Chillingly Quiet, Part 1
In recent months, an apparently eerie new trend has crept through the world of work. As if heralding the bite of the fall equinox, repeated in harsh tones by broadcasters, comes the gusts of “Quiet Quitting.” As seen on the Today show and on CNN, this new trend, along with its seemingly sinister sibling “Over Employment,” has invoked a glacial connotation.
But perhaps these movements, both of which having clawed their way out of the wake of the Great Reshuffle, originate from a sentiment deserving empathy rather than antipathy. The Reshuffle itself was initially—and inaptly–called the Great Resignation, suggesting a panicked run from the workforce rather than the reality of employees exhuming happier opportunties.
Events like the Great Reshuffle, Over Employment, and the more recent Quiet Quitting all share one common theme, however, and it is not the lethargy of lazily falling leaves. Rather, the real menace in the wind might be hustle culture, as studied here. Since before the pandemic gave rise to the new world of work, hustle culture has been a problematic plague in professional lives, leading to nightmarish levels of burnout in industries like healthcare, discussed by the National Academy of Medicine here.
In this TED Talk, mental health strategist Tom Oxley cautions that to foster better relationships with our teams, we need lend them open ears, not rolling eyes. The chills of workplace psychological safety and mental wellbeing remain stigmatized, as evidenced by the way these trends are often covered.
Today, do not cower beneath the blanket in the vain hope that the season of change will pass over us. Face the autumn twilight head on, using SurePeople tools like the Relationship Advisor to cast a light into the cascading shadows, illuminating for our teams a glowing path to refuge.
Illuminate them with our empathy.
“Don’t cast shadows on anyone unless you are providing shade.”
– Terri Guillemets
Author
by Faraz Gafoor
Faraz Gafoor is a content strategist, writer, and human-data aficionado. His passion for scientific analysis of everything—from the presentation of data to the way we communicate—is driven by a deep love of understanding how we process and make sense of our surroundings. His curiosity and a never-ending search for prolific and poetic perfection poignantly fit his Prism Personality of a double Scientist.
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