It's Wise to Ask Why

Employees who seek to question the status quo in organisations are often discouraged, for there is discomfort in the unknown. They may be threatened with disciplinary action for insubordination, rather than congratulated for their critical-thinking skills. The COVID-19 era encouraged many people to question why they do what they do.

Importantly, it made employees ask themselves why they spend their most precious possession, time, at work. COVID-19 was a giant mirror for society. It forced a period of self-reflection and made us confront our mortality. It literally made us Confront Our Value In Death (COVID). If I die tomorrow, what value have I added? What difference have I made? Suddenly life was about living, truly living, not just existing on autopilot.

This great era of transformation highlighted the importance of the way individuals spend their time. Many employees are no longer wanting or willing to commute to another location for a meeting that could be conducted online from home. Individuals are seeking personal efficiencies that often are contrary to the desires of their superiors who seek to have direct oversight over their work. This can lead to workplace conflict and disharmony.

What drives the need for oversight? One view is that it is about how productivity is supposedly measured. If a person is seen working by the person they report to, they must be being productive. But is this actually the case? There are many cases of presenteeism, where employees appear physically but have checked out mentally, or resenteeism, where they have developed a ‘go-slow’ attitude. There are more accurate ways other than old-school, eye-balling to measure productivity.

Employees became used to a certain level of autonomy during the pandemic, and don’t wish to return to the ‘over the shoulder’, micromanaging style of the past. Employees are asking why, what’s in it for me, or what’s in it for the customer/consumer? If the answer is irrational or based on past-assumptions, employees will disengage in one form or another. Disengagement has led to the advent of the “lazy girl” job and quiet-quitting trend. Both are ultimately a result of this ‘ask why’ post-pandemic movement.

In a period of low unemployment and skills shortages, the balance of power has shifted in the employees’ favour. If unemployment remains low, this will likely remain the case. Until the pendulum swings back in favour of the employer, employees will continue to ask why things are done a certain way. And if they don’t like the answer, they are likely to disengage or quit. There is only so long an employee is willing to work in an unfulfilling or unrewarding role.

Organisational productivity and personal efficiency can operate in unison if the answer to the why question is rational and reasonable in the circumstances.

In this environment, employers need to be willing to answer the hard-hitting questions to have non-quitting personnel.

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