Quiet quitting: definition and strategies to avoid it

Did you know that 20%-40% of your workforce might be quietly disengaging, according to McKinsey & Company data? This means a significant portion of your talent underperforms, showing up as more sick days and reduced effort. Ultimately, this quiet quitting trend has a material impact on your company’s success.

Therefore, your goal is to incorporate measures to address quiet quitting, prevent burnout, and show employees that you care about them.

Below, we’ll explore:

• Key signs of quiet quitting
• Why do people lose motivation
• Why is it a problem
• Tips on how to avoid it

What is quiet quitting?

Quiet quitting is when employees do just the bare minimum to keep their jobs, without taking initiative or going the extra mile on projects or responsibilities.

The term was popularized on TikTok in 2022. It describes employees who do their jobs just fine but do not volunteer for anything else for their employer. Silent quitting, soft quitting, and quiet resignation are also terms for this.

What are the key signs of quiet quitting?

To spot quiet quitting at work, look for the following employee signs:

• Never volunteers for extra work, new responsibilities, or leadership roles
• Never speaks at meetings unless they are addressed directly
• Avoids corporate events and team-building activities
• Slowly responds to emails and instant messages
• Misses deadlines
• Refuses to work overtime when other employees do
• Keeps the camera off during video calls and sync-ups
• Cynically or negatively talks about their work and/or organization

Why do people lose motivation?

There are several major reasons why people lose motivation at work:

• Unacknowledged efforts. When employees feel their hard work is overlooked, they start feeling undervalued and lose the motivation to go beyond the minimum.
• Feeling stuck. Employees quickly lose interest if they don’t see opportunities to learn new things or advance their skills.
• Workload issues. Being constantly overworked leads to burnout and exhaustion. At the same time, not having enough challenging work can also bore people.
• Poor management. If employees feel their manager is unsupportive, unclear in their expectations, or constantly micromanages, they will lack enthusiasm and willingness to perform.

Why is the quiet quitting workplace trend a problem?

According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report, global employee engagement hit just 21% in 2024, marking the second decline over a decade.

Slow employee performance leads to slow company performance and poor results. If the quiet quitting trend continues, companies will not be able to fulfill their goals.

Beyond the immediate impact on performance, quiet quitters are more likely to leave the company eventually. This creates a costly cycle, as the expense of acquiring new employees is substantial.

For instance, replacing an employee can cost a company anywhere from half to twice their annual salary, including recruitment, onboarding, and lost productivity during transition.

How can you quickly find out if quiet quitting is happening at your company?

Here are a few simple ways to detect quiet quitting at work:

1. Conduct an employee engagement survey. Anonymous surveys will help you understand how your employees truly feel. Ask questions like “Do you feel recognized for your contributions at work?”, “How likely are you to recommend our company as a great place to work?”, and “Do you see yourself working here in two years?”. A score drop in these questions could be a red flag.

2. Regularly check employees’ productivity metrics. Noticeable changes, like a consistent dip in project completion rates or slower response time to urgent tasks, signal disengagement. Too frequent sick days and switched-off cameras during virtual calls also indicate a lack of involvement.

3. Conduct one-to-one syncs. Beyond just discussing tasks, pay attention to the following cues: minimal participation in brainstorming, vague answers about career growth, or a lack of enthusiasm for new tasks and projects.

How to avoid quiet quitting at work?

Here are five strategies to prevent quiet quitting:

1. Offer learning and development opportunities

Offer your employees the chance to cover the cost of their online courses, training, or conferences. This simple gesture will show you care about their personal growth and improve their sense of accomplishment.

2. Regularly reward your employees and show appreciation

Regularly say “Thank you” to your employees for their contributions by giving them corporate merch.

For example, create custom swag packs to celebrate employee work anniversaries. Include employee gifts like branded hoodies, corporate T-shirts, custom drinkware, office supplies, and even tech gadgets. All these things will create a sense of belonging and boost employee morale. Invest only in high-quality items instead of cheap stuff that will be quickly thrown away and leave a negative impression.

Also, use corporate merch to celebrate special moments with your team, such as corporate events, summer team-building activities, or winter holidays.

3. Offer quarterly or biannual performance reviews

Progress reviews are a win-win for both managers and employees.

For employees, these regular check-ins help get insights into their performance and make them feel more engaged. 

For managers, it’s an opportunity to quickly spot any issues, like dissatisfaction with benefits or responsibilities, and then act to fix them.

4. Encourage work-life balance

Give your employees flexibility by letting them organize their schedules and plan tasks. This ensures they can recover properly. Some forward-thinking companies, like those in Sweden, are even embracing 4-day workweeks to prioritize well-being and see a boost in productivity.

Beyond flexible hours, offer a comprehensive benefits package that covers wellness programs, gym, and health insurance for employees and their families. When employees feel truly supported and cared for, they’re far less likely to disengage.

5. Build motivation

Many employees, especially Gen Z, want to feel that their work contributes to something meaningful. According to the CNBC Workplace Study, Gen Z workers have the least meaningful work (14%) and the least autonomy (21%) compared to other generations. They just do the bare minimum if they don’t see “the why” behind their tasks.

This is why managers should consistently link daily tasks to larger company objectives. For instance, instead of just telling an employee to answer customer emails, explain that responding quickly builds customer trust and keeps clients happy, which is key to the company’s growth. Also, regularly show them the direct results of their efforts, whether it’s new leads, positive client feedback, or user testimonials.

Plus, share customer success stories that show how your company’s services or products helped clients succeed. This will inspire your team to work harder and take initiative.

So, what can you start with?

We recommend implementing these strategies early on since a bit of prevention now is always better than dealing with bigger issues later.

While you focus on things like conducting performance reviews, encouraging work-life balance, and connecting work to a larger purpose, you can delegate employee appreciation and rewards to our team. We’ve got Europe’s largest merch catalog, filled with high-quality gifts that feel premium from the moment you touch them.

We recommend ordering basic items in advance, like corporate hoodies, T-shirts, caps, notebooks, and water bottles. For special milestones such as a five-year work anniversary, include premium merch. This could be branded suitcases, tech gadgets, or merch from top brands like Hugo Boss.

Managing all this is easy with our Swag42 Platform. You can handle everything from merch customization and bulk ordering to reordering swag in just one click. Plus, you can set up your corporate swag shop where employees can pick their favorite items in a fun, gamified way, ensuring everyone gets something they truly appreciate.