Business Fleet Africa spoke to Brand
Pretorius about how to prevent the post
COVID-19 phenomenon, quiet quitting.
There is no doubt that COVID-19
has changed the world of work forever.
The most visible change is the option,
in many cases, to work from home or,
for that matter, from anywhere. Digital
technology has set us free – we now
work and live digitally. Zoom meetings
have become the new normal.
COVID-19 has also had a significant
psychological impact on people. Being
locked up at home, they had time to
reflect, also on the meaning of life, their
priorities and what they needed to do to
find personal fulfillment.
Many employees feel underappreci-
ated, overwhelmed and out of control.
Some feel that they are forced to work a
lot of unpaid overtime and take on more
responsibilities. As a result many fear
executive burnout.
This is particularly evident among
professionals working in a very hierarchi-
cal organisations where communication is
poor and incentive schemes modest. The
inevitable consequence is that employees
lose their sense of purpose and attach
little value to their contribution. They
then start a passive rebellion based on
the view that their employers take more
from their employees than they give.
This phenomena is called quiet quit-
ting – when employees do exactly what
they are employed to do and nothing
else. They take no initiative and do just
enough to stay out of trouble. As a result
productivity levels plummet and so does
customer satisfaction and profitability.
A disengagement plague sets in,
with disastrous consequences and only
How to prevent quiet quitting –
a post-COVID phenomenon
There is no doubt
that COVID-19 has
changed the world of
work forever. The most
visible change is the
option, in many cases,
to work from home
or, for that matter,
from anywhere. Digital
technology has set us
free – we now work
and live digitally. Zoom
meetings have become
the new normal.
BUSINESS FLEET AFRICA | December 2022
WWW.BUSINESSFLEETAFRICA.CO.ZA
BUSINESS