Sitting on the other side of a Zoom call was my top performer. I was sure she’d quit in the next few months. Maybe she wouldn’t leave the company, but she would quit all the same. In her one-on-one, she shared how frustrated she was with our department culture. It seemed to her that everyone was slacking. She complained about lack of communication and projects that were inconsistent with values. People felt pulled in different directions. Some "other people" had become disengaged. She even joked that she’d be better off if she just stopped caring, too. She ended by trailing off with, "I mean, where am I even going? I’m capped out in my role, and no one else is invested like I am."
Did she know she was quiet quitting?
I’m not sure she saw herself sliding down that slippery slope in that venting session, but I did. If she was comfortable joking to her boss that she should stop caring, she probably already had. I needed to act fast. But what could I do? I couldn’t have her step back her efforts in her daily work. There was no way to change culture or senior leadership’s communication or prove her efforts would lead to future opportunities in enough time to make an impact. To be honest, I didn’t know if I could make those changes. Would any attempts end up being lip service that proved her point?
We met again the next week. I shared a project idea she could work on if her daily tasks were caught up. The project would showcase her talents and bring the values and initiatives into alignment for the ‘others’ who were struggling. I also shared the ways a project like this translated into skills she’d need for a promotion.
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Three things I did to drive results while increasing engagement
- Clarified what success looks like - Every employee needs a clear picture of what makes them successful in their role and what can help them improve. They are empowered to grow and excel in their role when they fully understand it. A matrix that outlines critical skills by position can significantly help leaders identify, prioritize and communicate wins and provide specific feedback on areas of opportunity.
- Encouraged raising the bar - No one likes the idea of being average. Understanding success in daily tasks naturally highlights what going above and beyond looks like. I linked how quality work on my employee's part would enhance her skills for future leadership roles, and her eyes lit up. Pro tip: I used career development as an incentive because she expressed frustration with her career plan. The key is to focus on the employee's goals and link them to results. If she was frustrated with work/life balance, I likely would have tied the results quickly to her shutting her laptop earlier in the day.
- Consistently linked effort, results and impact on the big picture - Throughout her project, and consistently in huddles thereafter, I drew straight line examples from the effort to the desired business results, to impacts on personal goals, to the company vision. I used a proven communication framework that empowered each member of the team to connect their success to the company success.
Recreate these results with your team
- Focus on their motivators, goals and the link to company mission - The most foundational aspect of success in driving results without quiet quitting is understanding what drives your team and what drives company results. If you don't understand those two aspects, the best communication framework in the world won't support your drive for achievement on the team. How do you do this? Get curious in your next one-on-one. What do they want to get out of work? Is this a steppingstone? If so, to what dream job? If you had a magic wand, what specifically would they want you to fix and why?
- Follow through on commitments and communicate with authenticity - This one is simple: Don't make promises you can't keep. Meet or exceed the commitments you do make. Overcommunicate on what you're working on, why and how it will affect them. Explaining that you can't promise something they want, like a promotion, raise or flexible schedule, builds your credibility. Telling them you'll update them on where you are in the process, and then doing it, builds trust. When your team trusts you to work with them and for them to achieve both their goals and those of the company, they want to do the same.
See also: Top Employee Incentive Trends for 2024
Quiet quitting isn’t inevitable when you drive results
When you tie your team members’ motivators to company initiatives, communicate your commitments and follow through with what you say, you lead teams who want to achieve more. Your best results as a leader will come from your ability to engage every employees on your team with their results. When this type of engagement is your number one priority as a leader, your team produces at a higher level and they only want to make an even bigger impact in the organization.
What's standing in your way? I asked one client, only to learn she couldn’t make the connection of employee motivators to company vision. Once we corrected that, she had a team that exceeded metrics and were looking for new tasks and projects to develop more skills. Focusing on their goals and how they could tie to the company goals helped her remove roadblocks that were frustrating employees and impeding results.
