Burdening high-performing employees with extra work
Inhuman resources,performance punishment also known asquiet promotion refers to the burdening of high-performingemployees with additional work, often without compensation or promotion.[1][2][3] It is related toquiet hiring, the practice of having anemployee take on a new responsibilities or a role within their company due to need.[4] The role may be temporary or permanent, and the reassignment may not align with employee interests.[4] Quiet hiring often occurs during economic slowdowns as a cost-saving measure.[4]
Performance punishment can lead tooccupational burnout,resentment, and a sense of being undervalued leading tomorale loss.[1] Performance punishment of high-performers may also limit opportunities for improvement of low-performers and alternative growth opportunities for high-performers.[5] Performance punishment allows for performance deficits of low-performers to be ignored.[6]
Performance punishment can be mitigated by having work fairly distributed, promoting skills development, and transparent communication.[7]
Performance punishment and quiet hiring may negatively impact employee engagement with reassigned employeesquiet quitting or mentallychecking out.[8] Quiet hiring may promote the utilization of nontraditional labor pools and allow workers to gain new skills and try out new roles for career development.[9][10] Quiet hiring encourages the promotion of internal employees over external hiring.[11]
