Sample Question - Office Gossip

QUESTION

How do you deal with office gossip? There are people who enjoy stirring the pot just to watch it boil! What I would like to do isn't legal, but it would be rewarding.

ANSWER

In my experience, dealing with office gossip means going to the source of the rumors. Are the rumors and gossip about office policies? Are they about coworkers or managers? Is the gossip about pay? Once you know the topic of the gossip and rumors, then you can tailor approaches to deal with the problem.

I believe the best approach to minimizing office gossip is to ensure that there are adequate sources of true information that are constantly being distributed. If your company has a Human Resources Manager, he or she should be your partner in getting information out to employees.

Distribution sources are, for example, an employee handbook which is provided to all new employees during their orientation. News about new hires, for instance, can be spread by newsletter articles, a physical bulletin board (or electronic bulletin board if you have an intranet system), or employee meetings.

A few companies that I work with conduct what they call town meetings three or four times a year where employee groups up to as many as 100 meet with company managers to ask questions and voice concerns about rumors they've heard. In short, every opportunity for telling people what the truth is, as opposed to information distributed through the rumor mill, should be captured.

I would also encourage you and other managers to always be accessible and open to employees asking you questions. This may mean that you carry a pad and paper with you in case you're stopped on the floor so you can write down questions and get back to people if you don't have an immediate answer. This may mean that you have specific hours that you post during which employees can stop in and ask questions.

I also encourage you as a manager to pull people aside and advise them of the results of their spreading rumors and gossiping when you are able to trace misinformation back to them. Spreading rumors has consequences such as poor morale and less productivity, or even may result in some employees quitting.

If you have written values statements, such as integrity and respect, I would remind gossiping employees of those values statements and hold them accountable for supporting those values. If you'd like examples of values statements I'd be happy to provide them.

Disclaimer: The recommendations and opinions provided by e-HResources.com, LLC are based on general human resource management fundamentals, practices and principles, and are not legal opinions or guaranteed outcomes. We strongly recommend, as part of a team approach to management, that clients consult with legal counsel of their choice to address legal concerns related to human resource issues