Introduction
The conversation sparked by the misnomer of “quiet quitting” has been an interesting one. Arianna Huffington has reinforced that we need to protect against burnout, Kevin O’Leary calls for people to get the job done well (but within their own terms), and Aliza Knox challenges people to question whether quiet quitting is the right option.
I want to explore what leaders can do to avoid a team of quiet quitters. Spoiler alert: this doesn’t involve increased bonuses, pizza lunches or hiring people willing to forsake their lives to work. As Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman started to explore, this comes down to better leadership.
I know that mindful leadership is the key because last year I had to redouble my efforts to be the leader my team needed. Our company went through multiple re-orgs following one of our biggest acquisitions to date, and our team was impacted like everyone else was. All of us were exhausted from a pandemic that didn’t seem to have an end in sight. But despite all of that, I continued to see a team that wanted to put in more effort than I asked. Our team reputation didn’t falter, as people tried a second or third time to join our team. And we had 9 point increase in our team’s engagement score compared to the prior year and overall was 14 points higher than the company average that year.
When I listen to the examples of where people are “quietly quitting”, I can see clear opportunities for leaders to better self-manage how they lead.
Additional Projects: Make Them Meaningful
Leaders are frequently asked to accomplish more than what we originally discussed at the start of the year. As the demands of the business change, so does what needs to be done. If “additional projects” or stretch assignments come up, the first thing I always do is assess whether it can be an opportunity for someone in my team to develop a skill or gain exposure to different teams or our executives.
If the “extra” work can come as a benefit to someone’s overall career growth, I work with them or their manager to draw the connection and make the space in their day to get the work done well—without having to do overtime. This is important because the extra work shouldn’t feel like a punishment, and it builds trust within the team that our management group is always looking for opportunities for the team.
If that additional project can’t be an opportunity for my team, I work with the requestor to find another home for it. I often hear leaders voice concern that they won’t get other opportunities for their team if they do this, or that they may appear not to be a team player. What I’ve found instead is that people know my team will get the job done right if we agree to something, further building our trust rather than degrading it. I have also not seen any decrease in opportunities offered when I don’t say yes to everything.
Overtime: Real Emergencies Only
Since moving into leadership, I have taken a strict stance that my team is not to do overtime unless it’s a true emergency. Part of this is because both my teams started small (3 or 5 of us), and I knew I couldn’t justify additional staff if the work kept getting done quietly in unreported and unpaid overtime. The other reason is that because of the size of the teams, even one person burning out could be devastating to us—especially because we were already working at full capacity.
The key here is to be vigilant about assessing whether the work is really so important that it needs someone to stay late to complete it. Since we work in software, process and product projects, real emergencies were few and far between. By ensuring I only asked my team to work overtime when it was truly needed, they trusted that it was necessary when I asked—and not simply because of bad planning or forgetfulness.
By creating a culture where overtime was not the norm, my team was proud and committed whenever they put in extra effort. I often even saw people willing to put in a little extra time to finish something because it was their choice and they knew their efforts would be recognized. This is the opposite of the resentment I see on teams where overtime is a regular expectation.
Burning Out: Set Expectations and Reward the Extra Mile
I often see people fall back to doing just the bare minimum because their efforts to go the extra mile aren’t recognized. Like the problem with perpetual overtime, some leaders set the expectation that more is expected—rather than more actually being more.
The solution to this is so simple it’s often overlooked. Like prioritizing work, more leaders need to more clearly articulate what is considered “doing the bare minimum” and what is considered “going above and beyond”. Even if your team disagrees on the definition, setting a clear definition will help in the conversations of whether they have truly gone above and beyond.
Once the expectations are set, the other half of this antidote is to be clear on the rewards of going above and beyond. This can vary in scale and effectiveness depending on the person and situation. For example, would delivering on a project early justify a bonus? What if they deliver the project early but have destroyed all of their relationships in the process? Or can we simply articulate what would warrant consideration for a promotion?
Final Thoughts
Despite all of these and other approaches, the reality that leaders need to get comfortable with is that not everyone will want to go beyond the job description—and that’s ok. People are on the team to get a job done and some will only do that. What we want to avoid is creating an environment where going the extra mile is no longer seen as “extra” and in turn discouraging people from doing so.
