How to tell if you’re being ‘breadcrumbed’ at work

How to tell if you’re being ‘breadcrumbed(ˈbredˌkrəm)’ at work

Is your boss(bäs,bôs) commitment(kəˈmitmənt)-phobic(ˈfōbik)?

By Emily Torres

Stop breadcrumbing me!

Our modern dating vocabulary(vi-,vōˈkabyəˌlerē) is making its way into our work lexicon(ˈleksiˌkän, ˈleksiˌkən), and it’s bringing more life and colour to the way we describe our experiences. Have you ever been ghosted by a potential(pəˈtenCHəl) employer(əmˈploiər)? Or have you ghosted them? Now, thanks to the latest series(ˈsi(ə)rēz) of the reality TV show Love Island(ˈīlənd), we have a new word for an old practice: breadcrumbing.

“Breadcrumbing is when you leave little bits of bread for someone. It’s a way of saying when you lead someone on,” explains Love Island host Caroline(-lin,ˈkarəˌlīn) Flack(flak). These small amounts of communication, encouragement or rewards ultimately(ˈəltəmətlē) might leave the recipient(rəˈsipēənt) empty-handed.

Whether you’re being strung along in a drawn(drôn)-out hiring process or your existing employer is leading you on, breadcrumbing gives you “just enough” to keep you on the line. You can see it when your manager drops hints(hint) about new projects, raises(rāz) or promotions(prəˈmōSHən) that may – or may not – ever materialise(məˈti(ə)rēəˌlīz).

“Breadcrumbing is really a modern term for what we used to call intermittent(ˌin(t)ərˈmitnt) reinforcement, which is one of the strongest ways to develop someone’s behaviour(bəˈhāvyər),” says B Lynn(lin) Ware(we(ə)r), an industrial(inˈdəstrēəl)/organisational(ˈˌôrɡənəˈzāSHənl, ˈˌôrɡənəˈzāSHnəl, ˈˌôrɡəˌnīˈzāSHənl, ˈˌôrɡəˌnīˈzāSHnəl) psychologist and the CEO of a leadership consultancy(kənˈsəltnsē) in California. She explains that successful managers use behavioural reinforcement to develop their staff through appropriate and proportional(prəˈpôrSHənl) recognition(ˌrekəɡˈniSH(ə)n) and rewards.

But what if they’re not actually using it for employee development? It may be because employers are not aware of the range of opportunities available for top talent(ˈtalənt). The 2018 Employee Retention(rəˈten(t)SH(ə)n) Report by the Work Institute(ˈinstəˌt(y)o͞ot), an employee research company, found that in the US, 40% of all turnover in 2017 was of employees who quit within their first year of employment. This was up from 34% in 2016. According to the report, the rise(rīz) in turnover shows that employees have greater flexibility to find better employment elsewhere.

…
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190723-how-to-tell-if-youre-being-breadcrumbed-at-work