Quiet quitting is so 2022. According to CNBC (citing Gallup’s 2023 State of the Global Workplace Report) loud quitting is all the rage.
What is loud quitting? Employees who "take actions that directly harm the organization, undercutting its goals and opposing its leaders." Such actions include, for example, bad-mouthing their boss on LinkedIn on their way out the door or riling up co-workers before they leave.
The Gallup survey blames management for this crisis. "At some point along the way, the trust between employee and employer was severely broken," Gallup wrote. "Or the employee has been woefully mismatched to a role, causing constant crises."
I say, "Hogwash!"
The only person to blame for an employee's boorish behavior is the employee. No matter how bad someone might perceive their workplace or its management to be, there is no excuse for bridge burning. There is a correct way and a wrong way to leave a job, and loud quitting squarely falls in the latter.
Employees, if you're thinking about loud quitting, don't. Your reputation is your most important asset, and news of your bad behavior will get around. Businesses don't want to hire employees that behave like that. You'll make yourself unemployable (or at least unemployable for the quality of employers for which you'll want to work).
Employers, if an employee is loud quitting, don't wait for them to finish the process. Immediately show them the door. Termination is your best remedy. The employee was already leaving; why delay the inevitable.
I'm not suggesting that you ignore the internal issues that could have caused someone to loud quit. It may present an opportunity to improve processes, management, or other issues that you may not have known were issues. Your organizational issues, however, do not justify or excuse an employee's bad behavior, period.