A troubling new trend is surfacing in today’s workforce, and this one doesn’t showcase dramatic burnout or flashy resignation videos. It appears quietly and slowly chips away at a company’s culture and productivity. You may not even notice it until it’s too late, and you have a resignation letter in your inbox or on your desk. It’s called quiet cracking.
Just like “quiet quitting” and “quiet vacationing,” quiet cracking reflects a deeper disengagement among employees, but it’s even more dangerous. It’s a subtle erosion of morale and motivation. Employees begin to feel a slow emotional detachment from work over time. Not only are they not enjoying their work anymore, but they aren’t showing up with 100 percent of their best selves. Employees may still show up, log in, and complete tasks, but the spark is gone. Their sense of purpose, pride, and connection becomes diminished or disappears entirely.
According to Gallup, only 31 percent of U.S. employees are engaged at this point—a stark warning for leaders everywhere. Every percentage point of disengagement equals dollars in lost productivity, innovation, and employee development.
But what if the antidote to this crisis was both simple and powerful?
Respect Is a Survival Strategy
In my decades leading Syms, an off-price retail chain in America, I learned that respect isn’t a soft skill. It’s a survival strategy. Long before “servant leadership” became a trend, I believed that treating both employees (“coworkers”) and the designer brands with which we worked with dignity, listening to their needs, and involving them in the mission wasn’t just nice, it was smart. It’s about showing up and showing regard. Everyone deserves respect—and that takes work. Respect built loyalty. Loyalty built performance and led to higher morale and supercharged productivity.
Now, in today’s high-pressure workplaces, I believe respect-based leadership is more urgent than ever. If people in your organization are quietly cracking, here’s how to spot the signs and reverse the trend with respect as your guiding principle.
The first thing to remember is that quiet cracking isn’t insubordination or open dissent. It’s more insidious than that. You might notice:
- Employees attending meetings, but rarely contributing
- A drop in extra effort, meaning no one goes “above and beyond” anymore
- Silence replacing feedback or collaboration
- Increased absences or passive resistance to training and development
- Team leaders saying, “I can’t put my finger on it, but something feels off”
It often starts with a few individuals but can spread quickly, especially if the culture is low on trust and high on pressure.
Tips to Stop Quiet Cracking
At Syms, I learned that no incentive or policy can replace genuine respect. If you are seeking to infuse respect into your business culture and training procedures, here are some tips to stop quiet cracking before it takes root.
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Make listening a daily practice.
Too many leaders wait for an exit interview to hear the truth. Don’t. Build intentional, safe spaces for employees to speak up before they feel the need to shut down.
Incorporate active listening workshops into leadership development programs. Teach managers to ask open-ended questions, reflect back what they hear, and act on feedback promptly.
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Recognize effort, not just results.
People need to feel seen, especially in roles where outcomes depend on forces beyond their control. Acknowledge effort, problem solving, and growth, not just metrics.
Coach supervisors to personalize recognition. A handwritten note, a public shout-out, or time off after a tough project builds goodwill and emotional investment.
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Democratize decision-making.
When people feel ownership over their work, motivation follows. Respect grows when employees are trusted with input and decision-making authority, even on a small scale.
Include “decision inclusion” modules in management training. Teach leaders to delegate, solicit ideas, and follow through.
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Respect time; don’t waste it.
Unnecessary meetings, busywork, or rigid schedules signal a lack of respect for employee time. Streamline where possible.
Audit meetings and workflows regularly. Encourage team members to suggest efficiency improvements and reward their contributions.
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Invest in people, not just perks.
Foosball tables and free snacks don’t create engagement; real growth opportunities do. Professional development sends a message: “We believe in you.”
Make career-pathing part of performance reviews. Train managers to co-create growth plans with employees and follow up regularly.
At Syms, leading with respect wasn’t just a feel-good philosophy—it delivered tangible results and increased loyalty and productivity. Our employee turnover was low, our customer satisfaction was high, and we built a loyal workforce that helped us grow from a single store into a national brand.
Respect isn’t just about culture. When you lead with respect, people don’t crack. They commit. They stay. They innovate. And they pass that energy on to customers and colleagues alike.
So the next time you sense something’s “off,” don’t ignore it. Pause. Ask. Listen. Act. It’s not just leadership, it’s prevention. And in a quiet-cracking world, it may be the most powerful training tool we have.
