Member-only story
Tools for Louder Leaders to Repair the Quiet Workplace
By Grant H. Brenner and Santor Nishizaki
Louder and louder voices are informing us of the importance of paying attention to quiet quitting and quiet firing. From a relationship point of view, silence in the workplace strongly suggests communication isn’t taking place, trust is broken, needs are unvoiced and unmet, and the way we think about work-life balance is shifting in ways we did not anticipate. All this has been further fueled by the changes in workplace and meaning of life precipitated by the collective, and often individual, trauma and ongoing grief from the COVID-19 pandemic.
On top of the soul-searching many have been doing, not to mention other stressors from world events and threats from war and climate change, and a competitive job market, we also saw that there were many advantages to working from home. Taken together, employees are more likely to place their own needs first but aren’t necessarily prone to bringing it up with managers and leaders unless they are asked. And even when it does come up, the conversation isn’t always constructive. We’re often left wondering whether people in the workplace are engaged to begin with and, if not, what to do with that disengagement.
