Quiet quitting: The silent but loud voice in today's Workplace

The phrase '#quietquitting quitting' has been garnering attention since it went viral after a tiktok video was uploaded by Zaid Khan. Honestly, this was no news to me. In my opinion it has existed ever since the creation of work. Personally, I started from the point when my babies were conceived in my womb.

Quiet quitting can be likened to the nameless kid on the block who has lived with us for like forever but we never bothered to find out their name or get to know more about them. And, when we finally get to put a name to the face, there will be people who would want to befriend him/her as good company, there will also be those who would think this kid is bad news and would prefer to give bad labels and stay away from them. It is no wonder people's views on quiet quitting differs and the positions people may take would be dependent on whether they are the employer or the employee, their personality type or whether there are caregivers (especially mothers).

What is quiet quitting?

It is used generally to mean, not working above and beyond what your job requires. The relevant question which is not been addressed into detail is, what constitutes above and beyond? According to the Cambridge online dictionary, it means, "to do more or better than would usually be expected of someone." In a similar vein, as the contract of employment has a clause which states 'any other tasks that would be assigned' in addition to your job description, is relative and vague, so is the concept of above and beyond. For one person, it could mean being proactive at work and for another it could be closing late and coming in early (erroneous measure of work dedication). It could also be volunteering for social activities at work. Simply put, it could be anything for anyone! This is why I am always passionate about workplace culture and values been aligned with what actually happens at the workplace. It should not just be words beautifully crafted on mission statements and corporate websites. When employees' values are aligned with the corporate culture then both parties would know what to expect from each other from the onset.

Is the name tagging necessary?

Why are people being labelled as lazy and not ambitious for choosing this path? People have been stressed and burned out and COVID was the last straw that ultimately broke the already suffering camel's back. We evolved, we understood the impact of poor mental health on ourselves and our family. I might be biased, but most importantly it brought out the challenges faced by mothers. There was a new appreciation for what mothers go through. I know mothers who couldn't go back to work because they could not find caregivers for their kids. Why should one be put in such a difficult state? To choose between earning to care for them and caring for them without any earnings.

The answer to 'is the name tagging necessary' is NO, but if we focused our attention to the root causes hopefully this game of who is right or wrong wouldn't be necessary. For progress, it would require both employers and employees to get on board to bring the negotiated change which would be to everyone's benefit.

My view

I am an introvert and I have a very good attitude to work but I have a simple approach I use in any working environment. I really appreciate bosses who are leaders, who listen, are human and who communicate clearly and effectively in a collaborative way. I love bosses who don't sink low to the excessive PHD (Pull Him/Her Down) syndrome skirmishes and are transparent. For these bosses, going above and beyond comes easily to me because they listen and there is trust to get the work done. We are able to negotiate my working schedules as a mother flexibly without fear. With bosses like these and a good working environment, I doubt quiet quitting would come to mind.

On the other hand, bosses who make working with them close to impossible and are very disrespectful of subordinates, from the start I give them the benefit of the doubt. I always assume there could be a communication barrier and the next step would be to organise a one-on-one meeting to have these barriers cleared to improve the working relationship. It doesn't have to be friendly but a polite and respectful one is good to go. If no change happens after a while, then I take the final step which is quiet quitting. I would prefer to save my voice and protect my mental health for the sake of myself and my family. I doubt my family would appreciate the frustrated left over self from work. I clock off exactly at closing time and shift all uncompleted tasks to the next day. There will be no more weekend work and I only give my opinion when asked. I also give off my maximum best during working hours. Does that make me a lazy and unambitious person?

I will finally take the last step which is quitting, when there is no desire and when meeting the minimum work requirements is entirely exhausting. To be fair, it won't be right to also cheat the employer.

Next steps

I highly doubt that ALL workers who are quiet quitting are lazy. Tagging them this way makes it worse and if it continues it would soon be time to start coining a new phrase that will be used to describe employees working below the minimum. We would have a new trend soon, that is if it hasn't already started. If employers don't listen and pay attention to employees then employees would have no choice but to silently but loudly strike to get the attention of their employers.

Quiet quitting is a symptom of the impact of the hustle and burnout culture which is the way most people get rewarded for the job they do. Quiet quitting is an opportunity for positive workplace evolution. We also aspire to improve and grow, the working environment should be no different. In my opinion, we can start with a review of these areas and make changes where required.

• Provision of flexible working conditions for mothers and caregivers (it will always be first on my list)
• Drafting less vague contracts of employment with a relook at the 'other tasks' clause and the inclusion of mental health responsibilities of both parties.
• Advertised job descriptions should include working hours and the working culture of the company and expectations of the direct report if possible
• Creation of a transparent and open environment to encourages trust and openness on the part of everyone

What else can be learned from quiet quitting to better improve the working environment?

Cheers! Opie

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Hi! I am Opie, an introverted mother of two who becomes a talkative whenever topics of mental health and navigating life comes up for discussion. I looovveee to inspire positive change through my blog posts mainly targeted at mothers and of course every other person. I am also not just a Chartered Accountant but a mentor, life coach and a quiet but daring explorer of life and places. My content is targeted at inspiring a simple lifestyle of thought, hope and love.

The OMT brand focuses on inspiration, entrepreneurship, youth and women empowerment and changing the African narrative a blog post at a time. Like OMT's Digest's tagline goes: I am simply a mom on a mission to inspire!