'Quiet cracking' replaces 'quiet quitting' as job market tightens

What you already know: With increased layoffs and slower hiring, employees are staying put, even when they’re unhappy at work. Rates of disengagement among employees are at an all-time high, according to a survey from employee training platform TalentLMS. A study of 1,000 U.S.-based employees found that 54% reported experiencing “quiet cracking,” a phenomenon in which employees quietly disengage from their work due to feeling stuck, unheard or unsure about their career at their organization. The study found that 29% reported having unmanageable workloads, and 20% say their manager doesn’t listen to their concerns.

Why? This phenomenon can occur when employers see talent as resources, rather than people, said Maria DeLorenzis Reyes, executive leadership coach and founder of consultancy Training Innovations. When employees feel expendable and work in an environment that they don’t feel safe and comfortable, it builds mistrust between the company and the employee, said Reyes. “It’s this age-old thing of the way traditional business works,” she said. “They're always looking for the ROI, they're always looking for metrics. And to the employee, they don't feel like the company's got their best interest at heart. When it comes down to it, they're just a number.”

What it means: While this mindset is clearly detrimental to employees, it can also have adverse impacts on companies themselves, said Reyes. Disengagement inevitably leads to a drop in productivity and output, followed by high turnover, she said, forcing employers to invest in hiring and training new staff. A recent Gallup study found that disengagement cost companies up to $550 billion a year in lost productivity. “People work hard for you when they trust you, period,” said Reyes. “So if they lose that trust, they're definitely not going to work 100%.”

What happens now: So how do employers build that trust? It’s not through one-time rewards or initiatives that lead to nowhere, said Reyes. The classic office pizza party is akin to a partner buying you flowers but not actually changing their bad behavior: “It falls a little flat,” she said. Instead, employers need to root out the underlying conditions of their workforces disengagement, such as cutting down overwhelming workloads, encouraging time off and respecting work-life boundaries. “There are very foundational issues of why people are disengaged,” said Reyes. “Companies talk all the time about engagement, but they miss the point.”

— Story by Nat Rubio-Licht