Idiom
kick upstairs
Meaning
To promote (an employee considered troublesome) to a position of lesser influence, but of apparently higher status.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The company decided to kick him upstairs to a quiet office.”
“Management wanted to remove the difficult manager from daily operations, so they kicked him upstairs to a ceremonial role.”
“Rather than dismissing the incompetent executive, the board chose to kick him upstairs, effectively neutralizing his influence while maintaining the appearance of a promotion.”
Examples
simple
“The company decided to kick him upstairs to a quiet office.”
contextual
“Management wanted to remove the difficult manager from daily operations, so they kicked him upstairs to a ceremonial role.”
complex
“Rather than dismissing the incompetent executive, the board chose to kick him upstairs, effectively neutralizing his influence while maintaining the appearance of a promotion.”
Key words
Related idioms
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