The age of rage… why it doesn’t pay to quit in anger

Jul 6, 2023 3:38:59 PM

"In the long term, a person who quits out of rage will no longer be employed and very likely to have burned bridges. In these tough economic times, severing connections with people is not a clever strategy."

By Nicol Myburgh, Head: CRS Technologies HCM Business Unit

A new challenge has emerged within human capital management called rage quitting. It refers to a scenario in which an employee, out of sheer frustration or anger, makes an immediate decision to quit. The concept is not new and will be familiar to gamers from the 80s, but in the current economy, this trend is bad for all parties.

What is rage quitting?

Rage quitting is the term applied to someone who, in response to anger or frustration, walks out of their job. This is done as an immediate response, fuelled by emotion, and with no intention or willingness to discuss the matter or resolve it.

It is important to maintain perspective.

In the short term, a disgruntled employee who storms out of the office may feel a sense of vindication. But the reality is that a public display of anger and frustration can never amount to anything worthwhile.
In the long term, a person who quits out of rage will no longer be employed and very likely to have burned bridges. In these tough economic times, severing connections with people is not a clever strategy.

Don’t give in to rage quitting

At the end of the day we are all human. We react to situations and conditions as they change. But, in a professional work environment, it is critical to keep emotions in check.

It is inevitable that there will be issues and people who make us angry, upset or frustrated. This is when one has to remain calm and approach the situation with a cool, calm and collected mindset.
It is often tempting to lash out and vent to release the feelings of frustration, but it would be wiser to steady oneself. From an HR point of view, it is important to recognise that not everyone is at the same level in terms of emotional maturity and we all have different ways of coping.

With this in mind, the responsibility to establish and sustain a professional work environment that is free of emotional stress must be shared between employer and employee.

Prevention is best

Like many other aspects of human resource management and people development, much depends on the approach that is taken.
Online research shows that there is a flipside to any challenge and it’s the same with rage quitting. Instead of seeing it as yet another ‘people problem’ for human resource managers to try to deal with, businesses should use it as a benchmark with which to gauge possibly deeper issues.

There is a great deal of discussion about company culture, about flexibility, agility and having to adapt to post-COVID-19 realities – like remote work and the advent of mobile digital technology.
Despite people being at the heart of many of these discussions, employee wellbeing is too often overlooked.

One of the main factors to consider is communication. Human resource experts will agree that non-verbal communication is as important as verbal, and actions speak much louder than words. So people react to feelings of mistrust or resentment. There are warning signs and if the business has paid careful attention to creating an atmosphere of trust, mutual respect and openness, issues like rage quitting can be sorted out quickly.

CRS Technologies is a leading provider of solutions and services to the growing human capital management industry, and an authorised South African distributor of the Engage™ suite of human resource and payroll products. For more information, go to: https://www.crs.co.za/