Written by Sam Dow | 18th November 2022
You’ve probably heard the term “quiet quitting”, a new name for employee disengagement which is sweeping the internet.
Lately, the phrase “quiet firing” has emerged, to describe managers who distance themselves from employees. Whether intentionally or not, this can lead to employees leaving the business.
Signs of quiet firing include lack of feedback or guidance, denial of promotion or learning opportunities and giving employees lower-level tasks.
Clearly both quiet quitting [link to blog] and quiet firing can harm your company culture. When an employee is not being supported or treated poorly by their manager, other employees may fear the same thing will happen to them, creating a culture of employees feeling disengaged.
To create a positive and productive workplace, it is important to educate your managers and your employees about quiet firing and take measures to avoid it.
So, here are five suggestions for what you can do to prevent it:
Look at your company culture
Quiet quitting and firing could be a sign of a poor workplace culture, lack of engagement and failing to effectively train and manage staff.
Supporting and engaging your employees can help you stand out against your competition. After all, a challenge facing many businesses today is not being able to retain and recruit top talent. To improve engagement and encourage employee retention, you could give more opportunities for development and promotion, show interest in your employees lives and don’t forget to offer feedback.
Keep up two-way communication
Quiet firing, like quiet quitting, is ultimately a communication issue. It’s crucial your line managers have regular check ins and create an open line of communication and feedback with employees.
Employees should have an idea of what their strengths are, improvements they need to make as well any issues they need to overcome – you can do this in 1:1s or have weekly drop in sessions.
Also, creating a safe space and having informal and open conversations are often the quickest way to find out if and why someone is struggling. Employees knowing their manager is there for them when they have too much on their plate or when they have responsibilities outside of work such as childcare goes a long way in creating a mindful and positive culture.
Train and retrain managers
Your managers need to be equipped to lead and engage their teams. The manager-employee relationship is central to the employee experience, their likelihood for success in their roles, and ultimately the success of your business.
We suggest giving first-time managers training on the fundamentals skills that make for effective management – this may also be useful for experienced managers as a refresher.
Topics such as leadership, delegation, motivation and wellbeing are all covered in our HR Essentials courses for Managers.
Managers should have training available to help them become the best managers they can be to your teams.
Managers should also have the tools to better manage their teams, such as an Employee Assistance Programme or Wellness Action Plan.
Perform stay and exit interviews
If you think your managers are “quiet firing”, exit interviews can be a valuable tool for finding out why you are losing employees.
Rather than assuming you know why an employee is resigning, sit down with the departing team member and have an intentional conversation.
Even if the employee is not comfortable enough to state their reasons for leaving, you can pick up hints of the real reasons. By having and these interviews, you can pick up on the signs of quiet firing and take measures to prevent it.
Similarly, stay interviews can be held with your employees to understand what they value about their role and help you to uncover the issues that might be holding them back – or driving them to quiet quit.
Do your best to improve employee engagement
Managers should be doing their best to nurture, engage and retain staff and you just can’t have strong employee engagement without rewards and recognition. It’s one of the biggest boosters to motivation and satisfaction and can change your company culture.
There are different ways to approach it, whether through constant verbal recognition, or even a rewards programme. Whatever you choose, you can’t let good work go unnoticed – ensure your team has something waiting for them when they reach their goal.
According to research by Gallup, 70% of an employee’s motivation is influenced by their manager. Employees are likely to create a good relationship with a leader they trust, who genuinely cares about them and takes time to listen.
If you have any questions about quiet firing, or how best to engage your teams get in touch with our team at info@realityhr.co.uk.