As this is the International Week of Happiness at Work, it is the perfect time to shine a light on a practice that often goes unnoticed: ‘quiet thriving’.
Quiet thriving is the opposite of ‘quiet quitting’, a term coined to describe a person who has not actually left their job but has ‘mentally checked out’ and is doing the absolute bare minimum.
A quiet quitter is likely to be feeling unfulfilled at work. As a result, they are unengaged, prefer their camera off and to be muted during meetings (or doodle in their notebooks instead of contributing), and are generally disconnected from the rest of the team.
They could even go close to breaking the rules, starting their days as late as possible with no-one directly overseeing their time keeping, or be easily distracted, or indeed, subtly distracting to other employees.
While quiet quitting is a trend and the reasons for it are many and legitimate, it’s opposite, quiet thriving, deserves just as much attention.
Quiet thriving is a deliberate approach to focus on meaningful progress and adopting a mental state that delivers better engagement at work.
It focuses on personal growth and sustainable happiness through cultivating a work environment and habits that nurture wellbeing.
What does this look like in practice? Essentially, this is all about making the most of your situation and finding enjoyment in your job, so it could be a range of things for different individuals.
To quietly thrive, someone may establish a routine, ask their employer to involve them in more collaborative work or simply start to work at times when they know they are more productive.
Someone else may find they begin to quietly thrive by utilising a co-working space or café to benefit from socialising.
All these practices are likely to improve wellbeing, engagement and job satisfaction.
How can employers encourage quiet thriving?
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Having a smart working policy in place (if this meets the needs of your business)
Allowing employees to carry out their role where and when suits them best can have huge benefits to individuals and the business. By doing this, an employee can attend appointments, go for walks or spend time with family while working around these commitments.
This can shift an employee’s mental state to have work as part of their life, rather than their whole life. They are likely to be more present and fulfilled at work if their personal life can continue not just outside working hours.
Employees will begin to see their career in a positive light because of the power they have over their own wellbeing.
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Encourage open communication with your employees
Consider creating an open-door policy or scheduling regular 1-2-1 meetings, to give your staff the opportunity to discuss their progress and wellbeing, set and share goals, and raise any issues or concerns.
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Employers should celebrate the small wins to reach an overall big win
Whether acknowledging an employee of the month or creating a rewards structure for those who go above and beyond, it is important to recognise the contributions of your employees. You may already offer bonuses or promotions, but recognition doesn’t always have to be financial; consider whether you can provide additional time off or more flexible working arrangements to recognise a job well done.
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Encourage employees to think about how their day can be made less rigid, and therefore more fulfilling
As above, you should consider implementing more flexible approaches to the way your employees work. However, avoid creating policies as a tick box exercise and speak to your employees to establish what you can do to help them feel more fulfilled at work. Aim to understand each of your employees’ work styles so you can adapt to it as best you can.
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Consider opportunities for professional development
Think about how you can support your employees to develop new skills. This support could include delivery of in-house training relevant to the employee’s job and goals, reimbursing tuition fees, or allowing paid time off. Consider providing mentors or coaching to buddy your employees with outside experts or more experienced staff, or subscriptions to relevant providers that offer workshops or seminars that would aid your employees’ learning and development.
While quiet quitting will likely continue to grab the headlines, quiet thriving can dominate the working day. It is up to employers to put the necessary tools and support in place—and employees to vocalise their needs and requirements.
Thrive Law is well placed to help employers encourage their employees to quietly thrive. Wellbeing is a founding principle of our business and plays a pivotal role in how we approach our outsourced HR work with employers.
Stay informed, keep thriving
In our work with employers and employees of all kinds, we find barriers to progress that require our advice, support, training and consultation to overcome.
As we help our clients with this process, we pride ourselves in coaching and sharing along the way.
It means we develop progressive people wherever we go.
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Disclaimer
Please note this blog is for reference purposes only and is only accurate at which the date it was published. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Specific Legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking or deciding not to take any actions. Please contact us if you have any questions on enquiries@thrivelaw.co.uk.
This blog was prepared with assistance from Generative AI.
