While the concept of “quiet quitting” is not new, it’s seen an uptick in interest recently, as it parallels the Great Resignation and employees seek to avoid burnout to help stay healthy. Employees work within defined hours, engaging only in activities required or related to performing their job. Coined in 2009, despite the name, it’s not necessarily connected to outrightly quitting your job, but – instead – performing only exactly what the job requires.
Not only is quiet firing a poor way to treat employees, and stems from poor leadership, it clearly serves to disenfranchise them. To encourage them back on a positive track would take nothing short of a miracle; plus raises the employee loss numbers exponentially if the company allows all supervisors to follow these questionable supervision methods.
“If employees notice they’re falling into the trap of being quietly fired, I strongly recommend they set up a face-to-face conversation with their boss or HR management before things get worse,” says Leslie Tarnacki, SVP of Human Resources at WorkForce Software.
Company leaders and supervisors should make it a point to chat with employees on a regular basis – not wait until the annual job review comes around. By that time, too much water has flowed under the bridge and several issues – such as poor work submission – may have finally brought the employee to the firing point.