue is not that employees are resigning and tip toeing out of the workplace. What is being called quiet quitting has to do with the perception that some employees are just doing their jobs but not going above and beyond to put in extra time or take on challenges outside of their job scope.
Interesting that our culture points to people doing their jobs and nothing extra and thinks that is as if they have quit their jobs.
When you look below the clever title and actually ask employees what’s missing at work and why they are reluctant to do more, they share that they aren’t:
receiving recognition for the work they do;
being informed of organizational goals or objectives;
being included;
being valued.
If you really think about it, that last bullet point above says it all. If someone doesn’t feel they are being valued at work, why would they want to do anything extra. If you go deeper, why would they want to work for that organization at all?
Feeling valued is critical to having an engaged workforce and for retaining your great staff members. Feeling valued at work is more than being paid fairly and receiving a competitive benefits package: It’s letting your employees know where they fit in your organization’s objectives. It’s being sure they know that the work they do matters. It’s being transparent in all your dealings with them including sharing bad news when necessary. It’s saying, ‘thank you” and rewarding good work when you see it.
If you want to keep your great employees that you worked so hard to recruit and train, are you considering their wellbeing? Are you giving the respect they deserve? Are you treating them as human beings and not just employees.
Josh Bersin says it this way, “Celebrate employee’s contributions and encourage them to thrive.” If you take his advice, quiet quitting shouldn’t be a big concern. But good management practices don’t just happen. You need to be aware of how you show up as a leader.
We’ll talk about your leadership role in helping your employees thrive as we celebrate Bosses Day this month. Hope you’ll join us.