For a podcast about communication at work, we sometimes use corporate jargon that doesn’t always make sense—even to us. We disagree about corporate speak and what it means. Case in point, managing out. What does managing out mean? How do you know if you’re being managed out? There’s definitely some misalignment on what “managing people out” means versus what it’s supposed to mean — maybe we need a new word. According to the business dictionary Jargonism, The definition of Managing Someone Out is, “The practice of giving an employee undesirable tasks, so that the employee leaves a company voluntarily.” It means something else to Kim, and Brandi thinks “managing out” is a term rife with manipulative insincerity. Listen to the conversation then let us know what you think about managing out!
Listen to the episode:
Radical Candor Podcast: Managing Out
In the human resources subreddit, user arooooh-ra says: “In our small U.S.-based non-profit, when someone is no longer a fit, or is underperforming, leadership’s common tactic is to manage them out of the organization instead of firing them. “Managing them out” includes a variety of things including reducing their responsibilities, shifting them to a new supervisor, giving them lots of negative feedback on performance (usually informally; PIPs are rarely used), generally micromanaging them. Eventually, they get the message and quit. While it’s an effective strategy in some ways, I do have concerns about it creating a toxic work environment, both for the employee being managed out and for their teammates. If nothing else, it feels incredibly dehumanizing for the person getting managed out. It seems more honest to be more direct about it and just let them go.”
This sounds like quiet firing or even mobbing if the manager brings other people into the act of trying to push the employee out.
From our research, managing out is most often associated with this behavior. The Radical Candor teams share their perspective!
Radical Candor Podcast Resources: Managing Out
- Signs Your Boss Is ‘Managing You Out’ And What to Do, According to Experts
Managing Someone Out (The Right Way) - 3 strategies more effective than firing a bad employee
- Managing Someone Out Definition
- Radical Candor Podcast: Absentee Management Vs. Quiet Firing
- 4 Things To Do When Firing Someone | Radical Candor
- What Leaders Can Learn About “In-Group” Dynamics to Prevent Workplace Mobbing
- Managing employees out of the organization: r/humanresources
- [PA] Am I being managed out? : r/AskHR
- Ex-HR Worker Says Companies ‘Manage You Out’ Instead of Firing
- Radical Candor Podcast: The Emotional Toll Of Being Laid Off
- CUT OF ONE’S JIB Definition & Usage Examples | Dictionary.com
- Mass weddings and cult accusations: Who are the ‘Moonies’ and what is the Unification Church?
- Conscious uncoupling – Wikipedia
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Episodes are written and produced by Brandi Neal with script editing by Amy Sandler. The show features Radical Candor co-founders Kim Scott and Jason Rosoff and is hosted by Amy Sandler. Nick Carissimi is our audio engineer.
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