Transcript
[00:00:01]
You're listening to the Her Leadership Coach podcast for the quietly determined career woman who's looking to step up into a first or nextlevel leadership role. If you're looking to make a bigger, more positive difference in your organization, you've come to the right place. Well, hello, welcome in. It's Rochelle. Thanks for joining me for this week's episode of Her Leadership Coach, where we are talking about quiet quitting.
[00:00:31]
Have you heard of this term quiet quitting? It's when you only do the tasks that are in your role description within the hours you're paid to work, so you're not taking on any extra duties and you're not working outside of your normal hours. Apparently that's now considered a form of quitting. To be honest, I'm not a fan. I don't like the term quiet quitting.
[00:00:59]
And when I raised it in the Facebook group, I can tell that many others are also not fans. When did doing your job within the hours you're paid for become quitting of any kind? Doesn't really make sense to me. Apparently, it was a term first used in 2009 at an economic symposium in Texas. So not really a new term.
[00:01:26]
What are we that's 13 years old now and certainly not new as a way of working? It's no coincidence that the term was coined in America. In the last few months, quiet quitting has become quite a trend on TikTok, especially for those in the Gen Z and millennium age range age brackets. There's one thing I've noticed when I was looking into this quiet quitting term that I think bear's mentioning here, and that is that there is a lot of variation in work culture between different countries, and America and Australia certainly have some noticeable differences. So Australians, we're known for being laid back, we have a bit of a laidback attitude here, whereas Americans are judged on results.
[00:02:21]
So for them it's a bit more of a time equals money type thing. Australians, we have a firm belief in mate ship. In fact, our CEO, he signs off his newsletters by saying, look after yourself, your family and your mates. So definitely a firm root in that nature. Although, interestingly, he is from England, but he's been here a long time now.
[00:02:50]
I think as Australians, we're often more loyal to our teams, our teammates, than our company. And I definitely see that and in fact live that. Americans, though, are more loyal to the idea of good performance and profit. And in a culture where hiring and firing can happen very quickly, that really does make sense. In Australia, our industrial workplace laws are very tight and hiring and firing can in fact, be very tricky and take quite a while, both sides of that process.
[00:03:30]
So keep those differences in mind when I tell you that Gallup believes about 50% of American workers currently fall into this quiet quitters category, although they are measuring what they call people not engaged at work. And that isn't the same thing to me, although they are trying to say it. Is that's a podcast for another day, though? So we'll assume that those numbers work. And while there's a number of articles about Australians quiet quitting, none of them seem to be backed by research.
[00:04:09]
So I would hazard a guess, based on those differences between the cultures, that not doing more than your job description has always been a part of Australian culture. And so I think and anecdotally what I see is the trend isn't as noticeable here as it is in America. However, in saying that, I do think it's likely there are more people behaving this way now than previous years, and I think there's some good reasons for that. In fact, there are four reasons I can think of where it makes complete sense to do this quiet quitting. And then there's one where I don't think it does.
[00:04:52]
So let's look at the four to start with. The first is that the extra work being done isn't recognized or rewarded by anyone or in any way. So that's particularly true for those extracurricular activities such as organizing morning teas for the team or the birthday cake for your boss. And guess who does the brunt of that kind of work? In fact, I was working at a coworking office the other day and heard one of the ladies working there lamenting the fact that she had agreed to organize the office Christmas party because it was bringing her a lot of heartache and absolutely no joy.
[00:05:35]
And I think that's true of a lot of extracurricular activities that women do tend to take on board. They always happen on top of your existing work and you don't get any leeway for that for the most part. Any work that goes above and beyond if it's not recognized as such. And I mean, often you don't even get a simple thank you, but it rather becomes an expectation. And I've seen that it's as if women have this expectation placed on them that if there's a warning to you to be had, it's your job to go and organize it.
[00:06:13]
But yes, you do still have to get all your work done today. If there are those kind of jobs that are an expectation, those kind of tasks that become an expectation, shouldn't they be added into your job description and your pay adjusted accordingly? So if people are giving up those extracurricular activities that work that is being unrecognized and unrewarded, that makes sense to me. Right? Okay.
[00:06:46]
Number two, the person is close to burnout. Now, this one is one that's close to my heart. A study has found, and this is an Australian study that nearly 46% of us are feeling high to extreme levels of burnout and that is 10% more than the same time last year. So those levels are said to be because we have more responsibilities and we are feeling a whole lot more overwhelmed at the amount of work we are being asked to do. Now, burnout is a serious issue.
[00:07:25]
So if you're feeling close to dropping in an exhausted heap, in my mind, it wouldn't make sense not to quietly quit. In fact, you'd possibly want to do even more than that and take some well earned mental health time out and seek help. But at the very least, even if you're not at those high to extreme levels, but you're feeling like a medium level of burnout, then quietly quitting. Makes sense. Do your job.
