What's Causing The Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting?
There are two big hashtags floating around online these days: #greatresignation and #quietquitting.
I'm sharing my take and my thoughts on both, why I believe this is happening and my proposed solutions.
My business partner Chrissy Marquardt and I co-authored this newsletter together. I wanted Chrissy to offer her input because she not only offers a different perspective, she has a lived experience of joining the Great Resignation during the pandemic.
The trend of Quiet Quitting and the Great Resignation are simply the outcome of poorly planted roots that bore sour fruit. Quiet Quitting is the step before someone joins the Great Resignation. People start to detach before they leave. This trend stems from the inside out, and if we dig a bit further, it all stems from what I call an accidental workplace culture.
So, what's all the hype about culture, anyway?
These are probably some of the thoughts running through your head as you hear about or engage in conversations about culture:
“It feels like a lot of work and will take away from our productivity.”
“I know people keep quitting but it’s fine, we can just find some more.”
“We just need to make money.”
Sound familiar? If you are not living this story, chances are you have worked in an environment that emulates this mindset. I know I have worked for many companies that embodied it.
I get it.
It’s much easier in the moment to look outside of our companies for answers or to literally throw money at the problem. The issue then becomes rooted under another whole pile of issues. .
Why Are People Quiet Quitting and What Caused The Great Resignation?
I remember the day a couple of years ago, that I saw my first headline about the Great Resignation. As I read the article, it talked about businesses trying to figure out what the problem was, and why this was happening.
I immediately laughed to myself at the irony, knowing the root of the problem is a culture problem…the problem is an inside out problem.
If you’ve been following the conversations around The Great Resignation and quiet quitting, you’ve probably noticed that the discussions are finally turning toward creating an intentional workplace culture.
I am fascinated at the reluctance that companies have about actually turning inwards and examining their internal workplace cultures. This is the work that I've done with my clients for the past decade, and the conversation alongside the actions of creating an intentional workplace culture is what's missing from the majority of companies who are experiencing mass the exodus of employees over the past two years.
There are four primary actions that have fueled the Great Resignation and quiet quitting. These trends point back to the root cause of a poor workplace culture.
Companies not putting people first and having money be the primary goal.
Promoting an environment that demands high productivity that exceeds actual human capacity, and where people are disposable and viewed as replaceable.
Fostering an accidental workplace culture versus actively creating an intentional culture. Most companies have been operating on autopilot and have not taken the time, energy and resources to create a workplace culture that is holistic, equitable, and inclusive.
Being performative versus authentic in engaging with company values. Affirmative action on its own is meaningless. You also need support structures that fosters psychologically safe work environments for marginalized individuals. Otherwise it is just another form of tokenism.
“Money is actually an outcome of energy and time invested, and should not be treated as a goal.”
Any company can look at their profit and loss statement and see that humans are one of the top expense categories. And yet continuously, companies sidestep investing in their most valuable assets - their human workforce.
How is it a culture problem? Let’s look at some statistics:
54% of US workers say they have left a previous job because their boss wasn’t empathetic to their struggles at work (Source: EY.)
49% quit due to a lack of appreciation of pressures in their home life (Source: EY.)
Toxic corporate culture is 10.4 times more powerful than compensation in predicting a company’s turnover.(Source: MIT Sloan Management Review )
Yeah, I get it…we humans are messy.
We have thoughts and ideas, history that informs our actions and the most challenging of all… a huge landscape of emotions. Brene Brown, Susan David, Adam Grant, Simon Sinek and a host of others would not have gained as much traction as they have in recent years if attending to these challenges of human emotions was not like speaking a new language.
A year plus later and finally the acknowledgement that ineffective company cultures that create highly toxic workplaces are the culprit.
And yet, I can see the hesitation in truly doing the work that it will take.
Why is this?
Because creating an intentional and inclusive workplace culture is the heartwork, which is the hard work in business and life.
It’s not the matter of a new marketing plan or strategic goal planning session. It’s the need to lean in and see people as people…as the most valuable asset in a business.
To be resilient, agile and sustainable, companies need to better understand what employees need to be able to meet the demands of the job. And the reality that this is not the same for everyone.
It is choosing equity over equality in accessibility. It is owning that equity is not efficient, and it's not a performative box to be checked. And yet building in equitable practice is the key to business longevity and better efficiency.
It is about everyone moving forward towards a shared vision.
People are leaving their jobs, #greatresignation, because of oppressive environments that do not care about them as a whole person.
Companies continue to require people to leave their lives and emotions at the door while in the workplace, and this no longer working. People are seeking an integrated existence where their multi-dimensionality and emotional selves are normalized and embraced over being ignored and erased .
The pandemic forced businesses to scramble and find solutions to a new challenge and most of these companies failed to see their people as the most valuable asset of the company and the ones with the answers to the problem. Most business owners had no idea how to pivot and create working constructs that successfully adjusted to the new demands that were being made on people, especially women and single parents. In addition to working, you had to figure out how to do all of the things, from your home.
So what's the solution to #quietquitting and #greatresignation, and how can companies lower their attrition rates?
"A toxic corporate culture is by far the strongest predictor of industry-adjusted attrition and is 10 times more important than compensation in predicting turnover."
-DONALD SULL, CHARLIE SULL & BEN ZWEIG
"Toxic Culture Is Driving the Great Resignation"
MIT Sloan Management Review
How do we recreate our businesses so that we center our workforce and their well being?
I feel confident that the solution is to start from the center and work our way out.
To build congruence from the ground up and deeply value the people we employ as they have a lot to give.
People want to share their gifts in places that see them as whole, resourceful people. As companies, we need to work with the challenges that people face both inside and outside of their work and see them as whole, resourceful beings.
Haul up the olds roots of toxicity and replace them with new roots of an intentional culture engaged in human centered service leadership which centers people over profits. This in turn fosters the fruits of a thriving and inclusive workplace culture and a sustainable and agile business.
Business agility has a big ask of business owners.
It will require us to know ourselves deeply as leaders and lean into understanding the people that we invite to our tables.
It will ask us to deal with the emotions of ourselves and those of others in an empathic and compassionate way.
It will challenge us as business owners to ask ourselves the question: What is the culture that we want to create?
It will ask us to comb through our business practices, policies and procedures to see where the business is out of alignment.
If companies wish to (a) counteract #greatresignation and #quietquitting trends within their organization, (b) create thriving and agile businesses, and ( c ) achieve sustainable growth and longevity - they will need to pivot their current way of thinking and shift away from the status quo.
I encourage you to take a long hard look at the business you have created or the leadership culture your're currently fostering.
Ask yourself, Where are the cracks in the foundation?
Lean in and really get to know your employees.
Rebuild your culture from the inside out.
If this feels daunting to go it alone, just reach out. Help is an email away.
“In order to be resilient and agile, a company must build its culture from the inside out”
If your workplace culture is the thing that has been keeping you awake at night, and an area where you need additional support, I invite you to consider working with me, and to find out more about Culture Consulting.
Culture Consulting
My specialty lies within culture consulting and leadership coaching. What lights me up is working with small business owners, leaders and solopreneurs to create resilient and agile business, build upon the foundation of thriving and inclusive workplace cultures, equitable and sustainable business practices, and human-centered service leadership.
My clients will often hire me when they are in the toddler phase of their business, aka the season of your business with the most growth pains, and the season wher you need to recalibrate.
If this resonates with you and you'd like to explore working together, book a complimentary call with me to discuss your business culture needs. I'd love to help.
Thank you for being here!
Michelle and Chrissy