Quiet Quitting: 5 Work Related Reasons to Do Less
There are many reasons why an employee might feel the need to slow their pace, or stop going above and beyond for in their position. From the worker standpoint all of these make perfect sense, while from a management standpoint it looks like people “don't want to work;” even though, it's all just bad leadership. Here are a few work related reasons to put down all the extra duties, and stick to what’s in front of you to handle the situations.
1. A large, specific, project is assigned to you: A good leader would have a back-up ready for someone that they know is about to be assigned a large portion or a project. Unfortunately, some managers do not prepare properly, and try to double or triple a worker's load. This is an instance where taking on the added duties is more important than making sure your basic job is being done. If it isn't, that's not on you. Make sure the project manager understands the situation and knows that your department is in need of assistance. There's a project charter in place to help with these situations.
2. You made a large part of a project more efficient, and the boss took credit for your work: No one should have their work stolen, but it does happen. Most of the time if the oversight is made in presentation, it's just a moment of forgetfulness, and will be rectified in the final documentation. If the end of the project comes around and there's still no credit to be found, next time stick to the scope and stick them with the bill. Your process won't be replicable by the manager again, but you’ll be able to have a repeat performance when you're on the next team.
3. Asking for a growth plan is frowned upon: Everyone wants to know how to improve! Showing employees better ways to do things and giving them the freedom to come up with new procedures themselves has been shown to do wonder for business' productivity and adaptation to future markets. That being said, if a manager is not able to show a clear path of improvement to an employee, then there may be no path at all. Many companies “let attrition take care of” employee issues. If there's no up, do only what is needed for the position, and find an out.
4. There is no bonus structure in place to reward beating production goals: This is one of the biggest ones. Why not give an employee more for making sure the company is able to produce more? With proper quality control production value easily stays the same while volume goes up. A worker should be rewarded when they are able to not only make a process more efficient, but also when they can keep quality standards high enough to increase production capability. In either instance not doing so is an insult to their skill and dedication.
5. Management has not noticed, or appreciated the extra effort: Many times there is one or two people in a department or company that keep everything running smoothly. They take on extra random projects, fix little things around the office, take on committee assignments, put up decorations, and generally arrange all of the little fun things a company does. They keep things moving. These are often thankless jobs in general with management counting on the “oohs” and “ahhs” of the other employees to keep motivation up. Unfortunately not everyone likes holidays and someone generally has something nasty to say on the best of occasions, greatly lessening the motivation of everyone involved. Due to this there projects should be recognized and supported by management as many of them expand the workday for the employees involved. If management takes the people doing it for granted, and do not show support, then those people should begin refusing the extra projects.
It is important to note here that research shows that women, especially minority women, take up many of the “extra roles” in an office. Since a woman's place in the business world is already affected by so many outside forces it is important to note the extra emotional energy most women are expected to expend in an office setting on an everyday basis, no matter their level in a company, corporation, or non-profit.
