With so much talk on “Quiet Quitting” lately, I am keen to look at ways to help organisations mitigate the risk of quiet quitting rather than accept it or cope with it.  

The latest Gallup State of the Global Workplace Report (2023) tells us that for Australia, we have the highest regional percentage of employees who say now is a good time to find a job.  I love the confidence in this finding if you are on the market looking for a role, but it is not great if you are an employer already struggling to find talent, and now also struggling to retain those you have.  We also have the second highest regional percentage of daily stress.  These are ripe conditions for quiet and loud quitting.   

Quiet quitting is defined as those that are not engaged.  They are there in the physical or virtual form, turning up doing their thing, but they are not really with you.  Loud quitting is defined as those that are actively disengaged.  They will let you know that they are not happy and that they are on their way out.  Personally, as a leader, I prefer loud quitters over quiet ones.  However, the leader saying, hey let’s be open and honest is not necessarily going to encourage quiet quitters (and there are lots of them -67% of those surveyed in the Gallup State of the Global Workplace Report 2023 are not engaged).    

As a leader, what can you do?

How about we focus on creating great high-performing teams, that don’t want to quietly quit, but rather loudly stay? 

By staying loudly, I mean high engagement, high performance, and high trust. 

Here are 6 areas of focus to create a team that is highly engaged, high performing and has a high level of trust. 

1. Recruit the best person for the role

This one is obvious.  It takes time, but a lack of effort at this stage will create pain later. 

Think about the roles you are recruiting.  What does the team need?  Ensure you are considering technical skills, experience and importantly all forms of diversity, particularly cognitive diversity; different points of view and different ways of thinking that will help your team grow collectively and individually.  Even if it takes longer, wait for the right candidate.  Don’t settle.  You will thank me in the long term.

2. Design your team structure and roles well

Your team structure and the roles need to be well thought out.  What is the purpose of the team and the roles in the team?  What are the capabilities you require in the team?   Roles need to have clear accountabilities and measures for success.  If they don’t you may be inadvertently setting up your team members for confusion, frustration, and tension with other team members, which all impact trust too.  Role clarity provides boundaries for a team member to work within and helps them understand how their individual role contributes to other roles and the broader team goals. 

3. Invest in team development

A good time to start is right at the beginning of the team’s formation, or when the team is going through a change.  Using a diagnostic like the Clarity 4D or the Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument provides individual team members with greater insights about their communication style and behaviour.  These tools also provide a team profile so collectively the team can think about the mix of styles and preferences in the team and how this will either help or hinder team goals.   Teams can also focus on topics that are meaningful for the team such as managing change, resilience, communication and trust.   Some time to focus on setting or revisiting the team strategy is also a good investment of time for any team.

4. Create high trust in the team

“Trust is the glue of life…  It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships” (Stephen R Covey)

Trust is the key principle for the basis of any relationship.  So many other factors that are necessary for a high performing team stem from trust.  Communication, accountability, achievement of results and conflict are all necessary components of a high performing team. Without trust, the team’s ability to achieve is severely impacted.

What does trust look like in a high performing team?

• Team members are open to giving and receiving genuine feedback from colleagues
• Vulnerability and authenticity are encouraged and displayed
• There is a high level of commitment to achieving goals
• Individuals have a high degree of accountability at an individual and team level
• Conflict or expressing diverse views respectfully and with a pure intention is encouraged because it is understood that this brings about better results for the overall team

5. Don’t be complacent about team culture

Culture is energy.  It can change its form depending on multiple factors such as who is in the team.  At the start, there is a sense of positivity, excitement, and growth and therefore the perception is that the culture is healthy.  However, if complacency creeps in and attention and focus turns only to operational achievement, the culture of the team will suffer, and eventually so will results.  To prosper, culture needs constant care and attention.  This involves regular pulse checks on the culture.  Ditch the annual engagement survey that most people loathe.  Regular pulse checks will give you real-time feedback on how people are experiencing work and what you can all do as a team to maintain or improve the culture.

6. Ensure team goals and individual goals are aligned

I like to call this the goal cascade process.  When an individual’s goals are aligned with the overarching organisational goals, they can see how they contribute to the broader team.  This alignment can increase an individual’s sense of purpose as they know that they are part of something bigger, they belong, and they are needed.  As humans, we love this feeling. So be transparent about the organisational goals and help individual team members find the alignment between the organisational goals and their goals.  A goal cascade exercise can help achieve this.

High performing teams can be created with careful attention to who you have on the team, having the right structure and roles, clarity of purpose, a shared understanding of that purpose, goal alignment, high trust and a consistent focus on the culture.   

Focusing on the positive rather than the negative always feel better.  So as a leader, if you are looking at ways to positively impact loud staying, start with engagement, performance and trust. 

Placing your energy here will mitigate the risks associated with “Quiet Quitting” for your team and your business.

Rita Cincotta coaches, facilitates and speaks on individual and team performance, leadership development and ways of working. She works with organisations to develop human centred solutions that help people and businesses to thrive.