I've been hearing the term 'quiet quitting' a lot over the last few weeks. I'm not a Tik Tok fan so I've mainly seen it come up in my news feeds. Ultimately, it seems to be a movement towards having a greater work life balance - which doesn't sound that new, who doesn't want a good work life balance? However, another definition I saw, referred to it as being where employees are 'leaning away from going above and beyond'.
Reading a few more articles, it feels like there is a spectrum of quiet quitting. It could just mean making sure you take time for your lunch and to have an actual break instead of munching away on a sandwich whilst you proof read some work. Or leaving on time so that you do have time to go to the gym. Nothing wrong with any of that. I've long been a fan of working to live rather than the other way around although I think probably back in my twenties I was working way over what a normal person might do. But I was building my career, getting noticed, getting promoted, and loving it. As you get older, I think there is a natural shift where other things in life do take priority over the job and we learn how to be more efficient. The pandemic has aided this, particularly for working parents who maybe now don't need to commute to the office every day and that extra time allows them to do more for themselves.
At the extreme end of the spectrum, words are being thrown around - 'slacking', 'doing the bare minimum' and there is clearly a real need for context.
We are fortunate in our industry that most agencies are fast paced, sociable and friendly cultures. We work with like minded people, we enjoy working on creative campaigns for interesting clients. Many agencies have shifted their culture over the last few years and work life balance is achievable. Yes, there are always going to be deadlines and times where we may need to stay a bit later to see a campaign come to fruition but it's seldom consistently like that and agencies have resourced themselves fully to ensure that their staff are happy and not over-worked. Good staff are hard to find and agencies have realised that it is much easier to keep a hold of good staff by treating them nicely and ensuring that their physical and mental health are priorities.
I think if any of us worked alongside a 'quiet quitter' we'd suss them out pretty quickly and as a team, it would probably be quite difficult to work with someone who wasn't pulling their weight. Agencies want their teams to be engaged, enthusiastic and ideas led rather than clock watching. A quiet quitter will be noticed for all the wrong reasons in a team and they won't be first in line for a pay rise or promotion. Maybe they're not bothered about that but it feels like self-sabotage.
I wonder if 'quiet quitting' will become a pejorative. Work life balance is very acceptable as a phrase and as something that is actually achievable. But quiet quitting does imply doing the absolute minimum - I think you're probably in the wrong job if that's what you're doing and most employers who I work with would have serious concerns about anyone who habitually made a point of doing that.
We spend a lot of our lives working (we're going to be spending more of it working!) and we only get one shot at life. We owe it to ourselves to find a job that we truly love doing where it's possible to have a good work life balance. I'd hope that most of us take pride in doing our jobs well and sometimes where 'over and above' is called for, gives us a buzz. It is achievable. Perhaps if you're concerned you're becoming a quiet quitter or if you are heading for burnout because your employer consistently has you doing ridiculous hours, the jobs market is so busy that there are plenty of other jobs out there that might suit you better. Give me a call!