While talking about silent resignation (quiet quitting), we came across another concept: silent firing. It is not a new concept, it has been going on in business life for a long time, let me give you some information in advance.

What is silent firing?

It is actually a mobbing behavior, in other words, psychological violence behavior in the workplace. In simple terms, silent firing is the employee leaving the job as a result of the negative behavior of the manager or employer. It is a situation that occurs when the manager slowly loses interest or desire in the employee's job, but does not express this. We can say that it is a similar situation to a lover who wants to break up but cannot say it, does not have the courage to break up.

To give a few examples of behaviors;

• Planning one-on-one meetings but then frequently canceling them
• Not giving feedback to the employee
• Not giving promotions or raises for years
• Stopping or deliberately restricting development opportunities
• Assigning work that is far below the employee’s abilities
• Not appreciating the employee at all

At the end of the day, the employee feels “unwanted in the organization”.

So why do managers quietly fire employees?

• Mostly, it is the manager’s or the organization’s leadership skills that We can say that it is because it is not weak. Due to lack of communication, feedback, coaching or conflict skills, the manager may avoid confrontation or may not dare to say that he does not want to work together.
• We may also encounter situations where he feels that he cannot produce a solution, thus alienating the employee from the job or the organization. In organizations where career opportunities are generally limited, managers may have difficulty offering career path options for their team members. When they cannot communicate this or cannot suggest different paths for development, they may exhibit silent dismissal behavior.
• He may not be able to show equal or fair attention or follow up because of the large number of employees reporting to him. He/she may not even realize that he/she is quietly firing someone.
• He/she may be copying the behavior of his/her manager or role model.
• He/she may be ensuring that the employee resigns and avoiding paying severance.

Let’s also add that it may be more common in remote working and hybrid working models.

In fact, the solution can be provided through communication and feedback, but the solution is left to a negative and destructive behavior, namely the employee’s resignation. As with quiet resignation, it is necessary to see the signals early in quiet dismissal. The behaviors I listed above are some of the signals. No matter what, avoiding talking, not taking action or alienating the employee from the job should not be a method.