How to turn quiet quitting into loud ambition

In a recent report, Bayzat revealed that 56 percent of UAE-based employees expect to change jobs within the next 12 months. They will be looking for employers that prioritise the employee experience. Competing has become just as much about EX as it is about CX.

However, not all dissatisfied employees will leave. Some will stay. But this is not good news, for a trend is emerging that contributes just as much to the innovation drain as actual quitting does — a trend known as “quiet quitting”, where disgruntled employees stick to the word and letter of their contracts, never going further. Such employees cannot be relied upon to kick productivity up a notch. And they are certainly never going to be a source of innovation.

This apparently rampant spread of apathy and disengagement does not stem from an inherent lack of ambition and purpose. It should be clear what is behind quiet quitting — the desire for work-life balance and an equitable work environment. So, if employers want to get back the spark of office camaraderie that used to make their brand attractive, they must strive for a world class employee experience.

In the digital age, the first consideration must be how technology can help to improve information flow and make workdays easier. If the everyday tools with which an employee is equipped are up to par, then the need to stay late or perform above and beyond the call of duty is reduced. Progressive, culture-challenging HR policies should be integrated with digital performance-management platforms to counter quiet quitting. Here are three ways in which digital platforms help do this.

1. Employees are kept accountable

Workforces around the world are increasingly made up of millennials and other digital-native generations. In 2020, PwC’s strategy& reported that 50 percent of the UAE population is aged between 15 and 35. Today, almost all that group is part of the workforce and hence, makes up its majority. Digital natives are famously in favour of self-service digitisation and transparency in the workplace, and firmly against micromanagement.

Each of these things are routinely delivered by digital performance-management platforms, and yet, when polled by Bayzat, 72 percent of UAE businesses said they did not have any formal performance-management process in place, or they had yet to digitise it.

Digital performance-management platforms ensure that past reviews are never lost, which means supervisors can easily separate the high achievers from the quiet quitters, who can no longer slip under the radar. This is important for two reasons.

First, it means that remedial steps can be taken to hold quiet quitters accountable and steer their behaviours in ways that benefit both parties. But second, it ensures that those performing at a higher level are recognised. If they are not, managers run the risk of creating more quiet quitters.

2. Employees are kept engaged

Because digital platforms can deliver real-time views, employee assessments can be quicker and easier, and held more often. Regular feedback is one of the best ways to keep engagement levels up among digital-native employees who expect to be left to deliver without being micromanaged.

Everybody involved has a single, trusted view of the performance data, leading to more productive discussions on the way forward. This benefit of digital platforms is also important for identifying false positives in quiet quitting because sometimes an employee’s poor performance can be due to miscommunication regarding expectations and priorities.

Digital tools are an opportunity to apply the much-vaunted SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) model of goal setting and performance management, and to eliminate any possible communication gaps that may persist.

It is easier to see the source of a performance issue and take a collaborative approach to its amendment when the truth is presented from a single source of data that everyone accepts. This eliminates mismanagement, micro-management, distrust, and communication impasses between manager and employee.

3. Employees are kept motivated

Lack of career progression can often be a reason for quiet quitting. Why would you go outside the confines of your contract if there is perceived to be little or no reward for doing so? Because of the objective, precise, accurate, and timely nature of digital performance-management, the employee remains motivated because their line managers can be presented with a logical line between the worker’s day-to-day activity and a positive business outcome.

An objective rendering of performance, reviewed regularly, will ensure that employees progress when they are ready and worthy. If they do not, this injustice will also be a matter of record, which gives employees the confidence to be productive and innovative, even when working from home. They will also be more likely to implement a digital platform’s recommendations as they are likely to see such steps as the means towards career progression.

‘Loud ambition’

Digital platforms measure output, not input, which means they are a boon to all stakeholders. If we are to eliminate quiet quitting that means motivating employees to be engaged and give their best. Far from quiet, these performances are public, sharing newfound best practices, productivity tips and innovative ideas. Let’s call this “loud ambition”.

Every employer in the region wants an edge in its competition for talent. Digital performance platforms create culture change — more compassion, more frequent evaluation, more control given to the employee, more reassurance given to the employer, less intimidation, and better motivation. Put another way, empathy trumps policy. And employers find that not only have they managed to attract the best talent; they have found a way to keep it and motivate it. Welcome to the new “loud ambition” culture.