Over in Australia, there is a trend in employment that has quickly gone viral. This trend is known as ‘quiet quitting’ To sum it up, quiet quitting is when employees essentially stop doing anything more than the bare minimum to prevent themselves from being sacked. This could be for a few reasons, but mainly it will be due to ‘minimum wage, minimum effort,’ and emplyee burnout, no work/life balance.
Now this is an attitude that we ultimately believe to be detrimental, for both the employee and the employer. But we understand feeling like this. We’ve all at Zoop had jobs that we hated in the past. So we took the time to talk to everyone in the office to give advice on what to do for both employees and employers to make sure that this issue is properly addressed. Here are some of the ideas that went around the room:
Employees
1: Reduce your hours. In industries such as hospitality, it is incredibly easy to end up working over the 48-hour week that is the legal limit. You can opt out of this if you want to, but it is best to have it as written notice. The best thing about this opt out is that you can change your mind at anytime and go back to the 48-hour week. It is against the law for the employer to fire you for refusing to work more than 48-hour weeks. So if you’re doing too much and want to take a few hours to yourself, you can.
2: Know your value/ask for a raise. As the saying tends to go, ‘Minimum wage, minimum effort.’ That is certainly not always true for all businesses, as many small businesses feel more like a family rather than when you work for big chains. With start-ups as well, they may not be in a position to give you the same amount that a larger company can, but you still join them as you are invested in that business. Now there’s always the chance they’ll say no, but put it this way. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
3: Change the environment. Now this one doesn’t work for all industries I’m afraid, but where it can work, it often does. It can be difficult being in the office 5 days a week, and a change of scenery can work wonders for you. Sometimes you know you’re better in the office, sometimes you know you’re better working from home. After what happened in 2020, many businesses are taking the time to understand that not everyone can work in the same environment. Try testing out hybrid working and see how that goes.
4: Move. If you can’t get any changes in the workplace, then that workplace isn’t right for you. You falling down to doing the bare minimum just to stay above water won’t do you or your employer any favours. It’s sometimes just better to look for a new place where you will be valued. If you end up resenting your workplace or even your employer, you won’t end up going anywhere.
Employers
1: Overtime. In the UK, employers do not currently have to pay overtime, but many employers choose to. And that is understandable, especially when businesses may pay time and a half, as people will choose to work overtime with that kind of reward. However, you should be made aware that if the overtime that is not paid means that your employee is working for less than the National Minimum Wage, you are breaking the law. For example, if you have a 25-year-old woman working as a Digital Marketing Executive at £32,000 a year, you have to pay overtime once she exceeds 64 hours a week. If you are just a start-up company, many candidates may be willing to take a pay cut to work with you, as that means they are personally invested in your idea. But don’t ever exploit that passion.
2: Rewards. There are businesses that maybe cannot afford to pay lots of overtime, but there are many ways to show your employees that you value them. A meal out with the team, maybe a gaming party or even a staff day out. Overtime pay or a commission/bonus will almost always be the preferred reward system, as we’ve all got bills to pay. But showing someone that they are a valued part of the business will always prove to be a strong morale boost and will lead to people being more productive.
3: Wellness days. Now this is crucial. If your employees are burnt out, let them have time to recover. There are still businesses out there who are run by people who don’t even believe in mental health, but those kinds of companies are rarer and rarer today. If you have burnt out employees and they can’t take the time to get better, their productivity will dip, which will quickly have a nosedive effect on your business in turn. You also have volunteering days that you can give to your employees, which can let them commit to a cause that can really provide a positive outlook.
Hopefully, if you follow these guidelines, then the trend of quiet quitting can go away. But if you’re looking for a new place to work, we get it and we’ll be happy to help.