How benefits can be the antidote to ‘quiet quitting’

By Sammy Rubin

Step aside, Great Resignation, there’s a new trend challenging the workplace: it’s called quiet quitting. It’s a bit of a misnomer, however, as quiet quitters aren’t literally walking discreetly away from their jobs as the term implies. Rather, it’s more akin to employee disengagement.

Quiet quitting is used to describe workers with different shades of indifference towards their job – those who accomplish the minimum and lack the will to excel further in the workplace –labeling their diminished enthusiasm as a form of walking away.

Between this employee engagement conundrum, all-time high burnout rates, and the 4 million or so employees leaving their jobs each month amid clashes over flexibility and work-life balance, what can employers do to improve the employee experience and stave off workplace churn?

The weight of financial stress

First, employers must recognize that quiet quitting could actually be a symptom of a bigger issue: financial stress.

Indeed, quiet quitting may come as a result of the exhausting and frustrated feeling that many employees are experiencing on the tail end of the pandemic, particularly related to the increased cost of living. In fact, according to a recent survey conducted by our company, YuLife, 57% of employees cite higher living costs as a major financial concern and 80% believe that financial stress negatively impacts their performance at work.

Despite the large number of workers who feel financially stressed, this issue often flies under the radar for most organizations – only 21% of employees feel comfortable discussing such concerns with their employer. With the burden of financial stress weighing on employees both on and off the clock, it’s no wonder much of their motivation to work has diminished.

Financial well-being increases engagement

Effectively communicating and promoting financial protection policies is one key strategy capable of restoring employee engagement.

According to the survey, 49% of adults believe it’s a workplace’s responsibility to improve employees’ sense of financial well-being beyond what is legally obligated, such as providing benefit programs and supplementary pension contributions.

The sad reality is that many workplace initiatives fail to incorporate any element of financial well-being into their programs – other than salaries and benefits themselves. Yet this is an extremely important area for employers to address considering the 61% of respondents who say that a workplace’s ability or willingness to support their financial well-being contributes to their decision to stay at their current workplace or join a new one. Neglecting such needs therefore hurts business.

Whether it is incentivizing positive lifestyle choices via financial and insurance products, introducing personal savings schemes, providing ongoing financial assessments, or offering assistance through money management apps, employers can give their staff a wide variety of tools to better their own financial wellbeing. In turn, businesses will reap the rewards of a workforce with reduced stress levels and burnout rates, lower absenteeism, and higher overall engagement and productivity.

Time to step up

These days, it can feel like the world is getting harder and harder to cope with. Companies need to step up and be there for their employees if they hope to outlast the economic hurdles that threaten their market positions.

As quiet quitting continues to trend upwards, employers must recognize the need to create a workplace culture that supports an atmosphere where employees can take pride in their work and attain the financial security they seek.

Valued and respected employees are the backbone of any business and equipping them with the financial resources to make them feel looked after should be the core of a new approach for bolstering employee engagement.

If it’s good for employees, it’s good for business.

Sammy Rubin is the CEO and Founder of YuLife. Sammy may be contacted at [email protected].