A new phenomenon has emerged from the Great Resignation: “quiet quitting.” The trend involves a growing population of employees consciously divesting from the hustle culture that has historically characterized the American workplace. Rather than going above and beyond, quiet quitters fulfill only the most necessary or minimal requirements of their jobs.
According to recent Gallup findings, quiet quitters make up an astounding 50% or more of the U.S. workforce. As productivity has declined, the impact on businesses and company culture has been profound.
It’s time to reframe the conversation around quiet quitting and refocus on engaging employees and empowering them to see value in themselves and their roles. By finding new ways to re-engage employees, business leaders can help everyone find meaning in the work that they do. Read on for key strategies to empower teams and ultimately help both your employees and business thrive.
1. Keep lines of communication open
Effective communication across all areas of a company establishes trust, fosters empathy and understanding, and meaningfully connects individuals to the companies they work for. Good communication is central to employee engagement. But in a world where hybrid work and distributed teams are the norm, maintaining a healthy flow of communication can be challenging.
Supporting a healthy dialogue in today’s dynamic workplace means opening lines of communication at every level of the company. To open a direct line between leadership and staff, consider soliciting anonymous employee feedback through monthly or quarterly surveys. Managers should check in regularly with direct reports. And to facilitate communication between colleagues and teams, companies can adopt a mix of communication channels to support a variety of needs and preferences. From email, Slack, and Zoom to Microsoft Teams and Trello, today’s teams require a variety of communication platforms to support the many ways we work and collaborate.
With high-quality video calls and screen-sharing capabilities, interactive panels are quickly becoming an essential communication tool for companies bridging the gap between remote and in-office teams. Smart panels like Promethean’s ActivPanel 9 Pro enable an improved, more equitable experience for those attending meetings remotely by using screen sharing to deliver content live and a record feature to keep sessions for future uses. And with Promethean’s patented ActivSync technology, the panel will provide maximum compatibility with your communication tools and apps.
Ensure that your employees’ voices are heard, no matter where they’re based. Not only will they feel valued, but they’ll also be empowered to put their best foot forward.
2. Plan company events and team celebrations
Show your employees that they’re cared for. A study conducted by Harvard Business Review found that productivity increases when companies express appreciation or gratitude to employees.
You can do this by planning parties, hosting special events, and amplifying individual recognition. For example, keep track of everyone’s birthdays and do something thoughtful for them when the day comes, such as sending them a personalized gift. You can do something fun with your team during holidays, recognizing not only the national holidays but also the ones that celebrate specific cultures and backgrounds.
You can also plan monthly or quarterly events and team-building exercises like terrarium-building, scavenger hunts, team trivia, and more—the possibilities are endless. Or take it outside of the office and host an outing for your employees to meet, connect and establish a sense of belonging in your team.
These are just some of the ways that you can make your employees feel like they’re cared for and that the team that they are a part of matters. With opportunities to bond and form shared memories, these moments of connection are key to boosting morale.
3. Equip employees with tools and resources for better work-life balance
Employee well-being has become a top priority for business leaders; according to the Forbes Health-IPSOS Monthly Tracker, 90% of respondents said work-life balance is an essential aspect of their workplace. Benefits that contribute to work-life balance include shortened work weeks, increased time off, and wellness perks such as subscriptions to meditation apps and other mental health resources.
Another way to support your employees is by equipping them with tools to increase efficiency. When tasks get done quickly, employees feel less drained and happier that they get time and energy back for their outside-work activities.
The ActivPanel 9 Pro helps teams breeze through meetings and tasks with one-touch access to the web and the cloud. And with ActivSync you can easily share documents and files with all of the connected devices in the room, ensuring that everyone has all the materials they need to work smarter, not harder. The goal is to prevent burnout and care for your employees so they can return to work refreshed and ready to take on the tasks ahead of them.
4. Create opportunities for collaboration
Collaboration drives engagement among employees by helping them see the important role they play in the work that they do, both at home and in the office.
You can encourage teammates to work better together by turning to technology. A Gartner study reports that “nearly 80% of workers are using collaboration tools for work in 2021, up from just over half of workers in 2019.” This includes cloud-based, productivity, and messaging technologies that expand interactivity in the hybrid work model, including idea board apps like Mural, project management tools like Asana and Trello, and sites where you can create together like Canva and Figma.
Companies are also investing in collaborative interactive displays for the office like the ActivPanel 9 Pro. This smart whiteboard encourages everyone in the hybrid workforce to engage in discussions through digital whiteboarding capabilities. It also supports 3D interactive mapping, CAD modeling, Miro, and Mural, which help employees create and innovate together.
With the ActivPanel 9 Pro, presentations, and meetings become productive and employees feel that their ideas matter. And with accessories like the ActivPen and Logitech K400 Plus smart keyboard provided, employees can control the panel from anywhere in the room, helping them to move around and speak with colleagues as if in a regular conversation.
There are many ways you can prevent the trend of quiet quitting. By increasing employee recognition, appreciation, vitality, and collaboration, everyone will see the value in their work and themselves. Together, you’ll be hitting those milestones in no time.
