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ShutterstockBy now, you may have heard of employees 'quiet quitting' . That means workers are only doing what is required of them, nothing more or less. Now, employers have a new trend, too -- 'quiet firing'.
Defining 'Quiet Firing'
According to an article on The Hill, 'quiet firing', is also known as constructive dismissal. It's when an employer purposely treats workers badly in order to get them to quit and avoid directly laying them off.
It's essentially a passive aggressive way an employer handles a poor performer and save on severance at the same time.
According to a LinkedIn News poll, 'quiet firing' is not a new practice. In the poll, over 80 percent of respondents say they have either seen or experienced quiet firing.
Examples Of Quiet Firing
- Refusing to give an employee a raise for years
- Skipping a deserving employee for promotion
- Overburdening workers with unimportant busy work
- Giving an employee a poor performance review without clear reason
- Purposefully assigning a worker to tasks they don't like
- Abruptly changing a worker's role
These examples are from Victoria Pelletier, managing director and global CEO of transformation at Accenture. She says employers might choose to “quietly fire” someone as a way of saving on severance or avoid a lengthy performance improvement process.
She adds while some managers may see 'quiet firing' as an effective tactic, it can be dangerous. It can open employers up to lawsuits, create a toxic environment and high turnover.
