Quiet Quitting: A COO’s Thoughts
Since the pandemic, several buzz words and trends have gained attention online:
The remote worker trend with technology/Zoom meeting burnout
Hybrid Workspace vs. Return to Office
The Great Resignation
And now the “quiet quitting” trend.
We all know that there will be more trends to come. But as business executives, how do we navigate these trends? And how do we trend-proof our businesses so they stay proactive instead of reactive? At Telcion, we've made a conscious effort to create an environment that is flexible and challenging so people continue to grow and stay engaged. We also make sure that our employees know that we care about them and understand they have a life outside of Telcion. I'm not saying this is an easy balance, but it is a priority for us.
As a technology company, there are times when working nights or weekends is required to accommodate a client who can’t have their operations shut down during normal business hours. That is the nature of our business. There are also times when working extra hours is necessary for various reasons, but we make sure that either solution is temporary. It's not healthy for an employee to require themselves to work 70 hour weeks every week until the end of time. It's also not healthy for a company to require an individual to keep up that pace indefinitely. If that becomes the case, it's time to hire more staff.
When I say that it's not healthy for an employee to make themselves to work 70 hour weeks, I speak from experience. This means it's also not healthy for executives to keep up that pace for an extended period of time. I know I can be my own worst enemy. I love what I do, so I didn’t feel like I was overextending myself with my work habits, but I was. Because I didn't take a step back, all my creativity towards the business stopped, my empathy for other people stopped, and my excitement stopped. How did I break the cycle? During a 1:1 meeting with our CEO (more on the importance of these meetings later), it was gently brought to my attention that the trajectory I was on was doing not only a disservice to myself, but also to the company. This recognition forced me to stop and take a breath of fresh air. I began to realize the predicament I had put myself in and how it needed to be fixed. Because I went through that trial, it now helps me recognize signs for other employees and know how to fix the problem.
So how do we as employers trend-proof our business? How do we encourage our people to work hard without burnout, doing their best within the standard work week and striving for more than just getting by? We have eight "Secret Sauce" items. Do they work 100% of time? Of course not! We're all human so nothing is 100%, but we have had success with maintaining our culture and our employees during these trends.
Telcion’s Secret Sauce
Create yearly or multi-year roadmaps for each employee. We call these Success Factor Snapshots (SFSs). These roadmaps outline certifications to achieve, talents to improve on, KPI’s to strive for, etc. We meet with each employee to review the document together and agree on the plan. The employee can get excited about the new challenges and compensation, but they oversee the timing so that it fits into their schedule.
Create an environment where an employee can work from different locations so they can have some creativity time or family time and still stay plugged in if they choose to.
Encourage vacations and down time to recharge.
We have a tenure program in place for full-time employees at the 5-, 10-, 15-, and 20-year marks. We curated a list of travel packages for each milestone for an employee to take with their plus-one, free of charge. This lets them know how much we appreciate all the hard work and dedication they give Telcion while also saying, “Walk away from the keyboard for a while and enjoy life.”
Two of our core values are transparency and curiosity. We encourage employees to think outside of the box and share new ways of doing things or new specializations they're interested in. It is okay to fail at Telcion. That is how we learn and grow. It's okay to say you failed but it was because you were curious to experiment.
We perform monthly 1:1 meetings with every employee. This is a time to discuss whatever obstacles the employee may be experiencing, celebrate the wins, and discuss goals for the next month. It is also a time to get a pulse on employees to see if they are disengaging or struggling and to discover solution paths.
We have high expectations for employees when it comes to response times, whether to clients or to fellow employees. It's important to explain the why behind these expectations and realize that not everyone is going to have the urgency that the executive team has when it comes to certain aspects of the job. However, the bar cannot be so low that employees feel no pressure and the client feels like they are not the most important person in your business. It's a balancing act and it's up to the executive team to get that balance figured out.
Communication is always a key factor. It doesn’t matter what type of business you have or how many employees you have. Communication throughout the company is a key to keeping everyone on the same page and being a part of the team.
While these items work for Telcion, we encourage every company to find what works for them, their employees, and the clients they serve. These trends are not going away any time soon and the quicker a business can find their secret sauce, the better it will be for all involved. If anyone would like to discuss this topic in greater detail, I would love to connect with you. It is something I am passionate about and love to talk about with others.
We are all better together in this journey.
This post was contributed by Michelle Padilla, our COO/CFO. Michelle has a Master of Science in Management and Leadership and is passionate about creating an encouraging company culture with highly motivated and positive people.
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