Scientists suggest eight practical measures to help managers prevent quiet quitting occurrence in their companies

Researchers provide eight practical suggestions to managers to prevent the occurrence of quiet quitting in the first place, as well as effectively handling it once it occurs.

Examining major theories on how to understand what has become a critical phenomenon influencing employees' behavior at work, the researchers have outlined some key guidelines which they say can pave the way to alleviate quiet quitting impact.

Their work has been published in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, analyzes a plethora of work related to quiet quitting, using the tourism and hospitality industry as a case study.

However, the authors say the body of the literature they critically review has "not been used to examine quiet quitting, which represents an important contribution of this study. To the best of our knowledge, no academic effort to this point has attempted to systematically examine the relationship of quiet quitting with existing theories developed in HRM, organizational behavior and psychology."

Following an extensive review of professional and scholarly work on quiet quitting, which became quite a common occurrence in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, the scientists provide eight key proposals on what managers should do to deal with the adverse effects of quiet quitting on their employees:

1. Clarify job requirements and discuss them with your employees
2. Collect employees' feedback regarding their level of satisfaction
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of the organization's family-friendly practices and policies to promote work–life balance
4. Rethink HRM practices and adapt them to the new reality of the labor market and the needs of a new generation of employees
5. Adopt a human-centric approach to management
6. Identify and understand employees' needs and expectations of individual growth and career development
7. Offer more management flexibility and give employees chances to learn new skills as part of promotion policies
8. Discourage destructive and dysfunctional leadership styles

Human resource management, or HRM, is a strategic approach in business management that involves practices and methods for effectively managing, nurturing, motivating, and supporting employees to achieve an organization's strategic goals. It is about cultivating a work environment where employees thrive and contribute meaningfully to the organization's success.

Simply put, quiet quitting refers to a decision or attitude by employees to do the bare minimum. It is an ongoing issue and a problem for companies. It can be a challenge to organizations due to its virality and different and competing interpretations which makes it hard for managers to fathom its potential impact on their employees.

Lack of convergence in the current interpretations of quiet quitting, the study authors emphasize, "creates uncertainty for managers regarding its exact nature and potential impact on their organizations … Managers are uncertain as to which interventions would be most effective in dealing with this phenomenon without risking a backlash," says the study's lead author Dr. Salima Hamouche.

"While quiet quitting is not an entirely new phenomenon, no published research has examined its relationship to existing concepts from a human resource management and organizational behavior perspective."

"This research paper attempts to synthesize diverse concepts and theories associated with quiet quitting to understand its meaning, potential causes and to suggest avenues for future research."

Dr. Hamouche, SHRM-SCP, an assistant professor of human resource management at the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, says the research stands out in its "critical reflection that aims to demonstrate the relationship of quiet quitting, which has grabbed significant media attention, with concepts and theories researchers in tourism and hospitality management have extensively used to study related phenomena."

The study urges tourism and hospitality providers to rethink their management style, culture and HRM practices if they were "to retain their employees, motivate them and build strong employer branding.

"Furthermore, adopting a human-centric approach to management can also help create a balance for both employees and organizations in this industry. For example, managers should have regular (weekly) in-depth discussions with their team members to boost their engagement."

Managers, the study finds, should work hard to gather sufficient information of what their employees aspire for in terms of individual growth, expectations, needs and career development.

"They (managers) should communicate what the organization can offer to enhance long-term goals achievement, promote transparency and ensure the alignment of organizational and employees' needs," the researchers write.

In order to help employees not to quiet quit, the study calls on managers to "offer flexibility as well as learning and development opportunities to employees through a competency-based approach that is able to overcome the lack of flexibility of job-based approaches."

The scientists say they hope their findings will break the proliferation of quiet quitting, improve employee conditions, and furnish managers with a better understanding of the issue which management literature has traditionally attributed to "poor management and leadership, as well dysfunctional and destructive leadership styles, such as narcissistic leadership, abusive supervision, and despotic management."

The negative effects of practices like these, the researchers point out, exert an adverse impact "on employees' behaviors as well as their attitudinal and work-related outcomes."