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For some companies more, for others less, but regardless of the case, the dismissal or dismissal of employees is always a delicate matter that reveals many related issues.
When it comes to the subject, two terms have recently gained prominence – quiet firing and quiet quitting.
What they are, what are their consequences and what can be behind their occurrence, is what we will deal with today.
What is quiet firing and quiet quitting?
Are loanwords used in the business environment and neologisms – at least around here – used to designate “silent dismissal” and that in the case of firing, it is when it occurs on the part of the company and quitting, when it comes from the employee.
Quiet quitting was the first term to gain evidence, especially in some social networks and used most notably by Generations Z (Centennials) and Millennials and it seems to have been incorporated into its vocabulary on the occasion of a movement similar to what was seen in the USA some time after the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
There and soon after here in Brazil, right in the midst of the unemployment crisis caused by the lockdown, people began to resign or, when not, began to adopt a passive and accommodated posture in their jobs, limiting themselves to doing the minimum necessary that the job required.
By doing only the basics for the company, without worrying about going beyond and/or doing it the best way, or seeking improvement, growth and even feedback regarding their results, the employee puts himself in a position of little interest on the part of the company. company in its maintenance in the position, culminating many times in its dismissal.
In other words, without expressing themselves clearly and literally, the employee silently shows his dissatisfaction with his professional occupation.
Quiet firing, like its correspondent from the employee’s point of view, is when the company creates an environment that is not very stimulating and sometimes very unfavorable for the employee to perform his/her duties.
This can be done in a variety of ways, such as assigning complex tasks and with higher levels of demand than those of their peers, or conversely, delegating monotonous, repetitive and unimportant things.
In summary, the scenario experienced by the employee leads to feelings such as demotivation, oppression, exclusion, no future and no positive perspectives, creating an unsustainable climate, until there is no alternative but to resign.
When did the terms quiet quitting and quiet firing come about?
As behaviors and situations observed, it cannot be said that they are new.
Since the beginning of employment relationships, both have existed. Only and perhaps to a lesser extent than today, especially in the case of quiet quitting.
As terms and gaining space for use in people’s speeches, with social networks and primarily among Reddit users. As is well known, words and expressions that are popular with these new generations quickly go viral and become popular.
But as we have already mentioned, this movement took shape in the midst of the pandemic, precisely when new relationships and forms of work needed to take the place of traditional models.
This added to the fact that the quiet quitting manifested itself in much higher rates precisely in the generations that lived the digital transformation and the Internetwhich made it possible to home officecultivate virtual relationships or in the digital environment, sometimes to the detriment of face-to-face relationships, are much more likely to break paradigms and because they do not cling to work, but to professional fulfillment and do not see themselves doing the same things for a lifetime, to some extent explain this type of behavior.
In other words, the pandemic only came to open wide their natural beliefs that consolidated and traditional models of work need to change to accommodate new generations.
What’s behind quiet firing and quiet quitting?
Simply imagining that either one or the other must be accepted, just because to some degree they have always existed, is not an adequate option.
It is not just a matter of admitting that the new generations, who are increasingly occupying the labor market, are and behave differently from their peers and predecessors from other generations.
But to see how organizations are structured, what their culture, philosophy, vision and mission are like, after all, for some companies it is even possible to hire those for whom the models of the past served, but not for a long time.
In less than a decade, Gen X will be 50 or older and some are on the way to retirement!
It is necessary to reflect on different variables that can, to varying degrees, influence the organizational environment and how to insert new generations into companies:
- To what extent is the employee’s situation not a result of how the leadership on the part of managers or even their absence of cohesive leadership principles and oriented to the human capital they have;
- In the same way that companies had to adapt to changes in the profile of consumers, they need to see that these changes have also occurred with their employees and that they are also consumers. This ends up being reflected in the plans of incentivesin reports and evaluations, in trainings and training programs in standard operating procedures and even in job and salary programs;
- Immediate consequence of the above item, the perception of what is quality of life at work (QVT), is also different;
- Aspects that in the past were much more Marketingactually need to be real in the company’s daily life, such as innovation and permanent change, technologyappreciation of social responsabilityto name just the most common ones;
- Managers need to be flexible and accept the need for change. Your people management practices need to evolve for new audiences;
- The role of the department Human Resources it gains even greater importance and that, among other things, needs to help change the organizational culture in accordance with new times;
- Waiting and investing several or even a few years for a promotion or something that reflects professional recognition is certainly not an option for most of those who are part of these generations;
- Can’t wait for a set of hard and soft skills that was considered ideal 20 years ago – or less until – of these professionals. Instead, you need to know how to take advantage of the new arsenal of skills and talents that these generations offer;
- Business Communication failure or ineffective. All levels suffer and the negative consequences are in direct proportion to their quality. Promoting its effectiveness necessarily involves, if not eliminating, diminishing the abyss that exists and that separates different generations in communicative terms;
- Managers and entrepreneurs are completely wrong who, in supposing that the generations that live and interact through applications on the Internet and social networks, do not value the human aspect. On the contrary, and precisely for this reason, that social and environmental responsibility is even more important to them. Companies that effectively value the ESG agendatend to attract them more.
