As many companies call back employees for full-time work in the office, a shift in workplace dynamics is occurring—with two opposing forces shaping the future of workplace culture.
On one side of the equation are the “quiet quitters,” who are disengaging from work without leaving their jobs. This group of employees is doing the bare minimum to meet expectations. Opposing the “quiet quitters” are the “loud leaders,” who are focusing their efforts on overcompensating for their opposition’s disengagement by dominating conversations, micromanaging, and overloading communication channels. When these two come together in the office, they create a workplace culture that feels more like a warzone than the collaborative environment companies were hoping for.
Quiet Quitters Step Back
The quiet quitters gained attention as employees vocalized issues with burnout and disconnection, leading to pushback against the roles and companies they served. According to a survey from the WorkHuman IQ International Survey Report, there has been a dramatic shift in employee sentiment, which has become so widespread that this group of employees has received various nicknames, including Quiet Quitting, the Big Quit, the Great Resignation, and the Great Reset. For many workers, especially those in remote or hybrid roles, feeling undervalued and overworked led to a shift in priorities. Quiet quitters began to establish personal boundaries over professional ambition, particularly due to a lack of clarity regarding career growth at their employers.
The cost of disengagement is a significant problem for companies, with McKinsey & Company reporting that worker attrition and disengagement cost median S&P 500 companies about $282 million a year. But companies lose more than money—this disengagement creates a spillover effect that damages team morale and innovation, leaving leaders to struggle to fill the gaps.
Loud Leaders in Overdrive
Adopting a “louder leadership” approach to work, loud leaders combat disengagement by overcompensating with constant emails, meetings, check-ins, and directives. While their intentions may come from a good place, their actions lead to employee frustrations and further exacerbate the disengagement loud leaders are hoping to solve.
The issue with loud leaders’ choices to curb disengagement is that they fail to address the root causes of quiet quitting, choosing overmanagement instead of seeking input or asking questions to create solutions for the problem. This leads to resentment on both sides. Quiet quitters feel micromanaged and not trusted, while loud leaders grow frustrated with the lack of engagement.
A Solution for Both Sides
The noise created by this workplace cultural clash could be solved through genuine curiosity, where leaders approach disengagement to uncover the root causes and rebuild trust with their staff. Leaders could ask their employees questions such as: what’s holding you back from feeling engaged in work? How can we better support your growth and goals? What changes would make work more meaningful? Such conversations can help employees feel safer to share their frustrations and ideas without fear of judgment or retaliation, leading to more engagement when leaders step back to truly listen.
Rebuilding Workplace Culture
Leaders may want to consider practicing active listening by talking less and listening more to their employees. Regular one-on-one meetings with staff to ask open-ended questions and encourage honest feedback can help leaders figure out solutions that address the real problems in the workplace.
For the quiet quitters, setting boundaries is a healthy way to balance professional and personal life, but remaining communicative is necessary. Employees need to feel empowered to share their needs without the worry of being labeled disengaged.
For companies: Investing in training programs that emphasize curiosity, emotional intelligence, and communication skills can go a long way. These training programs can help build and strengthen these skills across teams to foster a more resilient culture.
To get workplace culture on a harmonious track, leaders need to stop talking past their teams and using control as a way to promote engagement. The focus should be on building a workplace culture where everyone feels their voice matters and asking the right questions to drive progress.
