Quiet Quitting or Asking to Be Fired?
Oct 19, 2022
By now, you’ve heard about quiet quitting. You might even fear you’ve got some quiet quitters!
Let’s break it down: quiet quitters are employees who don’t do anything beyond their initial job responsibilities. These employees show up every day but work defined hours and only complete what they feel is enough to get by in the course of their workday.
Sometimes quiet quitting can stem from misinterpreted job roles and responsibilities– but some employees may only complete the tasks assigned to them from the beginning of their position, regardless.
It's not a matter of losing employees, but a matter of losing money because of lackluster employees.
So, how can you assess if you have any quiet quitters? Quiet quitting can be displayed in many ways…
- Employees doing the bare minimum
- Lack of passion
- Absence of ambition
- Employees showing up to work only for the paycheck
Quiet quitting is not a NEW thing. Quiet quitters have always existed, we’ve just now put a name on them. Think of it as an umbrella term for employees who do any of the things listed above.
While quiet quitting is a very real problem, there are a few ways to prevent it from occurring within YOUR organization. The bottom line is simple: the way your employees work and thrive in your organization starts with YOU!
It’s up to you to find the right people from the beginning and create an environment that encourages those people to stay engaged and have passion about their position with your company.
We’ll share a few tips to assist you in avoiding any past, present, or future employee trends like quiet quitting.
Quiet Quitters Are Mis-hires
Correctly hiring employees is a difficult task to accomplish, especially for small business owners. Mis-hires happen because many businesses don’t dedicate the time to create solid, consistent, and BETTER hiring processes that can yield the best results. And bringing those 1, 2, and 3-star employees into your organization is inviting quiet quitters in the door!
You’ve got a lot on your mind already– it’s tough to dedicate extra time to your hiring!
But it’s a necessary sacrifice if you want to avoid those quiet quitters.
Don’t groan, we’re getting math involved! Statistically speaking, only one out of every seven new hires will be a 5-Star Employee!
5-Star Employees seek jobs that BEST suit their skillset and mindset.
If mis-hires are quiet quitters, then the key to avoiding quiet quitters is to HIRE BETTER.
When we say hire better, we mean create and implement your very own OBJECTIVE hiring process. Most often, business owners hire subjectively– they ignore red flags and make exceptions for candidates to get the process over with and fill the empty roles in their organizations.
Rushing this process and ignoring any red flags displayed by candidates will result in mis-hires… those same mis-hires who become quiet quitters.
So, what does an objective hiring system look like?
Being objective means taking your gut feeling out of the equation and creating a system that provides unbiased and factual data, data that’s collected when you incorporate a series of steps into your recruitment process.
These steps can include multiple interviews (screening interviews, video interviews, deep dive interviews etc.), assessments, shadow days, and anything else that can prove how candidates will fit within your organization.
Subjective hiring practices typically entail minimal email or phone dialogue, include only one main interview and LOTS of paperwork. When there’s an absence of a defined, objective hiring system, it’s easy to get caught up in the process of hiring candidates. Instead focus on who the candidate really is and how well they will fit in your organization.
We all make mistakes, but the key is to LEARN from your mis-hires and fix any holes in your recruitment/hiring process allowing these average, ho-hum employees to sneak through your hiring process and in the front door.
Creating and sticking with an objective hiring process, using powerful assets like our 5-Star Employee Rating System to make an informed, objective decision will stop quiet quitting in its tracks!
Let’s look at two of the most frequent ways businesses mis-hire employees…
Problem #1: Misalignment with Core Values
Misalignment is a major factor in hiring 1, 2, or 3-star employees who are on the fast-track to become quiet quitters. There are several areas for misalignment, but the most important is misalignment with core values.
Your core values aren’t just aspirational values or company values– they’re what separates your business from the competition. They’re your organization’s secret sauce. They’re how you clone yourself! Core values should be upfront and center in your candidate evaluation process. This is how you find people who are the perfect fit!
And yes, people who are the ‘perfect fit’ are not a myth! It’s all about attracting them with clarifying statements about each core value. 5-Star Employees will embrace your core values if it aligns with their core values - that is what makes these employees the "perfect fit"!
Hiring employees who do not align with your core values is a fast track to giving those quiet quitters a job. If the people you bring onto your team don’t care about the same things as you and the rest of your team, if they don’t share the same MINDSET… they’ll more than likely take the quiet quitting or quietly asking to be fired road. What a waste of your time, resources, and money!
Problem #2: UNICORN HIRE
Many hiring mistakes occur due to a lack of structure in the hiring process. Occasionally businesses will merge roles together to cover more bases when hiring. Killing two birds with one stone seems to be a great solution to a lack of 5-Star Employees, but remember a 5-Star Employee won’t be 5-Stars in everything!
Hiring employees who can accomplish an array of different tasks seems like a great idea, but this needs to be looked at objectively. It’s very rare people have the same drive and passion for all the roles within an organization. 5-Star Employees are defined as employees who fit in their role because they have the correct skillset and mindset to work in your organization.
Instead of getting lost on an impossible quest to find that fabled unicorn hire who can do everything, you need to clarify what you’re looking for in your job postings. The core values cover this a bit, but being transparent and straight-forward about the details of a role (like tasks to be accomplished, disqualifiers, job requirements, etc.) will help you ATTRACT the 5-Star Employees and REPEL the 1, 2, and 3-star candidates you may have settled for in the past.
BOTTOM LINE: 5-Star Employees Are NOT Quiet Quitters!
When you take the time to attract and hire 5-Star Employees, you’re setting yourself up for success in many ways– and one thing you’re doing is avoiding quiet quitters!
Quiet quitting is just another way those 1, 2, and 3-star employees ask to be fired… and 5-Star Employees are NOT quiet quitters!
True 5-Star Employees have no desire to become quiet quitters. The 5-Star people you find are going to align with your core values, know what they’re getting into from the specifics listed in your job posting, and above all they’ll have the passion quiet quitters and 1, 2, and 3-star employees lack.
Going ALL IN on your business, your team, and your recruitment, hiring, and retention strategies will help you find the right people and keep them content in your organization.
Those 5-Star Employees won’t take advantage of you because they’re very similar to you! They believe in your vision, love what they do, and care about refining their work to drive your organization to further success.
Instead of quietly quitting, they’ll be ALL IN on you.
