Understanding “Quiet Quitting” and Employee Disengagement
“Quiet quitting” is a highly expressive term that has emerged in recent years in discussions about employees’ level of commitment to their work¹. It describes a form of disengagement. Employees come to work and meet their contractual obligations, but nothing more. They don’t “step up” to take on additional tasks, contribute creatively to problem solving, or show any particular commitment to the company.
Global Engagement Trends and the Economic Impact
Gallup, a global management consultancy, publishes an annual survey of employee attitudes that puts some startling numbers to this trend.
Global staff engagement has declined by 3 percentage points over the past three years, and only 20% of employees can be described as engaged. The figure for South Africa is 18%. Gallup claims that 10 trillion dollars is lost to the global economy through such high levels of disengagement.
Why Engaged Managers are Critical
While we cannot calculate the cost to individual companies, improved levels of engagement and more motivated staff are obviously beneficial to company morale, individual well-being, and productivity. We would expect this to contribute to sustained growth in ROI if there are no other significant changes in the market.
The real story here is the astonishing collapse in levels of engagement by managers: from 31% to 22% in only three years. That is a decline of nearly one-third in three years. It leaves managers’ level of engagement only 2 points higher than that of the staff as a whole.
This is truly disturbing data from a company’s point of view. Perhaps it is not surprising that your average employee comes to work and just “does their job”. People around the world face struggles in an increasingly difficult, economically stressful, uncertain, and (for many) dangerous world. Understandably, they save their energy and creativity for holding things together at home and keeping their children safe.
But for managers, “engagement” is practically their job description. A company needs its managers to solve problems, to inspire their teams and to support others. A good manager will enthusiastically promote the company’s strategy and brand and be willing to take on additional work when necessary. And they will be in tune with the morale and performance of their team and individual staff. This all takes commitment and emotional energy – the very definition of engagement. So if we learn that engagement levels amongst managers are in free fall around the world, we should hear alarm bells ringing. Which is a signal to act, not despair.
Opportunities to Improve Engagement
There are insights in the data that suggest there is room for companies to significantly improve engagement levels amongst both managers and staff.
With regard to managers, the Gallup report from 2025 indicates that in “best practice” organisations, management engagement can be as high as 79% (in the USA), nearly four times higher than average. This shows it is possible to reverse the trend and revitalise how managers show up at work.
With regard to staff, the South African data shows that while 26% of employees feel they are thriving in life, only 18% feel engaged at work. This suggests that engagement levels can be improved by workplace interventions (which are within the control of the company). It could also be true that greater engagement levels at work would increase the number of those who feel that they are thriving in life, contributing to a positive feedback loop that could only be good for all. Below is a brief description of the steps a company can take to help managers and staff
“get engaged”.
Three Steps to Engagement
Step 1: Explore engagement levels in your company
The first step to addressing any problem is to understand it. A good engagement survey will give you a picture of overall levels of engagement in your company and identify areas of concern which could be addressed to give you some quick wins. The survey should also be able to identify levels of engagement amongst particular parts of your organisation, such as the management team, gender, length of service, or particular departments or locations. This is essential for developing targeted interventions that will have the most impact.
Step 2: Engage the management team
Any process to improve levels of engagement amongst employees will be led by the management team – so it is essential that they themselves are engaged and enthusiastic. The survey should give you a good idea of how they are feeling and any particular pain points that should be addressed with the team in a positive and constructive manner. Discussion with managers may also throw up particular training or leadership development initiatives that could leave them feeling more secure and committed to the company’s success, and more confident about their leadership role in the company.
Step 3: Engage with the staff
Share key findings from an engagement survey with your staff. Acknowledge areas of concern, even if they cannot be fully addressed. It’s better to say “we hear you” than to pretend a problem does not exist. Find some things that can be done. Even quite modest interventions will be noted and appreciated. And find ways to show that the company is genuinely committed to the well-being of employees.
Repeat regularly
If interventions like this happen once and never again, employees will respond accordingly – with cynicism. Regular culture surveys, and even more regular ways of listening and responding to employees’ suggestions and concerns, will boost levels of engagement.
Ongoing leadership development training for your managers is essential. If they are learning, growing in confidence and feeling trusted, then their levels of engagement should trend towards that higher target of near 80%. And if you can achieve that, you can be sure that the management team will be equipped to improve engagement levels in the whole company. The dividends for the company will undoubtedly be worth the investment.
Contact Thornhill to discuss a programme to improve employee and manager engagement, customised for your particular needs.
For more information on Thornhill’s various products and services for all levels within your
organisation, please contact us at admin@thornhill.co.za.
Written by Cedric de Beer
1 See, for example, Klotz A, Bolino M: “When quiet quitting is worse than the real thing”. Harvard
Business Review September 15, 2022