Quiet quitting, the great resignation: what does it all mean for you?

Whether you call it the great resignation or quiet quitting it’s really all the same thing.  It’s our collective response to what’s been an unprecedented time in our history.  The impact of the last 3 years has taken its toll, life has changed forever and things have happened that we can’t change.  We’re fatigued from the constant uncertainty and our work has changed in a way that not all of us have been able to adjust to.

When we go through such monumental times it can’t not have an impact.  On the way we think, feel and what we expect of life.  It’s big change like this that often brings new perspectives.

So it makes sense we’re thinking about making the most out of life, working less and living more, working for a place we feel valued with people with whom we align.

But shouldn’t this have always been the case?  Maybe the experience of the pandemic has just allowed us to see this from a fresh perspective?

It carries more urgency now and the world has reconnected on a different level, so much division and threat it seems more paramount to take action and make a difference.  It’s not just at work either, we’re seeing discontent across the board.  Politically in NZ, strikes in the UK from the rubbish collectors, train drivers, posties and more.  Protests from some of the ‘freest’ people in our country fighting over their ‘freedom’.  Uprising and civil unrest.  Economic fears and cost of living instability.

We’re also at the end of our coping line, many of us no longer tolerant to the impasses living out of alignment has brought about and the impact reading the news and existing in society generally has on us these days.

What it boils down to is that we’re feeling a little burned out and disengaged and that’s probably a normal response to this ‘new normal’.  What we’re seeing is a collective response to this whether that’s in our jobs or the wider community as we look for things/people to blame. 

Lockdown was the governments fault, I’m stressed because of my job, I’m unhappy because my partner doesn’t care enough, I’m tired because everyone expects too much of me.  Of course some of this may be true, particularly if cost of living is impacting on you, long covid health issues, uncertainty around the future and job security.  All normal responses to change and our human conditioning around fear.

In my experience quiet quitting has always been there just known by another name and not talked about due to its quiet nature.  Presenteeism, dis engagement, discontentment.  We’ve all been in a job or relationship where we’ve felt like checking out for a while!  Then of course if we do check out it becomes the great resignation and the global pandemic has certainly been a conduit for that.  It’s like the migrations of big herds on the plains of Africa.  When the seasons turn and the environment is no longer conducive to life we move on.  That’s what we’re seeing now.

What does it mean for you?  As an individual take stock, know yourself and what you want, how does your one precious life want to be lived and what’s changed for you over the last couple of years, what needs to be different?  What have you learned?  What do you want?

And for our organisations: now more than ever it’s about what matters and making sure you provide an environment that attracts the high performing herds.  Navigating a post pandemic hybrid era in a way that fosters all the things we value.  The way we communicate, how we put our people first, diversity of thought, inclusion in our actions and the heart of that will always be the quality and capability of the leaders that create culture.

Ensuring people can be their best without burning them out in the process, that work is part of life but enables us to enjoy life outside of the office too.  That we have the autonomy and trust to perform at our peak and are supported and challenged in a way that helps us grow and are rewarded for that effort.

Want to support your team through these tough times? Learn to manage change and uncertainty and go from burnout to brilliance? Check out my in house workshops and get in touch to book.