[00:07:55]
Do it well. Do it within the hours that you're paid for. All right. The third reason I think is fair is the environment that you're working in is toxic and you're protecting yourself from damage. So if you're working for a manager who belittles you or who takes credit for your work.
[00:08:16]
So you're putting on all this time and effort and getting none of the credit. Or someone who picks holes in everything you do and shows absolutely no care for you as a person. Then doesn't it make sense to limit your exposure to that environment while you look for another role somewhere you're going to be appreciated? I think that makes complete sense, particularly in the environment we're in, where there are too many jobs and not enough people to sell them completely. Makes sense.
[00:08:51]
And then the last one, your job, is simply not a priority. Now, we all have full lives, and for some of us, me included, that includes a job that we find fulfilling, where we feel like we're making a difference. But for many of us, a job is simply a means to an end. It's a way to earn the money that supports our lifestyle, and the lifestyle is where we find fulfillment and we're making a difference outside of work. And I think that is the one that is growing a lot over the last two years, as a lot of us have reassessed what we value most, and we've started to really live to those values instead of putting them to one side.
[00:09:42]
So when I raised these four points and the Woman in Leadership Facebook group to see if there were any I was missing, I did get some feedback that, yes, there might be. Megan raised that her team are simply comfortable and happy and they just don't see a need to do any more than the tasks they pay for. So that sounds fair. Kristin said it makes sense to quiet quit. If you're a contractor and you are literally hired to do a specific task, I don't know if that's quite quitting or just really being a contractor, but if you're a contractor that used to go above and beyond and weren't being recognized or rewarded for that, then absolutely makes sense to be a quiet quitter.
[00:10:25]
And Ash mentioned it can be frustrating for her seeing others getting paid the same who are not doing the extra work that she consistently does and I completely understand that. Not to mention the time that you're asked to do what someone else is paid to do simply because they're not doing it. So all of those sound like fair enough reasons to me as well. I'd love to hear what you think. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think of the four reasons I put forward and also those put forward by the woman in the group.
[00:11:00]
Now, there is another term that's been used for quiet quitting and that is acting your wage, which is both funny because who doesn't love a good play on words and I think a much better term for what we're seeing. In fact, that term leads me into the one reason why I don't think you my dear listener, as a quietly determined career woman who's looking to get your first or next level leadership role, I don't think you should practice quiet quitting or even acting your wage, unless one of those first three reasons I discussed earlier applies to you. And then I think it's fair for while you're there. But you see, you want to be acting the wage of the role you want, not just the role you're in, if you want to be seen as the person who can do that next level up role, right? So it doesn't mean taking on unrecognized and unrewarded work such as organizing office parties, unless there is a really strong value of yours and you feel called to do it, in which case go for it.
[00:12:21]
Just don't expect any of that recognition or reward to come with it. It will need to be intrinsic, but it might mean doing tasks that are outside of your current role description, but that fall into the role description of the job you're looking to move into. So that might mean, for example, giving a presentation to senior leadership. It might mean being the lead on a project that isn't part of your normal role. It's outside of your normal domain even.
[00:12:58]
But it has big visibility. It might be mentoring someone to show how well you can guide and support others. Now, even though I'm a big advocate of acting above your wage and I've been doing that my whole life, I don't remember a role I've had where I've simply acted my wage. I'm also a strong believer that you can do this for the most part inside your hours of work. So I don't believe we need to burn ourselves out in order to get promoted or indeed burn ourselves out in any particular role.
[00:13:36]
In fact, I believe just the opposite. I think that more of us as leaders and aspiring leaders need to be role models on how not to do that. So, for example, I am very aware now of role modeling on the days that I am sick, that I am sick and I am not checking emails. I am very aware of role modeling that at 04:00 I have finished work and I finish work. So those kind of things, that idea of being productive without the stress, that's what we work on in the done not dusted course, which we are halfway through at the moment and it is going amazingly.
[00:14:18]
If that sounds like something you need to learn, you need to start being a role model for and you're falling a bit short at the moment. You will find the link in the show notes for the waiting list for that course. It's not open for enrolment at the moment, but if you join the waiting list, I will be sure to let you know the next time it's open so you can be sure to join. Okay, that's it for this week. Thanks for joining me.
[00:14:43]
If you want to continue the conversation about quiet quitting or in fact anything leadership or aspiring leadership related, why not join us in the Women in Leadership Facebook group? You'll find the link in the show notes. It is a community of leaders and aspiring leaders. What is not to love? If you got value out of today's episode, I would love it if you could share it with others.
[00:15:09]
And of course, if you've been listening to podcasts for any amount of time, you will know that rating the show and leaving a review helps others to find the show and I would really appreciate it. Until next week, continue to lead the way her way.
