Who is this research for? This research is relevant for HR leaders and managers at all levels who want to understand and improve employee engagement, motivation, and workplace culture.
Executive Summary
This paper from John Delery at the Sam M. Walton College of Business (Department of Management) and colleagues examines the phenomenon of "quiet quitting" in modern workplaces. Synthesizing insights from 11 recent academic studies, the paper defines quiet quitting as a behavioral pattern where employees meet their formal job requirements while gradually reducing discretionary effort. The authors categorize types of quiet quitting based on employee intent and underlying motivations, offering a more nuanced view of why these behaviors occur.
The findings suggest that quiet quitting can reflect efforts to create a more sustainable way of working, particularly in response to evolving expectations around work-life boundaries, fairness, and well-being. For managers, this creates an opportunity to better understand employee needs and design roles and expectations that support an employee’s performance and long-term engagement.
Action Items for Industry
- Clarify expectations: Define what going “above and beyond” actually means in your organization to ensure managers and employees understand what’s expected – and what’s not.
- Reinforce fairness and follow-through: Consistently deliver on commitments to employees, as perceived gaps between promises and reality are closely tied to disengagement.
- Design sustainable workloads: Structure roles, workloads, and flexibility in ways that support long-term performance without overextension.
- Tailor responses to employee type: Recognize that some employees are protesting conditions, others are setting boundaries, and others are simply disengaging—each requiring a different managerial approach.
Quote from the Researcher
“Over the past several years, much has been discussed related to employees reducing effort on the job. The term ‘quiet quitting’ has been used more recently, but similar behavior has been discussed and studied for a much longer time. This special issue was an attempt to shed more light on the topic, clarifying the concept and presenting how it influences organizations and what they can do about it.”
– John Delery
Co-Authors & Affiliations
Solon Magrizos — University of Birmingham (Birmingham, UK), Birmingham Business School and Vilnius University (Vilnius, Lithuania), Faculty of Economics and Business Administration
Lauren E. Aydinliyim — Baruch College, Zicklin School of Business
Dorothea Roumpi — Pennsylvania State University, School of Labor and Employment Relations
Caitlin M. Porter — University of Missouri–Kansas City, Bloch School of Management
Jean M. Phillips — Pennsylvania State University, School of Labor and Employment Relations
Link to the Original Research
Published in Human Resource Management, available here.
📩 Interested in learning more? If you’d like additional information about this research or to connect directly with the researchers, please email us at research@walton.uark.edu.
