Post-pandemic work environment
My focus when creating the Palette of Grief® was the physical, emotional, behavioral, spiritual, and cognitive responses from a devastating loss. The Palette of Grief® can metaphorically be applied to the current work environment because of the reactions from many employees to the losses they’ve experienced post-pandemic. They are grieving how their job has changed since before the pandemic started, and losing friends and other co-workers who retired or moved on to something else.
All these changes make them feel disconnected in their job, not knowing what lies ahead and having no clear expectations. Employees are not emotionally or physically invested in their jobs, nor are they engaged cognitively, behaviorally, or spiritually. We are cognizant that a large number of employees have grown personally or post-traumatically as a result of their experience with pandemic workplace loss.
How to recognize a Quiet Quitter
If businesses don’t help their employees recognize opportunities for growth post-pandemic, the risk of quiet quitters slowly taking over is very real. When workers no longer feel connected to the purpose of their company or to their fellow employees, they may stop being engaged at work and experience ‘Quiet Quitting’. They may be doing their job but they are also looking for another job at the same time. Some become a Loud Quitter, complaining vocally at work about being dissatisfied with their job. We hear you!
Recent Gallup polling of over 15,000 employees (Harter, 2022) shows that Quiet Quitters no longer do more than expected. They only do the minimum they can get by with and no more than their job description requires. Ask yourself if that sounds like you? Are you no longer going the extra mile to meet the needs of your clients or patients, or communicate and engage with coworkers? This is not just job burnout. This is about coping with loss and grief and navigating a workplace environment in a post-pandemic world.
What employers can do
All workers deserve to have their supervisors communicate with them, have their strengths recognized, their losses appreciated, their future objectives and aspirations known, and the stressors related to functioning in a post-pandemic environment understood. Most workers will give their best effort when they have a boss who is concerned about their well-being. My hope and desire is that supervisors and anyone responsible for workers under them will show appreciation to their employees so that no one will be quietly quitting their job.
As a keynote speaker, I am concentrating on reducing burnout by emphasizing that we are all leaders in some capacity, and we need the knowledge to confidently survive in a post-pandemic workplace. Are you or do you know someone that is a quiet quitter?
Barbara Rubel is a nationally recognized keynote speaker, author, and trainer who helps organizations address the human impact of high-stress and trauma-exposed work. Through Griefwork Center, Inc., she provides speaking and training on compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, moral injury, suicide postvention, grief, resilience, and workplace well-being.
Creator of the FABULOUS TRANSFORMATION® framework, Barbara brings more than three decades of experience translating complex topics into practical strategies that strengthen resilience, support employee well-being, and help organizations create healthier, more sustainable workplaces.
Barbara is a Board-Certified Expert in Traumatic Stress and a Diplomate with the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. She holds a Master of Arts in community health with a concentration in thanatology and a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Brooklyn College.
