After buzzwords such as ‘quiet quitting’ and ‘lying flat’ during the Covid-19 period, now comes a new term for employee leaving – ‘conscious quitting’.
A survey of 4,000 workers across the US and the UK found that a major chunk of workers are quitting or are ready to quit jobs where their values do not align with those of their employers.
In addition to taking care of their financial needs and personal well-being, professionals want to work for companies that are acting to tackle big challenges like climate change and economic inequalities, according to the Net Positive Employee Barometer, a report commissioned by Paul Polman, the former CEO of Unilever.
Nearly half the employees – 51 percent in the US and 45 percent in the UK – interviewed for the research said they would consider leaving an employer whose values are not a match for theirs.
In both countries, 33 percent of workers said they have already quit jobs for this reason.
Many are even taking pay cuts to join more conscious companies, the report said.
“All of these numbers are even higher for Millennials and Gen Z,” the report said, adding that “we’re entering an era of conscious quitting.”
Younger employees are fearful of the future and are asking themselves urgent questions, like what they are doing with the precious time they have, the report said.
“They want to give their time and skills to companies that have a positive impact on our planet and societies, and which offer hope,” the research said.
“Many can see that their employers are trying to be “less bad”, but they can also see it’s still not enough,” it said.
Many of the surveyed employees also expressed distrust in their bosses, believing they are only motivated by personal profit and do not care about crucial societal issues.
How employers can help
The study suggested that business leaders focus on three chief areas — setting targets that the world needs, being better at communicating and empowering their employees.
Companies need to be ambitious enough to set the targets that are urgently required, not the ones that are easy to deliver. Second, communication with employees should be open, meaningful and a two-way process, it said.
“This is the only way to give employees confidence that their company is taking the actions it should,” the report pointed out.
The study also said leaders should empower their staff to have greater roles in the organisation’s initiatives.
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