In recent years, businesses have experienced a significant shift in how employees talk about their experiences in the workplace.
Thanks to video platforms like TikTok, employees are no longer limited to discussing their careers with colleagues and loved ones, but can easily take to the broader online community.
The hashtag ‘Career Tok’ has now amassed over 1.2BN views. Experts at CoachHub, the leading global digital coaching platform, delved into this community to discover the five most common workplace woes going viral on TikTok right now. They go beyond the buzzwords, offering top tips on how to overcome these challenges and ensure greater harmony at work.
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Digital nomad
By far the most talked about buzzword, boasting 950 million views worldwide, is the concept of becoming a digital nomad. These remote workers travel the world without ever taking annual leave, taking the definition of flexible working further than ever before. Some countries, including Spain, have even gone as far as to offer digital nomad visas.
Mat Piaggi, Behavioural Scientist at CoachHub says “employers that offer options like working from abroad will be recognised by employees for their commitment to flexibility. This can bring numerous benefits, such as employee retention and improved wellbeing.”
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Burnout
Indicative of a normalisation of conversations about mental health, the burnout topic has racked up more than 683 million views on TikTok. Sarah Henson, Senior Behavioural Scientist at CoachHub comments that “businesses must see this as an opportunity to build resilience in their workforces. Organisations can offer tools like digital coaching to give employees a dedicated space to discuss any feelings of burnout or poor mental health, as well as encouraging them to truly disconnect from work during evenings and weekends and ultimately improve their wellbeing.”
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Quiet quitting
Coming in at number three, quiet quitting (doing the bare minimum at work) is still a challenge for many organisations. Quiet quitting is often systematic of a broader issue, with many employees’ mental health and work-life balance as their reasoning.
Mat Piaggi advises that “leaders who are managing employees who are actively disengaged from work can leverage elements of coaching during discussions with employees. This could include facilitating an open dialogue regarding what motivates employees and what they need to improve their engagement and resilience at work.”
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Hustle culture
Similar to discussions around burnout, many users are rallying against hustle culture on TikTok. Hustle culture is when a business rewards employees who overwork themselves, often through long hours and a lack of work-life balance. In rejecting hustle culture, today’s younger workforce takes a firm stance against the mentality that work defines a person, and that progression should be pursued at all costs.
Sarah Henson says that “when younger workers renounce hustle culture, they are not necessarily renouncing hard work. Instead, they are calling on their employers and managers to offer a realistic work-life balance and to value their wellbeing. Employees who feel seen and heard will be more motivated to come to work fully engaged and eager to perform at their highest level.”
The thread uniting these TikTok buzzwords is that wellbeing and clear communication are top of the agenda for younger workers right now. It is crucial therefore that leaders offer strong personal and professional development programmes to ensure high levels of productivity and to safeguard employee retention. This includes providing access to key tools, such as digital coaching, to empower workers in taking control of their own career path. Organisations that create a culture of wellbeing in this way can expect to have a happy workforce, and reap the rewards as a result.
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
