CEO at BrightHR and COO at the Peninsula Group, responsible for the global rollout of HR tech supporting over 85,000 organizations.
getty
The "quiet quitting" phenomenon has exploded in recent months. Now, unsurprisingly, our focus has flipped to the other perspective: quiet firing.
If you’ve not heard of this trend, quiet firing occurs when an employer wants to remove someone from the business but doesn’t want to go through the formal process of doing so. Essentially, they influence the employee to quit on their own terms. This could be done by excluding them from important projects, allocating them unfavorable tasks or even making their experience at work feel uncomfortable or awkward enough that they decide to leave.
A LinkedIn poll revealed how prevalent this is. Out of 20,000 respondents, 35% of those polled said that they have faced quiet firing, while 48% said that they have “seen it at work before.” So it’s likely not just another TikTok trend that’s causing a stir. This isn’t a new phenomenon—and you could be doing it without even realizing it.
Think back to when you last dealt with a problematic employee. Did you ever feel it was easier to delegate their duties to someone else? Did you neglect to invite them to a meeting when they should have been there? This might have prompted them to quit—whether that was your intention or not.
Without addressing staff issues head-on, you could be prolonging periods of toxicity or poor performance. This means you risk holding your business back or putting an extra burden on other employees. But I’m not here to tell you why it’s bad practice. You already know that. I’m here to explore how you might have already done this and what you need to do to fix it.
You didn’t set your expectations clearly.
If your employee is underperforming, are you able to clearly pinpoint how and why they’re falling short?
If you can’t, then you haven’t set clear expectations. That means it’s much harder to have conversations with your employee to discuss their performance. You know that they are not performing as well as you’d like, but you haven’t set any benchmarks to prove it.
Discussing poor performance doesn’t have to lead to disciplinary action—it can help uncover any underlying reasons your employee might be struggling. Then, you can both take proactive steps to fix the problem.
Without starting this conversation though, you’re stuck in limbo. You can’t find ways to help your employee if they’re having issues, and you can’t deal with the situation if they’re causing issues. Instead of taking a step back and hoping the problem resolves itself, make sure the employee understands exactly what you need from them. Give them the information and tools they need to improve and meet your performance expectations.
Then, by measuring employee performance against their personal objectives, you have solid evidence to conduct proper reviews that are valuable for both parties.
You don’t have a proper disciplinary or dismissal procedure.
Dismissal is a daunting process for many employers. It’s confusing, unpleasant and rife with legal risk. So it’s not surprising that employers would rather avoid it.
However, forgoing the dismissal process in favor of "quietly" firing someone is risky. For example, employers might feel that an employee could damage their reputation should they start dismissal proceedings—but on the other hand, allocating them less work could result in grievances. This could leave other workers with an unreasonable workload and instigate a negative culture.
That’s why it’s essential you have a robust disciplinary procedure, mapping out a clear route forward, outlining when, how and why disciplinary action would be taken. It should also cover your commitment to following a fair process.
This means you won’t need to skirt around any issues and hope they magically disappear because you have a safe and solid road map in place.
You don’t have clear company policies.
You know your employee is disruptive. You know they’re creating a toxic atmosphere. But you can’t explain in concrete terms why that is.
This might mean you’re hoping the issue simply resolves itself or that your employee eventually quits on their own terms. But it doesn’t have to be this way. With strong policies, you shape your company’s culture and define acceptable behavior from the offset. This makes it easier to identify cases of misconduct when they arise.
Don’t be afraid of providing too much detail. What’s your outlook on start times? Are you flexible or do you need people to be in on time? You’d like staff to treat each other with respect. What does this look like to you?
A strong business culture means you share clear guidelines on conduct. If employees ignore these, you can step in and remind them of expected behavior instead of allowing the issue to spiral into a disciplinary matter.
You need to work on your communication skills.
Confrontation can be difficult. It can require assertiveness and empathy, which aren’t skills you can grow overnight.
But without being direct when a small behavior issue arises, you often allow it to snowball into something much bigger. By this time, you might be thinking your business would be better off without your employee—when the matter could have been nipped in the bud. Knowing when and how to approach an employee is essential.
The concept of "quiet firing" suggests that an employee hasn’t done anything serious enough to warrant dismissal. This probably means you’re dealing with subtle, yet damaging, habitual behavior.
The first time your employee exhibits signs of this behavior, you might feel wary of intervention because it doesn’t feel "serious" enough to step in. But it’s essential you say something as soon as possible, keeping any conversations light and informal. This means you avoid resentment building and give your employee the feedback they need to change their behavior and succeed at your company.
With calm and professional communication, you prevent the issue from escalating. And if it does escalate, then you have clear policies and procedures to guide your next steps.
Forbes Human Resources Council is an invitation-only organization for HR executives across all industries. Do I qualify?
