Commercial Integrator November 2022 - 42

BUSINESS OPS Labor Force
Neto, if employers genuinely want high
productivity - not to mention low turnover
- they must thoughtfully consider employees'
needs. " Your number-one priority
should always be retention at a time where
good help is hard to find, " he advises.
" Have open and transparent conversations
with one another on what the job is, where
it's going, and where both you and the
company want it to go. "
Lessons from the Gig Economy
The gig economy is now a familiar aspect of
society at large, as well as the AV industry
in particular, and it, too, plays a role in quiet
quitting. " We have more freelance technicians
and contractors in the mix who work
their contracted hours, " Neto explains.
" Those contracts clearly state the allotted
job, hours and skill set required. The 'extra'
comes with a price; it's not required. "
This might offer some idea of where
drawing boundaries can come into play.
" If your company defines a workday as
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., then the boundaries
are set, " Neto states. He also counsels a
mindset change. " A lot of the quiet quitting
could be that boundaries are not being
discussed, " he laments. " So, we need to
enforce that work/life balance to where
employees can work as per their capacity
and grow in their career. "
Hansen agrees, highlighting the point
that managers must ensure that employees
are not being burnt out. " It is important
for workers to be showing up or logging
into work refreshed and energized, " he
states. This, he says, will help ensure team
members' hour-by-hour productivity levels
remain high. " And, with this flexibility, not
only are employees happier working at the
company but they're also sticking around
longer because they have the work/life
balance, " Hansen adds.
There is no doubt that quiet quitting is a
highly complex issue. As Neto describes
the phenomenon, " It's like peeling an
onion - when you uncover one layer, you
find another! " That's not to mention that
running a business is harder than ever
these days. As Neto notes, " We're also
dealing with supply-chain issues, shipping
costs, etc..... " Acknowledging that
quiet quitting can be negative or positive,
42
depending on perspectives, Neto hopes
that the ongoing conversation will help integrators
understand what works best for
their company and their team members.
The choices aren't necessarily always
easy, and people might come to different
conclusions. But, as Hansen puts it, " When
employees partake in the 'good' quiet
quitting of setting work parameters, there
might be short-term costs in the beginning,
like losing some extra hours of labor,
but it could have significantly meaningful
long-term benefits once companies find
that balance. " CI
Key #avtweeps Offer Their
Thoughts on 'Quiet Quitting'
Many employers are referring to their employees setting boundaries as " quiet quitting, "
but I think that's an incorrect interpretation. An employee who is engaged and
passionate about their work can draw reasonable boundaries around daily hours,
etc., and that is not quiet quitting.
Quiet quitting is when an employee has lost interest in the role, position or company
and does the bare minimum to squeak by. Mentally, they've checked out, but they
still show up and go through the motions, often while job hunting.
There is another concept, which is referred to as " acting your wage. " In a lot of
cases, employers cut staff in 2020, and then increased responsibilities of the remaining
employees. It was sold as a short-term solution, but, as business returns, headcount
hasn't been restored. Some employees are starting to refuse duties outside of
their role, as they are not compensated at the appropriate level. Again, I see this as
boundary setting, not quiet quitting. - Mark Coxon, AVI-SPL (@avphenom)
To my mind, " quiet quitting, " whilst gathering a lot of attention in social media circles
lately, is nothing new. There have always been employees who have " worked-to-rule "
- those who put their pen down at the strike of 5 p.m. - and then those who went
over and above their required duties. I think it is gaining more traction now because
there appears to be less of the latter in the workforce at the moment. And many of
those who previously did fit into the " do whatever needs to be done " and " go the extra
mile " category have now chosen to retract and ask for further clarity about what is
required of them.
If the past two years or so have taught us anything, it is that managing our physical
and mental wellbeing is vital if we are to avoid burnout. I think the golden age of employers
benefiting from " workaholics " is well and truly over, with many recovering " workaholics "
(I include myself) now working smarter and more efficiently, and still getting the
job done. I also believe from anecdotal evidence that those who are now termed as the
" quiet quitters " are not necessarily all withdrawing as such, but managers should be
recognizing those signs and finding out why - before they become jumpers!
As long as people are doing the job they are employed to do, I don't see the need
to label employees as anything. Let them be quiet or noisy, but give them clarity
about the task requirements, remove ambiguity so they are not needlessly doing
more and let people simply do their jobs. - Iffat Chaudhry, Involve Visual Corp.
(@iffsi)
Commercial Integrator NOVEMBER 2022
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Commercial Integrator November 2022

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