It’s a turbulent time at the moment and it feels like we’ve gone from living in one unprecedented time to another unprecedented time. A pandemic, a war, a climate crisis, striking across major industries, a cost of living crisis and energy bills skyrocketing to the point that many people are going to have to choose between eating and heating this winter. It’s hard not to live through all that without feeling powerless.
We are continually being hit with crisis after crisis that we have no control over, and it has created a worldwide ennui; people are feeling beaten down, unappreciated and taken advantage of by people in power.
The result? Workers are clinging onto the one thing that they can control – their working life. After years of restrictions following COVID guidelines, people are desperate to have autonomy once again, and with The Great Resignation, striking and now this most recent Quiet Quitting trend, it’s clear to see that this power struggle is far from over.
Gallup’s global workplace report for 2022 showed that only 9% of workers in the UK were engaged or enthusiastic about their work, ranking 33rd out of 38 European countries. The NHS staff survey, conducted in the autumn of 2021, showed that morale had fallen from 6.1 out of 10 to 5.8, and staff engagement had dropped from 7.0 to 6.8.
Maria Kordowicz, an associate professor in organisational behaviour at the University of Nottingham and director of its centre for interprofessional education and learning, said the rise in quiet quitting is linked to a noticeable fall in job satisfaction:
“Since the pandemic, people’s relationship with work has been studied in many ways, and the literature typically, across the professions, would argue that, yes, people’s way of relating to their work has changed”.
What is Quiet Quitting?
According to the BBC Quiet Quitting means ‘doing only what your job demands and nothing more. Quitting doing anything extra. You still show up for work, but stay strictly within the boundaries of your job requirements. So no more helping out with additional tasks or checking emails outside work hours.
Since the pandemic, an increasing number of young workers have grown tired of not getting the recognition and compensation for putting in extra hours. They’re saying no to burnout, and instead focusing on work-life balance. The movement is centred around self-preservation and “acting your wage”.’
While aspects of this sound great in theory, for example here at The Bot Platform we strongly believe in creating a work/life balance that is suited to employees’ individual needs. The culture of working after hours and putting the rest of your life on hold for the glimmer of a promotion is incredibly unhealthy, and a sure way to create a toxic work environment. It shouldn’t be an act of rebellion to only work the hours you’re paid for and the job you’re paid to do, there is a systemic issue if simply following your contract is a symbol of poor working.
The Quiet Quitting trend boils down to a lack of recognition; many of the stories being shared are of workers going above-and-beyond in their roles and when they ask for rightful compensation they are denied. This automatically makes staff feel undervalued and unappreciated, hence then going into Quiet Quitting mode, which immediately removes any of the passion and enjoyment employees had for their work.
There needs to be a better understanding of the detrimental effects the last few years have had on the wellbeing of employees, and as an employer you are in the unique position of becoming a beacon that employees turn to, instead of running from in times of crisis.
The Conference Board produced a study on workplace engagement and it found that quiet quitting cost US businesses $450 to $500 billion annually, and could be up to $1.5 trillion worldwide, and with 79% of employees reporting they would stop quiet quitting if given more recognition, it is imperative that businesses find a way to improve their recognition tactics.
How can you improve staff wellbeing and avoid burnout?
A lot of wellbeing and burnout issues are a direct result of company culture – do you have a company that celebrates instead of shaming time-off? If your CEO never takes a break from the office, employees feel like they can’t either; higher-ups need to ensure that they lead by example and encourage flexible working and vacations.
Do you have company benefits that could be incredibly helpful, especially during the cost of living crisis, i.e discounts at supermarkets, childcare vouchers etc? These are fantastic benefits that could have a big impact on your employees whilst also making them feel appreciated; but they are of no use if staff don’t know they exist – do you consistently remind employees of the ways that you can help save them money with the use of these company perks and partnerships?
What about wellbeing touch-points? How often are you checking in with employees just to check that they are happy? Do they feel comfortable raising issues or saying they are struggling? It is imperative to create an environment where all employees feel valued and listened to, and The Bot Platform is the perfect tool for that.
