“For leaders and managers, loud quitting can signal major risks within an organization that are important not to ignore. Conversely, quiet quitters are often your greatest opportunity for growth and change. They are waiting for a leader or a manager to have a conversation with them, encourage them, inspire them.”

~ 2023 Gallup State of the Global Workforce Survey

We are working with a company on the back end of cleaning up an incredible mess. Unknown to them, two key employees seem to have “quiet quit” many months before they actually left. Like a college student going through the motions for an entire semester, fooling everyone but themselves, the report card at the end of the term was a sobering reality to those who didn’t know.

Gallup surveys millions around the globe working for organizations of every size. It is the most expansive and highly regarded of all the surveys on the “state of employment” at any given time. This annual survey is their most extensive and most widely known. They break employees into three broad categories:

Thriving at work: These employees find their work meaningful and feel connected to the team and their organization. They feel proud of the work they do and take ownership of their performance, going the extra mile for teammates and customers.
Quiet quitting: These employees are filling a seat and watching
the clock. They put in the minimum effort required, and they are psychologically disconnected from their employer. Although they are minimally productive, they are more likely to be stressed and burnt out than engaged workers because they feel lost and disconnected from their workplace.
Loud quitting: These employees take actions that directly harm the organization, undercutting its goals and opposing its leaders. At some point along the way, the trust between employee and employer was severely broken. Or the employee has been woefully mismatched to a role, causing constant crises.

First, the good news. The percentage of those thriving at work (engaged employees) hit an all-time high this year at 23%. Well done on growing that number, employers! This is obviously our preference for where many of our employees would land. Ironically, the place we would next prefer they land is “loud quitting”. At that point, it is obvious to them and the leadership that they need to find an employer better suited for this 18% (actively disengaged) portion of our workforce.

Some of you have likely already done the math, but that means that the remaining 59% of our workforce is “quiet quitting”. And this is the worst possible place for our employees to classify! They still seem to be showing up for class and doing the work, but by the time that report card comes, it is too late and there has already been a tremendous loss of time and money. That is how Gallup identified almost two-thirds of this disengaged portion of our workforce!

Lack of engagement has never been more costly. And while there are dozens of things you could focus on to drive engagement, building trust with your managers and investing in their growth is the single most significant thing you can do. Gallup states, “The manager is the linchpin of engagement. Seventy percent of team engagement is attributable to the manager.”

Our particular worldview says that we are responsible for caring well for everyone under our leadership, but it is also excellent business to do so and likely the only antidote to this significant problem.

Consider

What percentage of your employees do these three categories represent?
Are you aware of the hidden costs that might be lurking behind all that silent disengagement?
How much time, effort, and money are you spending to build trust and engagement with your key leaders?