As we complete the year, let’s bring bring the most used terms that we had written about and analyzed this year:
Quiet promotion
As we had discussed, this means more work without a change in designation or salary. Many organizations speak about stretch goals and cross-functional participation as part of overall employee development. Some of these projects can forge new connections, give new learning and help your career growth. The reasons can be many reasons why quiet promotion is happening. The company could be cutting down expenses. It might be losing people in specific roles due to attrition. While both of these are possible business causes, the issue is such extensions of work happen without reason and planning
When it comes to this specific term, Quiet Promotion, the challenge lies in the intent and the execution. Imagine this not just as a one-off project but a gradual, creeping and almost permanent shift. And in some cases, it also means lack of any commensurate increase in pay and designation. . The long-term negative impact for employees in such extreme situations could be overwork, exhaustion and even burnout.
Loud quitting
Compared to the earlier trend of quiet quitting, there is also an emerging trend called Loud Quitting according to research from Gallup in 2023. In fact, the trend in this case denotes employees being unhappy with their company, disengaging with their jobs and also loudly expressing this issue. A large part of this issue stems from the lack of ability of leaders in managing workplace engagement. “Low engagement costs the global economy $8.8 trillion,” Gallup reported as part of their State of the Global Workplace report also highlighting that, “employee engagement has 3.8 times as much influence on employee stress as work location.” This means that while debates about working remotely or in office or in hybrid modes might continue, the higher impact on the work stress employees face is from the level of engagement they feel at work.
Coffee badging
Coffee badging refers to the act of making a brief appearance at the office for a few hours before promptly heading out. In some cases, those working in a hybrid or flexible model might be employing such a strategy where they come into the office to satisfy the mandate of being on premises for a while — enough to grab a coffee — but leave as soon as this is fulfilled. According to a report by Owl Labs, more than half of hybrid employees (58%) in a survey have embraced this trend.
Office peacocking
“Office peacocking”, is a term referring to making the office swankier. As companies tried to get their employees back to office, some offices today resemble upscale lounges or living rooms with sofas, rugs, video monitors and more. Of course, making the workspace a relaxed one has been a priority and is a welcome one for those having to spend long hours at the office. But, what really helps the employees is critical to assess in such a scenario.
70-hour work week
Towards the end of the year, there was also an active debate about the pros and cons of the 70-hour work week. We had analyzed four dimensions for this debate. First, the productivity versus well-being dimension where for many employees, working 70 hours is an individual choice they have to balance with health, pay, time for family and other interests. The second, commitment and motivation dimension. There are people for whom this has been and will be a reality, whether by choice or because of necessity. Third, the competition and age dimension where there are choices about careers to be made at every level — at an individual level and at an organizational level. The choices can change, over time, and based on one’s motivation and perspectives. And finally, the effort versus efficiency dimension, Individual/team expertise and enabling and emerging technology can drive quality outputs in many work roles today, drastically reducing the time needed to be at work or the unidirectional focus on time-based effort only. In fact, John Maynard Keynes had predicted that technological advances would reduce average work hours to 15 hours a week by 2030.