They’re still showing up… But they’re not showing up.
Emails returned. Tasks ticked off. Maybe even the occasional smile in the team meeting. But something’s off. The enthusiasm? Gone. Initiative? Low. Innovation? Non-existent.
This, right here, is quiet quitting. And if it’s happening in your SMB, it needs to be addressed, now.
What is Quiet Quitting (and Why Should You Care)?
Despite the name, quiet quitting isn't about people leaving their jobs. It’s about employees emotionally checking out while remaining on the payroll.
They do just enough to avoid getting fired. But nothing more.
No extra effort
No strategic thinking
No growth mindset
For small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), quiet quitting is more than just a morale issue, it’s a performance killer. Your high-value players are phoning it in, and your business is silently bleeding productivity, creativity, and culture.
The Bigger Cost: Losing Your MVPs
It’s often your best people, the once-engaged, driven achievers, who drop into quiet quitting. Why? Because they cared. And when that care isn’t reciprocated, when potential is ignored or leadership falls short, disengagement sets in fast.
This problem erodes:
Team morale: If top performers stop caring, why should anyone else?
Customer experience: Disengaged employees don’t go the extra mile.
Innovation: Without emotional investment, there's no push for process improvement or creative ideas.
The Opportunity: Reignite Their Spark
The good news? Quiet quitting isn’t career death. It's a red flag. A blinking signal that something fundamental has broken in the employee experience.
Handled with empathy, clarity, and structure, it can be reversed. And when you get it right, formerly quiet quitters often become some of your most loyal, productive team members.
Let’s explore six practical, high-impact ways to bring your best people back into the fold.
1. Build Organisational Trust
Top performers need to believe that their work matters. That their feedback is heard. That their future at your company is more than just a to-do list spreadsheet.
Organisational trust is the backbone of engagement. When it fractures, motivation leaks out fast.
Try This:
Share company goals regularly and show how each team member contributes.
Communicate openly about changes, challenges, and long-term vision.
Use tools like Solas’ Comms Checker to ensure your messaging is clear, consistent, and aligned with team values.
2. Show Them Their Growth Path
Lack of visibility into the future is a major driver of disengagement. If an employee can’t see a way forward, it’s no surprise they stop leaning in.
Try This:
Conduct quarterly development conversations, not just annual reviews.
Use guided tools like SolasPerform to help employees reflect, plan, and set meaningful goals.
Create visible individual development plans (IDPs) tied to business objectives and personal ambition.
3. Make Feedback Continuous and Constructive
Traditional performance reviews, rigid, top-down, and infrequent, don’t cut it. Quiet quitters need real-time feedback loops that feel like conversations, not audits.
Try This:
Foster a culture of continuous feedback: short, frequent check-ins.
Train managers to use feedback as a coaching tool, not a compliance task.
Use technology to track feedback and performance trends consistently (yes, Solas can help).
4. Recognise and Reward the Right Effort
Motivation doesn’t run on autopilot. It needs fuel, and in the modern workplace, that fuel is fair and meaningful recognition.
Try This:
Celebrate behaviours that reflect company values, not just outcomes.
Use shout-outs and public recognition to energise team culture.
Reward contributions to learning, leadership, and collaboration, not just sales and deadlines.
5. Reignite Purpose and Ownership
When high performers feel disconnected from your company’s mission, they disengage. Your job is to re-establish the link between their role and the business’s bigger picture.
Try This:
Re-align team OKRs with company strategy and make sure everyone understands their impact.
Host purpose-led strategy sessions, giving employees a voice in problem-solving and planning.
Encourage ownership by delegating high-value, autonomy-driven projects.
6. Strengthen the Manager-Employee Relationship
At the heart of most quiet quitting cases? A broken manager relationship.
The truth is, people leave managers, not companies. And they also quietly quit under them.
Try This:
Coach managers to be developmental leaders, not just supervisors.
Use Solas tools to help managers hold productive, future-focused goal-setting conversations.
Build psychological safety into every flow of communication, because trust leads to truth.
Conclusion: Don’t Let Quiet Quitting Go Unnoticed
Quiet quitting may be silent, but its impact screams.
It's the slow fade of your most valuable people. The erosion of team momentum. The silent ceiling on your company’s ambitions.
But it’s also reversible, with will, with conversation, and with systems that support performance and engagement.
With SolasPerform tools, from feedback systems to our review co-pilot, you can spot disengagement faster, respond more strategically, and breathe life back into the core of your business: your people.
Because when your best people stay engaged, your business stays ahead.
Ready to re-engage your team?
Try SolasLite for free and see how our communication, feedback, and performance tools can reinvigorate your top talent. Because your people aren't just your biggest cost, they're your biggest opportunity.
Reach out to us anytime. We’re here to help.