In a typical organization, most employees are neither wholly engaged nor actively disengaged. At the same time, stress, a growing workplace problem, cuts across all employee types. By increasing employee engagement, managers have an opportunity to realize substantial productivity improvements.

Source: State of the Global Workplace 2023 Report: The Voice of the World’s Employees, Gallup, Inc. 

Engagement should not be equated with contentment. Workers can be content doing the bare minimum and taking home their paychecks. To be engaged, an employee needs to be psychologically prepared to do their job. That involves understanding what to do, why their job matters, having the resources to achieve the goals of the job, and enjoying management support.

By parting ways with any Loud Quitting employees and then striving to engage your Quiet Quitting Employees, an organization’s overall performance will improve. Quiet Quitting employees only require inspiration and motivation. It’s up to managers to coach them in the right way.

Stress, meanwhile, affects all employee types. Through constant stress can become debilitating, some stress, such as a looming deadline, can be motivating and help us focus. Also, stress often originates outside the workplace, so it is vital that managers understand exactly why employees are feeling stressed before exploring workplace remedies.