The human capital management perspective on quiet quitting: recommendations for employees, managers, and national policymakers

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this Real Impact Viewpoint Article is to analyze the quiet quitting phenomenon from the human capital management perspective. Design/methodology/approach The methods comprise the analysis of 672 TikTok comments, the use of secondary data and literature review. Findings Quiet quitting is a mindset in which employees deliberately limit work activities to their job description, meet yet not exceed the preestablished expectations, never volunteer for additional tasks and do all this to merely maintain their current employment status while prioritizing their well-being over organizational goals. Employees quiet quit due to poor extrinsic motivation, burnout and grudges against their managers or organizations. Quiet quitting is a double-edged sword: while it helps workers avoid burnout, engaging in this behavior may jeopardize their professional careers. Though the term is new, the ideas behind quiet quitting are not and go back decades. Practical implications Employees engaged in quiet quitting should become more efficient, avoid burnout, prepare for termination or resignation and manage future career difficulties. In response to quiet quitting, human capital managers should invest in knowledge sharing, capture the knowledge of potential quiet quitters, think twice before terminating them, conduct a knowledge audit, focus on high performers, introduce burnout management programs, promote interactional justice between managers and subordinates and fairly compensate for “going above and beyond.” Policymakers should prevent national human capital depletion, promote work-life balance as a national core value, fund employee mental health support and invest in employee efficiency innovation. Originality/value This Real Impact Viewpoint Article analyzes quiet quitting from the human capital management perspective.

Understanding the drivers of organizational business performance from the human capital perspective

“…Due to the Great Resignation trend (Serenko, 2023), in most industries, it has become more difficult to attract and retain high-quality human capital. An emerging quiet quitting movement shows that many workers are now more demanding, more mobile, and less productive (Serenko, 2023b). As a result, human capital managers should seek innovative evidence-based approaches to manage, cultivate, and retain their workforce.…”

Drowning in silence: a scale development and validation of quiet quitting and quiet firing

“…Employees who put the minimum required effort into work due to a lack of organisational support, wage concerns, job instability and/or other priorities are referred to as quiet quitters (Serenko, 2023). Accounts of employees putting forth "just enough" effort to keep from getting fired have a long history in the labour movement.…”

“…Future research should also more clearly examine the antecedents of QQ and QF (Serenko, 2023). For example, is QQ more likely if the employee has a side job?…”

Anti-work offers many opportunities for I-O psychologists

“…This perspective emerges from a set of divergent sources, most outside of I-O, outside of psychology, and even outside of science (unless philosophy can be called a science). Anti-work may even be a contemporary movement of a kind (as testified to the existence of the popular English language Reddit community, r/antiwork; internationally, consider the Tang Ping or "lie flat" phenomenon, where "people leave their jobs to pursue hobbies and personal interests while trying to minimally sustain themselves, " Serenko, 2023). Currently, anti-work is perhaps best summarized in a set of overlapping propositions or tenets (Alliger, 2022a).…”