We have all heard about ‘quiet quitting’, the new catchphrase. But have you heard about ‘quiet firing’? Experts say that this is the reverse of the former practice, used by employers or managers to let go of employees in a way that differs from the normal sacking.
“It aims to create a toxic work environment for the employee. So either the employee quits, or the employee’s performance drops to a level that justifies firing,” says Karan Jain, co-founder of human resources tech company HROne.
The method, usually initiated by managers when they plan to downsize their teams, differs from formal layoff as the latter is an organisation-level decision and centralised in implementation, whereas the former is at a team level and decentralised, explains Anshuman Das, CEO and co-Founder of staffing firm Careernet.
But how can an employee know if things are getting a little tricky and his/her manager is going for a ‘quiet firing’? And if people finds themselves caught in such a situation, what can be done?
Here are some pointers.
No pressure from work
There are several ways in which an employee can find out if he/she is being fired. Sagar Pandey, head, human relations at Swastika Investmart, suggests employees start observing the work environment.
If there is a substantial less or no involvement in any new assignments or no participation in strategic formulations or plans, he says employees may fall under ‘quiet firing’.
“There would basically be no feedback—good or bad—and simply putting them on hold keeps an employee guessing,” Pandey says, adding, “There is either too much pressure or no pressure.”
In a nutshell, the person is being ignored in an indirect way to create a personal impact. And while some can shrug off the cold-shouldering, most people, like nature, abhor a vacuum.
Regular work-related discussions diminishing
When an employee’s amount of work is reduced quietly, or the boss avoids conversations about regular work-related discussions, one starts getting frustrated, says Guruvayurappan PV, chief human resources officer of Omega Healthcare.
“This is the first sign of quiet firing,” he warns. Further, when planned one-on-one meetings are either cancelled or postponed, that is another indication. “I even heard bosses stop inviting team members for discussions on projects that he or she was already part of,” says Dr Guruvayurappan.
Look for passive-aggressive behaviour
An employee must note passive-aggressive actions that seem unreasonable. A manager may exclude the employee from critical email chains so that the employee is unable to access information crucial to their role, says Jain of HROne.
This may be followed by a significant reduction in the employee’s responsibilities or, on the flip side, overburdening them with tasks unrelated to their role.
“Both these tactics result in a dip in employee motivation and productivity,” Jain says.
According to Rekha KK, manager, HR, at product engineering firm Utthunga, a key aspect to identify such behaviour is to recognise a certain pattern, such as feeling like you are unable to tick all the boxes no matter how hard you try.
“In this case, you might notice different behaviours like constantly shifting expectations, refusal to provide recognition even when you have met mutually agreed-upon targets, or standards of evaluation that are different from colleagues’,” she says.
Enough! How to deal with it?
If one can realise that he/she has been subject to “quiet firing”, then experts point out that self-awareness is key. But before directly confronting the manager personally or via HR, experts say the first thing to do is to understand that it is not your fault.
“Often, we may attempt to remedy the situation by continuing to push ourselves and extend all our boundaries. But this will only lead to burnout and escalate the situation even further,” says Rekha.
Instead, the employee should first set a formal calendar invite to have a discussion with the reporting officer and discuss reasons and seek feedback proactively.
“Clarify if there is a need to upgrade skill/competence to meet the organisation’s expectations and how it can be accomplished with the help of a reporting officer,” suggests Dr Guruvayurappan.
Two, if the discussion is satisfactory or you get a glimpse of the problem, experts suggest working on them to change the manager’s perception—wait for at least a week or 10 days.
However, if the discussion is not satisfactory, move forward with escalation.
The employee can document this interaction and bring the matter up to the HR team. “Documenting all conversations is critical. A summary of the discussion in a follow-up email will help you remember what was said and when,” says Anand Dewan, group CEO of BYLD Group, a provider of HR solutions. “Making a paper trail is crucial because employers may try to refute the employee’s claims,” he adds.
Unfortunately, Jain of HROne concedes that the HR teams in some cases are aware of the quiet firing practice and choose to look the other way. In such instances, he suggests the employee look at taking legal recourse provided they have thoroughly documented all communication relevant to the issue.
“Otherwise, if the condition is even worse, the employee must explore better opportunities outside the organisation,” he says.
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