How can we help?
There are many ways that The Bot Platform can support you in evading a ‘Quiet Quitting’ situation and avoiding employee burn-out.
Ensuring staff feel valued
Using our platform to build your own Employee Recognition Program helps companies reiterate their core company values while also providing a platform for staff to nominate their colleagues for employee of the month or other similar work recognition programs.
Recognition bots are a great tool because they are available and accessible to everyone 24/7 and 365 days of a year, they reward all staff – office and frontline.
Recognition in Action - Globe Telecom
With over 8000 frontline staff and desk based workers connected through Workplace, Globe Telecom built bespoke technology tools that help staff stay informed, engaged and happy at work. One of the first digital assistants they built using The Bot Platform was a recognition program called Wanda.
WANDA
Wanda allows staff to easily nominate their colleagues who’ve gone above and beyond and is available to use directly within Workplace Chat meaning staff don’t need to download or use a 3rd party application to recognize their peers. As a result of these improvements, staff nominations increased by 900% year on year.
As well as helping with ongoing recognition, WANDA was also used to celebrate Globe Telecom’s anniversary on the 17th September. For their 917 day, special eCards were created for staff to send to each other and broadcasts were sent out recognising teams that
had gone above and beyond. These anniversary Thank You’s were sent by over 1,000 people in just 2 days.
Want to find out more? Click here.
Promoting Work-Life Balance
Why not create a Work-Life Balance Bot to help avoid company burn-out and make employees feel comfortable with finishing on time, taking vacations and using their lunch break?
The bot could message all employees twice-daily reminding them to take a lunch break and even alerting them that it is 5pm and it’s time to finish for the day, whilst even doing a quick touch-point survey asking them to rate their day out of 5; people who are constantly marking their days at the lower end of the scale could be identified as needing a wellbeing check-in, therefore resolving any issues quickly and efficiently.
The Balance Bot could also be used to nudge employees to take their holiday leave – broadcasts could be sent to employees who haven’t taken any leave with messages encouraging the benefits of time away from the workplace and just generally sharing holiday stories from fellow employees, therefore creating a culture where time away from work is something to be celebrated, not avoided.
Giving employees a voice
A recent report on workplace empathy reveals that employees are nearly unanimous in agreeing on the importance of empathy—yet 92% feel empathy remains undervalued. Moreover, while 92% of CEOs feel their organisation is empathetic, only 50% of their employees say their CEO is empathetic.
Get a fast, accurate understanding of the mood of your workplace with an Employee Voice Bot. This will give you the ability to quickly launch, manage and analyse company-wide surveys. Using The Bot Platform you can easily get a pulse on company culture, find out if staff feel valued, how they rate their workload, whether staff feel supported by management and more.
By quickly launching, managing and analysing company-wide surveys, you can ensure that your employees are happy, nipping any Quiet Quitting issues in the bud at the very early stages.
Promoting company benefits and perks
We recently launched our Perks Portal template that allows users to easily explore, search and find out more about the benefits available to them through work.
Using the Perks Portal, you can make information about benefits super accessible and understandable.
The bot also allows you to:
- Easily compile all your benefits into one hub
- Organise benefits into categories through carousels
- Create an intelligent bot by setting up keywords that lead users to particular benefits
- Track what benefits are most popular with your employees
You can even send out broadcasts that remind employees to take full advantage of their perks. These can be scheduled at any time – monthly, bi-yearly, or even at the end of the year when we might all need a little extra help with a festive bargain. Broadcasts can also be used for benefits that are expiring, so people can make full use of them before they’re gone. Find out more about our Perks Portal here.
During this time of economic uncertainty, the pounds and pennies that can be saved through your benefits package are more valuable than ever, so by ensuring that employees are constantly aware of what is available to them helps financially, whilst also making them feel like a recognised and valued team member.
Get in touch today if you would like to build something amazing with The Bot Platform that helps your employees feel valued, recognised and listened to.
