This blog post was contributed by Provar’s Vice President of Global Sales, Michael Cipolla, as part of Provar’s executive blog series. This series features thoughts from Provar’s executive suite of leaders. For more contributions, please be sure to follow Provar’s blog here and connect on social media.

Toilet paper shortages, to-go margaritas, arguments in the airplane aisles. All come to mind when I think of outcomes from the pandemic. We haven’t been that far removed from these painful days, and it’s important to reflect on them. During times of strife, some of the most important core deficiencies will bring themselves to the forefront. Anybody relate to a dysfunctional family during a wedding, birth, or death? What was this core deficiency for business during the pandemic? I would have to put my money on quiet quitting.

Quiet quitting is doing the minimum requirements of one’s job and putting in no more time, effort, or enthusiasm than absolutely necessary. The truth is, now that we are getting back to normalcy, quiet quitting still persists and is probably tearing apart your organization. Whether your responsibilities involve generating revenue or generating innovation, quiet quitting is active and is preventing you from achieving your goals.

As a leader in your organization, it’s your responsibility to remove unnecessary barriers for your people, encourage their enthusiasm, and make their day to day worthwhile. I’m here to share how I put preventative measures in place to combat quiet quitting for my team of business development representatives.

In sales, one would argue that the most difficult job is the one of the business development representative (BDR). You may have been on the other end of the line receiving a cold call whilst trying to sit down for a meal with your loved ones.

Being rudely rejected is just the beginning. What you don’t know is that this representative just mundanely dialed 20 phone numbers in order to be told to jump in a lake. Try dialing 150 numbers in a day, writing down notes on each dial just to be told no. It’s not fun, and it will lead to quiet quitting. If you are ignoring the issues faced by your BDR team, you are also ignoring your revenue goals, career growth, and overall success of the company. Point blank, your people want to do more than mundane tasks. They want to contribute to the overall success of the company. They want to be empowered to learn new skills and think outside the box. 

I went on a hunt to find a solution that would allow my people to do what they love the most: talk to people. I found a dialer solution that integrates with our CRM that would dial 6 people at the same time. Conversations quickly went up, but most importantly I could sense the positive vibes once again. When asking a question on Slack, I noticed responses were happening quicker. People were engaged!

Now, you are probably thinking, “What does this have to do with my software development lifecycle?” Well, you probably have software developers that are sick and tired of testing their own code. I mean, their name is “Developer” for a reason. They want to create, innovate, and change the way we interact with the world. What happens when they have to spend countless hours debugging their own code? As a tester, what happens when you go through the same 20-minute scenario five different times for each profile? Not only do you start to make errors, but you start to lose interest. You don’t go the extra mile to find the solution, and you don’t think outside the box on how you can bring more to your team.

Do yourself a favor and truly assess if you are doing everything for your people. Find ways to remove mundane tasks, and you will be rewarded with a thriving culture of success and innovation.

Want to learn more about Provar’s exceptional culture and innovation? Connect with us today!