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6 Signs That ‘Quiet Firing’ Could Be Trending In Your Workplace

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It seems that there’s a lot of quiet action going on under the radar in the modern workplace. First the hoopla over ‘quiet quitting’ taking the media by storm. An employee might be a quiet quitter if he or she is chronically disengaged at work, doing the bare minimum of what is required. According to Paul Lewis, chief customer officer at Adzuna, “Quiet quitting doesn't mean leaving a job but rather an employee refusing to join the hustle culture and consistently perform tasks at work that are outside their specified responsibilities.”

The Interplay Between ‘Quiet Quitting’ And ‘Quiet Firing’

Now, a shifting focus from employees “quiet quitting” to a trend of employers engaging in “quiet firing.” According to a recent LinkedIn News poll, many people say they have either seen or experienced being quietly fired. Leslie Tarnacki, senior vice president of human resources at WorkForce Software, explains that quiet firing happens when an employer may or may not have a specific reason to exit an employee from the business and takes actions that make that person’s job unpleasant or unrewarding in order to get an employee to leave on his or her own terms.

Paul Lewis sees an interplay between quiet quitting and quiet firing, saying it’s likely that a quiet firing environment will lead to creating a quiet quitting culture. “If an employee is noticing the way they are being treated and valued, they’re more likely to be looking for a new job rather than focusing on impressing their managers and working to grow within the organization,” he explains.

Annie Rosencrans, people & culture director at HiBob, told me that quiet firing can happen in variety of ways. “Including getting passed over for promotions or raises, assignments for only undesirable projects that are below one’s job or skill level, and/or lack of engagement and feedback from managers,” Rosencrans said. “This isn’t necessarily a new phenomenon, but rather a new moniker for a toxic workplace trend that’s been around for years.”

Rosencrans explains that quiet firing an employee may be purposeful or unintentional, and it frequently points to a systemic issue. It signifies that managers aren’t doing their due diligence to act as coaches to their direct reports and aren’t being transparent in communication about an employee’s performance, either strong or poor. She insists that regardless of how a person is performing, quiet firing is not the answer for a strong culture or engaged workplace. She said that it’s imperative for direct managers to make a conscious effort to spend individualized time with each team member to help them learn, grow and improve where needed.

Signs You’re Being Quietly Fired

Rosencrans says there’s no hard-and-fast rule to determine if you’re being quietly fired, but if you feel that you maybe falling victim to this action, you can look for these signs:

  1. You are consistently passed over for promotions and raises, and you are not given feedback as to why others are being elevated at faster rates.
  2. You are not given constructive feedback on assignments or tasks. Rather, it’s being edited by a manager directly. Or your efforts aren’t recognized even if it does not need tweaking.
  3. You are given assignments and/or shifts to work that are below your abilities or at times that separate you from colleagues. For example, if someone mid-level is being assigned duties typically owned by an entry-level worker when there are people on the team who would be a better fit, that could mean your work isn’t being valued.
  4. You are not being given information you need to succeed at or excel in your role.
  5. Your manager isn’t taking time to connect with you one-on-one. Note, sometimes last-minute meetings come up and a one-on-one has to be rescheduled. But if this is a consistent issue—or if no check-ins are set at all—it could be a sign that the manager isn’t putting an effort into the relationship or investing time in your professional growth.
  6. You are picked on in team meetings, left off a calendar invite for key discussions or your opinions and ideas are dismissed.

How Managers Can Avoid ‘Quiet Firing’

Quiet firing may simply just be a new moniker for a toxic work environment and workplace bullying. Lewis insists that now more than ever employers have a responsibility to look after the mental health and well-being of their workforce, and part of that is having open dialogue and communication. He says not doing this can create resentment and/or anxiety on the side of the employee. “There are multiple ways managers and employers can avoid taking part in the quiet firing act and instead make time to see how their employees are truly feeling on a day-to-day basis,” he adds. “For one, regular informal check-in chats (also known as stay interviews) are a great resource to see how they are doing in their role, what is motivating them during the work week, challenges they are facing, work/life balance and more. Other examples include employee surveys to take the temperature of the workforce and how staff are feeling, anonymous feedback forms and robust review/promotion procedures to eliminate bias and ensure managers are confident in their decisions. It’s also important that managers receive proper training around how to have difficult conversations, provide honest feedback around why somebody isn't ready for a promotion or pay rise, the steps employees need to take to get there or more transparency about how a company is performing and whether they can even afford promotion rounds.”

Tarnacki concludes that if quiet firing is a tactic being used, an organization will only deteriorate from within, and its reputation will falter. She insists that Managers can leverage many other more positive alternatives to bring out the best in their employees and create a healthy, positive culture. “These include conducting regular check-ins to gauge the team’s happiness levels, including how they are feeling within their role and the tasks they are doing and what would improve their work experience,” she says, adding, “Another piece of advice is to provide tools and technology that will help make an employee’s role easier or allow them to do their tasks more effectively. Positive experiences with workplace technology can directly impact workforce morale and engagement. It also supports quick interventions for managers to prevent negative outcomes, monitor for any signs of burnout or detect low levels of productivity among individual employees. Employers should be building their employees up and finding ways to create a better employee experience, not bringing them down because they are able to,” she concludes. “If organizations are not implementing proper communication methods and channels, they run the risk of burning out their current employees, creating an unhappy environment, increasing quit rates and losing out on top-tier talent.”



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