In other words, quiet firing or silent dismissal on the part of the employee is not something that occurs simply because it is the nature of employees of the new generations, or because they are lazy, or disinterested and unmotivated, but because the environment and working conditions “pushes” them in that direction.
Why avoid quiet firing?
Neither of the two situations discussed so far is favourable, but the occurrence of quiet firing reveals even more severe consequences for the company.
First of all, it is necessary to make it clear that sometimes it is not part of the culture or it is not company policy to do so. It happens, as we have seen, due to the inability of its managers to manage the human capital at their disposal.
In other words, the top management imagines that it will not happen, but is unaware that in the face of a lack of leadership skills, the right circumstances are created.
An employee who trusts his immediate manager is likely to believe that his actions are aimed at his well-being. But trust is something that is neither asked for nor imposed. It is the result of the manager’s actions. When it occurs organically, it is said to exercise one of the aspects of leadership.
It is also necessary to be aware that the company needs to evolve according to the world, being or seeking the solutions that is expected in the society of which it is a part and that involves security, inclusion, ethiceducation, income distribution, the principles of the ESG agenda, etc.
But when quiet firing is habitually and consciously inserted into the company’s practices, the situation is more severe and can have even more critical consequences.
Let us not forget that there is jurisprudence and understandings about it. THE booklet on the Prevention of Moral Harassment of the Superior Labor Court (TST) provides for a series of situations, such as exposure to humiliating and embarrassing situations in the work environment, as well as permanent reiteration, represents damage to the dignity and integrity of the individual and to physical and mental health.
In addition to these questions, there are other relevant ones:
- Inadequate situations and/or environment will be favorable and can also “contaminate” those who supposedly have the right profile, the most productive and most motivated. If other people see certain attitudes being taken against their peers or other collaborators, regardless of the hierarchical level they occupy, they will know that the same can apply at some point to themselves;
- Companies where quiet firing – but even quiet quitting – occurs, tend to have high staff turnover, with known negative consequences, such as a drop in productivity, in the search for standards, in constant training, increased absenteeism, in costs and that even compromises the resumption of economic activity of companies in the post-pandemic;
- Communication at all levels tends to deteriorate. It is important to remember that the precariousness of communication is often also the cause and, therefore, when this happens, the company enters a vicious circle;
- To curb and, above all, to move in the opposite direction of quiet firing, is to work towards a more positive organizational climate, with consistent gains and that is closer to the much objectified employee who “wears the company’s shirt”;
- In addition to the mentality of its management, a company is also the result of the people who help to keep it up and running and that involve everyone, regardless of their hierarchical level or position in the organizational chart.
From silent, this situation has only the name.
In fact, it is an eloquent reminder of how urgent it is to rethink everything that is done, why it is done, and what impacts it has on business continuity.
The time and the outdated view have passed that by providing a job and a salary, people will subject themselves to anything, see the numbers of the General Register of Employed and Unemployed (Caged), for which in the last 12 months, ending in July/2022, there were more than 6 million resignations among workers with a formal contract, representing about a third of the total dismissals in the same period.
People are not simply and silently giving up or giving up their jobs, but seeking more than their parents expected from one, such as balance with their personal lives and their ideals and convictions.
Last but not least, it is important to realize that despite the differences between the terms discussed, the causes are often the same and that is why it is not possible to deal with just one or just the other in isolation. Seen in another way, they are two sides of the same problem.
Conclusion
Quiet firing and quiet quitting are two sides of the same coin, which if not fully understood, can have severe impacts on companies.
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