In a reaction to the increasingly poor work-life balance that many are experiencing, there has been a growing movement across the globe known on social media as “quiet quitting”. Is this phenomenon about to hit the NHS, and what can managers do about it?

Quiet quitting is where employees decide not to go above and beyond when they’re at work, and do only the bare minimum to meet what’s in their job description. They leave bang on time, and turn off emails and notifications once they have left the office. They stay in the role, but are not motivated by the idea of a career or working hard to become more successful in the future.

This decrease in engagement began in the second half of 2021, in the period straight after the worst of the pandemic, at the same time as many others chose to resign altogether. The overall decline was especially related to a lack of clarity concerning expectations, opportunities to learn and grow, feeling cared about, and a sense of connection to the organisation’s mission or purpose. There has been a growing disconnect between employees and their employers, often as result of how staff felt they’d been treated throughout the pandemic.

Remote working is partly to blame. Fully remote or hybrid workers report experiencing a far lower sense that their employer cares about them, encourages their progression, or gives them the chance to develop and grow. Equally, they report far less clarity concerning what’s expected of them at work.

In the latest episode of the Practice Index podcast, I was joined by Robyn Clark and HR and employment law consultant Susi O’Brien, and we discussed the dangers that quiet quitting pose to healthcare and to general practice in particular. The NHS relies heavily on goodwill from staff. We often need everyone in the team to pull together to give us an even chance of tackling the challenges we face and meeting the needs of our patients.

The problem is that this type of attitude can spread quickly, particularly within small teams. When staff see one colleague always leaving on time and only doing the bare minimum, meaning that everyone else has to do even more, they react and before you know it, everyone’s downing tools the moment they reach the end of their contracted hours.

What can managers do to prevent this happening? Robyn and Susi, when asked this question, were keen to stress the importance of taking steps to ensure that staff feel valued and engaged. They talked about the importance of saying thank you to staff, of sharing positive feedback with them, and of ensuring lines of communication are open so that issues can be raised and dealt with. Even when there are no quick fixes, it’s important to make sure staff know you’re aware and on the case.

This recent article in the Harvard Business Review identified three steps that leaders can take to address the root causes of quiet quitting:

• Review job descriptions to make sure they match the current job requirements. This will enable managers to focus on motivating staff to undertake their core responsibilities as a priority.
• Spend time understanding employees and listening to what they need to be effective at work. This includes creating an environment where staff feel able to raise issues, with confidence they will be addressed.
• Align individual staff motivation and needs with what they do for the practice. The basic idea here is that rather than simply expecting everyone to go above and beyond, managers take time to really understand their individual staff members and tailor their requests to the tasks they know motivate these individuals, e.g., working directly with patients or taking on highly visible projects.

There are no easy answers, and it’s particularly difficult for practice managers who are trying to motivate staff while at the same time being beholden to the partners. But working to prevent quiet quitting taking root is likely to prevent more serious problems arising further down the line.