Have you recently found yourself in a situation where you feel excluded, uninformed, or deprived at your job? If so, there is a chance that you are a victim of a new trend referred to as quiet firing.
Although there has been much discussion lately about 'quiet quitting', where employees 'slack off' by doing only what is required and nothing more, more and more people believe that the root of this problem lies with employers, not employees. It is a legitimate question: 'Since when is doing what is expected of you considered quitting'?
Another question is why someone would voluntarily quit if there is no negative factor with their employer. Quiet firing or 'quiet dismissal' implies a poor relationship between employers and employees. More specifically, the employer does the bare minimum to retain a certain employee or consciously demotivates them. The most common examples of 'quiet firing' include withholding raises, stalling promotions, not providing feedback, or, for example, attempts by the employer to prevent the employee from taking on certain projects.
Some do this intentionally, while others do so out of negligence or ignorance, but the results of such behavior are the same – the employee loses trust in their work and becomes less engaged, ultimately leading to a decline in productivity, explains Business Insider.
In all of this, employees often feel demotivated to work, so they frequently resign themselves or simply do the bare minimum.
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These are the most obvious signs of quiet firing:
- Rarely receiving feedback on completed work. As a result, the employee does not know how they are doing or where they have room for improvement.
- The superior never has time for a conversation with a specific employee or does not respond to their emails and questions.
- Only one employee does not receive bonuses, raises, or similar rewards at the moment when everyone else does.
- Information reaches a specific employee only after everyone else has already been informed, and they are the last to learn things relevant to their job.
- The superior includes the employee in decisions that affect them, but communicates with others regarding that.
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Toxic Work Environment
The biggest problem is that many workers blame themselves and question the quality of their work, which often begins to create pressure about going to work. This is extremely frustrating and discouraging for every employee because they feel that something is wrong, but no one talks to them directly about the problem.
In these situations, employees actually do not know whether the problem lies in their work, whether they have offended their superior for some reason, or whether they are simply overwhelmed, and they do not know what they can learn to change the situation.
However, quiet firing not only creates a toxic work environment but also completely demotivates the employee. For this reason, many believe that when faced with 'quiet firing', some employees become bored with futile efforts and start doing less and less, which has recently been categorized under the new trend – quiet quitting.
Moreover, because of all this, many seek new opportunities because they want an employer who will actually invest in them and where they will feel good. Recent research by McKinsey & Co. revealed that the lack of career development and advancement opportunities is the main reason people leave their jobs, followed by indifferent and uninspiring leaders, according to Bloomberg.
The Problem Lies with Employers
With all this, the question arises whether the problem regarding quiet firing and quiet quitting actually lies with employers, leaders, or generally with superiors, rather than with employees? Companies should actually ensure that there is good communication with employees so that they can understand the job, what is expected of them, and have space for learning and growth.
However, employers who resort to 'quiet firing' actually cannot or do not know how to be honest with them. For example, if they think an employee is not productive enough, they try to distance them from the team instead of honestly explaining that they expect more. They try to do everything to make the employee feel excluded, disengaged, and uninterested to the point where they want to leave the team themselves.
Unfortunately, some employers use this method because they do not want to have 'difficult conversations' or because the company has to worry about severance pay or unemployment. At the same time, sometimes this practice is unintentional and a product of the ignorance of superiors.
Therefore, to avoid quiet firing, companies should conduct regular conversations with employees and provide them with feedback. Otherwise, the company has unethical leadership and should not be surprised that more and more employees have started quiet quitting. Whether well-intentioned or not, a bad employer, manager, or leader can destroy employee morale, engagement, and performance, and can also ruin talented individuals before they get the opportunity and support needed for growth.
