Investing in employee engagement, learning and development is a surefire way to help retain and attract top talent as The Great Resignation rumbles on.
When employees feel unappreciated or neglected, they can become disengaged to the point that they eventually leave. With the war for talent still raging, discover how to combat a rising trend for ‘quiet quitting’ and ‘quiet firing’, to help promote a positive company culture and retain your employees.
Read time: 3 – 5 minutes
Key takeaways:
How to:
- Invest in your employees to retain and attract talent
- Build loyalty and productivity through employee recognition
- Reinforce a people-first company culture
‘Quiet quitting’ and ‘quiet firing’ are catchphrases that have recently gone viral on social channels including LinkedIn and TikTok.
Quiet quitting, coined by a TikTok user called @zkchillin, means that people aren’t ‘outright quitting’ their jobs, but they’re ‘quitting the idea of going above and beyond’. They’re still doing their day-to-day tasks, but they’ve moved from a ‘live to work’ mentality to the ‘work to live’ brigade.
Quiet firing – a term made viral by Bonnie Dilber, Recruiting Manager at U.S firm Zapier – has come to represent a deliberate tactic used by employers to make employees feel isolated, incompetent or unappreciated to the point that they resign. The idea is that it’s a cost-effective move for employers, enabling them to save money on career development, employee appreciation or severance pay.
Ample research shows that providing your employees with opportunities to develop professionally, voice their opinions and feel heard and appreciated, and learn how to manage their feelings of overwhelm or stress is a surefire way to build a positive work culture. By investing in your company culture and your people, you can help mitigate ‘quiet quitting’ and stamp out ‘quiet firing’.
Investing in a people-first culture
Organisations who are looking to win the war for talent — which is still in full swing — need to maintain a people-first culture. That means creating opportunities to:
1. Thank and reward employees
From small-scale employee recognition such as celebrating workversaries to large-scale away days, expressing your gratitude can help trigger feelings of happiness among employees. This means that teams are more likely to have a positive outlook, be more resilient and respond well in challenging situations. Read more in 11 surprising and meaningful employee recognition ideas.
2. Help employees develop their careers and grow professionally
Whether you’re bringing people together for small, action-focused exchanges with peers or leadership, career-enhancing panel discussions or training sessions, bringing people together can present a fantastic opportunity to help your people develop professionally. In this article, Engagement: How to personalise your employee event, we show you how you can build learning opportunities and events while catering to employees’ differing personalities and learning styles.
3. Help people invest in their health and well-being
Today, employee health and well-being are integral to employee happiness and productivity, as well as corporate attraction and retention strategies. Your company’s health and well-being agenda can take various forms. It can involve bringing people together to learn about how to adopt healthy behaviours, how to find out about the health and well-being benefits available to them, to collectively blow off steam or to unwind and relax. Learn more in our article, 25 great ideas for virtual well-being events.
4. Build team rapport and break down silos between business functions
Internal events – whether in person or virtual – can help your people feel like they’re integral to everything from an individual project to the company mission. For example, including quizzes, live event polling, and interactive participation in your events can help nurture cross-functional understanding and relationships. To discover more tactics to help foster positive employee experiences, read People-first culture: 5 ways to spark and measure engagement at employee events.
Corporate events play a crucial role
Mike Walker, Managing Director, of MGN events says: “The Great Resignation is still in full swing. As such, talent retention and attraction, and employee engagement cannot be left to chance.
I would encourage organisations to put robust strategies in place to help ensure their people are engaged, supported and rewarded while also helping them to learn, grow, progress and develop professionally and personally. This is a surefire way to help avoid ‘quiet quitting’.
Similarly, line managers and leaders need to be up-to-speed with best practice management tactics to help make sure there isn’t any ‘quiet firing’ taking place – inadvertently or otherwise. Corporate events can play a crucial role in all these areas and we’re well versed in creating highly engaging events that promote corporate culture and support HR strategies.”
Employee appreciation: Can we help?
Get help creating successful corporate events that support employee engagement and well-being in our 5 step framework for event success. Get more tech inspiration for your next live, virtual or hybrid event or contact our team via the form below, on 01932 22 33 33 or by email at hello@mgnevents.co.uk.
Further reading:
6 reasons companies should have a hybrid employee event strategy
Improving staff well-being: A 5 Step Framework for Event Success
The rising importance of employee experience in the workplace and the role of internal events in facilitating the experience
