Where It All Started?

Work is an important part of our lives, evolving beyond merely a place to fulfill job duties. Workplace is where people build relationships, develop skills, and shape careers. This is why establishing a work climate where employees feel happy, challenged, and valued is a paramount task that lands directly on management and HR's plate.

However, in the years following the pandemic, disengagement and unhappiness among employees have become increasingly visible. Indeed, the Covid Pandemic has significantly altered the way people work and their perception of work. Yet, for many, changing jobs is not an easy option, and for some, the prospect of job insecurity is difficult to accept.

In 2021, during the peak of the pandemic, millions of employees across the globe changed their jobs because of burnout, low wages and unsupportive work environments. This was named ”The Great Resignation” and describes a massive workforce shift for better work opportunities, flexibility, an organizational culture focused on wellbeing and open communication. 

After this, employees and their employers faced another phenomenon - Quiet Quitting. People’s priorities had changed, they were exhausted by the pandemic and put a great emphasis on their personal life rather than job duties. They just wanted to invest minimum effort to get through work, because this was no longer the most important thing in their life. But wait, there's more… after quiet quitting came Presenteeism, another response to unadaptive work environments. Employees showed up for work but remained unproductive, often due to reasons like poor well-being. And here it comes Resenteeism, a new concept that marked the HR industry and revealed distinctive perspectives of how people feel at work.

What Is Resenteeism?

Recently, in the world of work, HR people and tech companies have raised awareness of a dangerous job behaviour - a profound unhappiness among employees regarding their job. This growing resentment in the workplace is called, you guessed, resenteeism.

Resenteeism describes the situation when employees keep staying at their jobs, despite they have an intense dissatisfaction with their work. It’s when someone hates the job but doesn’t change it due to various reasons. The main motives why people may be scared about quitting are related to perceived lack of better options. Employees who are affected by resenteeism are not necessarily unproductive or absent from work. In most cases they perform well, but are very active also about showing this unhappiness to other colleagues. The whole work environment may suffer from this continuous state of resentment, but it’s also a big alarm for the management to investigate the situation.

If you’re thinking this isn't a big deal to change your job, have in mind that resenteeism was ignited by the pandemic, when prices went high and the cost of living increased abruptly. For parents and young employees the shift may be even more frightening. Resenteeism is fueled also by unresponsive HR strategies. The global technology revolution generates change and many organizations fall behind it.

Now that you know what is resenteeism maybe you're wondering how as a manager, or as an HR person, you can spot it at the early stage.

  • Employees who are affected by it, are usually very vocal and express their feelings
  • Besides that, you will remark a lack of motivation and enthusiasm
  • A low level of engagement and organizational commitment
  • Finished tasks without caring about their work, role or responsibilities
  • For some cases, a drop in quality of their work

What Can You Do About It?

Effective communication is crucial in addressing resenteeism. If you are a manager or an HR Specialist and identify symptoms of resenteeism, start by talking with your employee, creating a supportive dialogue. Encourage your team to give honest feedback and express their emotions freely. Then try to pinpoint the “Why” behind these frustrations. After you have a list of specific reasons, identify potential solutions to relieve the resentment and increase job satisfaction. Discuss these solutions with your employee and seek input to ensure the proposed measures align with the employee’s expectations and comfort level. If your action plan will align to the employee's needs, then It stands a chance of making it through. At the same time, it’s perfectly normal if an employee will decide to leave - don’t stand in the way, because well-being and mental wellness are the most important.

Establishing policies that promote work-life balance is crucial in creating a supportive and productive work environment. By encouraging open feedback, organizations create a culture of trust and mutual respect, where employees feel valued and heard. This long term approach is particularly effective in addressing issues like resenteeism, where employees may be physically present but disengaged due to unresolved work-life conflicts or other concerns.

Engage and Empower With Papervee - Your Complete HR Platform

A great method for preventing resenteeism is to dedicate more time for meaningful connections within your team. With a complete HR platform, you transform repetitive tasks into attractive ones, nurture transparency and enhance communication between managers, employees, and the HR department. Papervee is a digital HR ecosystem that simplifies all HR processes, saving time for authentic connections, while empowering your employees to easily manage attendances, leaves and documents. Try Papervee for free and see how simple HR can be.