There was nothing for him to do.
Forty five year old corporate professional Sameer Joshi remembers a rather strange experience with his manager. The manager had been hired several months ago, but he wasn’t making a good impression. “Nobody addressed it directly with him,” explains the Indian expat, based in Dubai. “But, there was often talk about him missing important deadlines and confusing his team. He just continued working, with everyone talking behind his back,” recalls Joshi. The reprimanding was minimal, even when the mistakes could have catastrophic results. Everyone spoke behind his back, mocked him, but never said anything to him. The organisation then took another step: They hired another manager, without firing the current one. Slowly, the original manager found himself without work, and was just sitting at his desk, wondering what to do.
“There was nothing for him to do. He stopped trying to do anything, and just sat at his desk,” says Joshi. Finally, the manager quit.
This is a classic case of ‘window-sitting’, when a person is just left to themselves at a workplace. No work is assigned to them. It’s a state of deadlock between the organisation that doesn’t want to take the responsibility of firing them, and the employee who won’t quit. Organisations choose this path as it is more beneficial for the employee if an employee leaves on their own accord, so they’re free of the responsibility of firing them. However, it is a dangerous path to take as it can lead to a toxic environment, which has an adverse effect on the team morale and efficiency, says Nazia Khan, a Dubai-based mindset coach and wellness expert.
‘A form of targeted bullying’
Window sitting typically refers to an employee who tends to observe from the sidelines, avoiding active participation and taking a passive role, explains Khan. However, in many cases, it can have severe ramifications on a person’s mental health.
Window-sitting can be debilitating for a person’s self-esteem. As they constantly get overlooked and sidelined, it results in a rather battered belief in oneself, and varying mental health issues, including anxiety and even depression in the long run. “This can be a subtle form of workplace bullying, intended to make employees feel ignored and unimportant until they decide to leave on their own,” says Khan.
Nazli Balkir, associate professor at Canadian University Dubai, department of psychology describes it as a form of 'quiet firing' and calls it 'insidious maltreatment'. "The employers or co-workers utilise covert measures to create a hostile work environment, ultimately leading to the resignation of the targeted employees. It entails covert manipulation of the victim's self-perception, self-esteem, and job happiness to the point where they are forced to resign," she explains. The person will be notably excluded from meetings, and their ideas will be invariably shot down. "The person may be refused promotions, training, and challenging jobs, says Balkir. This form of rejection fuels the low-self esteem and pushes them further into isolation.
An employee in such situations might think they are to blame, when in fact they are being deliberately targeted, explains Noona Nafousi, Dubai-based clinical psychologist. "It’s a form of gaslighting in the workplace. Not only this, but their career growth can be severely hampered due to the lack of meaningful work and opportunities", she adds.
Window-sitting can be a subtle form of workplace bullying, intended to make employees feel ignored and unimportant until they decide to leave on their own.
Twenty five year old Jordanian public relations professional Maryam Youssef (name changed on request) recalls a distinctly unpleasant experience. She knew a colleague who argued with her manager as she felt that she was being unfairly targeted. “She had her reasons to feel so; my boss would unnecessarily humiliate her in public about inane things. One day, when she finally hit back and called her out for harassment, she was completely shunned. She wasn’t allowed to talk to her clients anymore. Slowly, there was no work for her to do,” says Youssef.
After two months of doing nothing, and watching someone else be hired to do the same work that she was doing, Youssef’s colleague finally quit.
Window sitting can entail covert manipulation of the victim's self-perception, self-esteem, and job happiness to the point where they are forced to resign
There are steps that the person needs to take themselves, before they completely fall into idle abyss. “If you feel that you are not being given any work, or are not being treated as you were before, speak to the human resources or another senior,” explains Nafousi. If the work environment continues to be detrimental to your well-being, you need to consider a different role or a company altogether, where your skills and contributions are valued.
If you feel that you are not being given any work, or are not being treated as you were before, speak to the human resources or another senior.
A test for lethargic employees?
While a lot of the time window-sitting can also be a result of work-place bullying, there’s another side to it as well. What if the person is just wasting their time at work?
Organisations have their reasons for handling certain types of employees, who they consider ineffective. In this scenario of window-sitting, the employee just whiles away their time at work, which is another form of window-sitting. Nazia Khan, Dubai-based wellness expert and career coach points out several red flags in this situation. The person avoids taking initiative, volunteering for work and remains passive in meetings. They do not engage or contribute and prefer to remain in their own comfort zone. The person lacks accountability, ownership, blames others and shows complete disinterest in their work, she explains. As a result, managers stop investing time and effort in them.
It is usually the beginning of the end, as Dubai-based human resources manager Nicki Wilson says. She strives to give a rather different perspective of window-sitting. “The employee may not be deemed productive enough to allocate tasks to. It can also be a bit of a test to see if the employee notice's this lack of responsibility and might take the initiative to step up,” she explains.
‘Managers don’t want to deal with the problem head-on’
The responsibility, lies with both sides, on most occasions.
April Kearns, a human resources manager, speaks from the experience of working in a rather lean consultancy. “It really depends on the kind of organisation that you’re working in. I have worked in consultancies, where everyone has to work at full capacity. If you are in such a workplace and you find yourself getting cut out of things, that’s the red flag. If your line manager has you reporting to someone at a lower level, that’s also a red flag,” she points out. This means that you’re not adding value to them or their day, and they don’t have the time or patience to deal with you further.
It is usually the beginning of the end. The employee may not be deemed productive enough to allocate tasks to. It can also be a bit of a test to see if the employee notice's this lack of responsibility and might take the initiative to step up
Kearns doesn’t quite agree with this form of treatment either, and calls it a rather non-ethical manner of dealing with people. She admits that certain organisations have rather poor methods of providing feedback. “I feel that many senior managers aren’t comfortable with giving feedback. They would rather that this employee just sit there and becomes useless, rather than go with the problem head-on,” she says. It becomes a “backseat problem”, and managers believe that they can “deal with it later”. On the other hand, the employee will just continue to lie low, which is far more detrimental to their mental health as time goes by and they get pushed aside.
Many senior managers aren’t comfortable with giving feedback. They would rather that this employee just sit there and becomes useless, rather than go with the problem head-on.
She suggests that managers need to have an honest conversation with their employees, rather than leave things unsaid. “It will always come back and bite you, if you just let the problem be,” she adds.
It’s a two-sided situation, where the onus is on both sides, the organisation and the employee. In short, both sides need to have a clearer, transparent and more honest way of communication.
How you can avoid window-sitting at the workplace
In order to foster personal growth and professional development, an employee needs to avoid falling into the pattern of passivity at the workplace. If you think the office is harming your mental health intentionally or unintentionally, talk to the manager, or human resources. Seek out new opportunities, if you realise that nothing is working out.
However, if you think that you aren’t being proactive enough and others are getting more chances than you, here’s what you can do, explained by Khan.
Seek opportunities: Seek opportunities to contribute and take the lead. By stepping forward and expressing your interest, you show your initiative and a desire to make a meaningful impact.
Be proactive: Instead of waiting for instructions or guidance, take the initiative to identify areas for improvement.
Collaborate and network: Build relationships and collaborate with colleagues across different teams or departments. Engage in open and meaningful communication, seek input from others.
Embrace Challenges: Rather than shying away from difficult tasks, embrace them as opportunities to demonstrate your abilities and grow.
Continuous Learning: Engage in ongoing learning and professional development. Actively participate in workshops, webinars, or training programs offered within your organisation or seek external resources to expand your expertise.
(Note: This article was first published on July 13, 2023)
