Gossip can be an insidious form of intimidation or harassment. If the intention is to degrade, spread lies or half-truths about people, or if they are designed to hurt, denigrate and destroy reputations behind people's backs, then gossip has crossed the line and has become workplace harassment. Workplace gossip is part of the job in any organization. It's an almost inevitable result of colleagues meeting and interacting regularly.
Gossip has a bad reputation (after all, no one likes to be talked about). But that's not always a bad thing. Gossip researcher Elena Martinescu discovered that gossip actually serves a useful function. He explains: “According to the theory of evolution, humans have developed gossip to facilitate cooperation in a group.
Grosser, López-Kidwell and Labianca talk about the fact that gossip is a necessity in the collective work of the offices of large organizations. Corporate email can be a particularly dangerous method of spreading gossip because messages can easily be forwarded to unwanted recipients. In addition, if an employee engages in gossip that creates a hostile work environment, the employer may fire him to put an end to the problem of the hostile work environment. As a result, the use of technology to gossip exposes organizations to the risk of cyber liability, which is one of the main negative gossip in the workplace.
If people gossip about your working conditions, talk about what you're doing to bring about positive change. If you decide to create an office gossip policy, clearly define the type of gossip that is prohibited and keep in mind that employees can talk about their salaries and employment issues. For example, let's suppose that gossip becomes harsh and becomes intimidating or neglects the person being talked about. Employees can gossip about your company and share misinformation about performance, changes, and hiring, promotion and compensation decisions.
Disseminating stories about a co-worker's sex life, criminal history, alleged violations of company policies, or medical problems are examples of harmful gossip in the workplace. Most office gossip relates to work issues involving colleagues, management teams, employers, and customers. But while this gossip is circulating in the workplace, it's often hard to pinpoint where these rumors are coming from. Lesonsky said employers cannot use no-gossip policies to prohibit normal complaints about supervisors, which the Laurus Technical Institute seemed to be trying to do.
Gossip often includes unimportant topics, such as a co-worker's new hairstyle, weight reduction, weight gain, or a recent trip to Las Vegas. Sometimes, gossip “is a harbinger of something that is true and makes you realize something, as a manager, that you should work on,” he added. In addition, negative gossip can serve as a beneficial warning about potentially dangerous people, for example, informing a new co-worker about the boss's destructive behaviors and preventing a new employee from getting involved in problematic circumstances.
