SYMPTOMS
- Some colleagues are conducting spiteful conversations in which they mock and denigrate others.
- What might have started as harmless banter in the lunch- room, or constructive speculation in challenging times, now has people delighting in othersâ misfortunes, true or fabricated.
- Cliques are excluding and isolating individuals â socially, professionally or both.
- As the gossip spreads, untrue rumours have started to damage a colleagueâs professional reputation.
- Gossip spreads to social media platforms.
WHATâS GOING ON
Itâs human to want to understand situations, read the play of social activity and recognise the motivations of others. We like to guess at whatâs going on, and, in our less honourable moments, we may feel smug satisfaction when people we envy or dislike are struggling. Gossip exists in many workplaces, and it can be destructive.
What is gossip?
The positive sharing of information can be healthy. Constructive speculation about whatâs going on in the company, âbuilding social connections with colleagues, discussion of who might get that sought-after promotion â these conversations are quite natural. As humans, we try to make sense of whatâs happening around us, even when we have little information on which to base our understanding. Whether out of competition, curiosity or a genuine wish to see our colleagues succeed, weâre inherently interested in what other people are doing.
If the speculation is negative and seeks to drag someone else down, thatâs a very different story. This is gossip: nasty, inflammatory and potentially embarrassing to the target.
Gossiping employees select isolated pieces of information (facts) and turn them into something bigger (speculation). Weâve all heard it: exaggeration, embellishment and rumours. Will our co-worker get fired? Who did what to whom at the end-of-year party? Whatâs really happening in this or that colleagueâs life? Many of us have overheard sensational and salacious tales about who has a drinking problem, who is having an affair, drug addiction, financial trouble, and what questionable leverage Kaylene must have with the CEO to have won that promotion.
The problem is that such reality TVâstyle dramas are often embellished, unreliable and disruptive. Gossips who fabricate juicy tales when they should be working are often incredibly distracting to their co-workers. Sharing personal, private information, whether or not it is true, is inappropriate and potentially destructive.
Motivations of gossips
Gossips can be driven by social ambition, self-worth issues, jealousy, spite, mischief or plain old boredom. Some gossips spread rumours to fill the void of a quiet period at work, while others spread gossip deliberately and strategically to gain an advantage over others.
One consequence of gossiping (that the gossips themselves usually donât seem to understand or care about) is that gossips are never trusted. Only other gossips and clueless hangers-on will share information with such people.
Gossip can breach legal standards
At its heart, gossip is a power play used to harm and disempower others. Far from âharmlessâ, it often amounts to bullying others. Under Australian workplace laws, bullying at work occurs when a person or a group of people repeatedly behaves unreasonably towards a worker or a group of workers, and the behaviour creates a risk to health and safety. Bullying can involve, for example: aggressive or intimidating conduct; belittling or humiliating comments; spreading malicious rumours; teasing, practical jokes or âinitiation ceremoniesâ; exclusion from work-related events; unreasonable work expectations, including too much work, or work beyond a workerâs skill level; displaying offensive material; or pressure to behave in an inappropriate manner.
Negative, targeted and ongoing gossip is, at its heart, a pattern of unreasonable conduct towards a colleague. Gossips use information and misinformation to harm, disempower and exclude others.
Sometimes, gossip includes sexual content and innuendo, or maligning colleagues for engaging in sexual conduct (actual or invented). This can contribute to a sexualised culture and can even amount to sexual harassment: unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature.
Gossip can be a symptom or tool of resistance to change, or rejection of accountability. Malicious rumours can be used to undermine, deter or marginalise the manager who is trying to effect change. Gossip can also be about fear or suspicion of outsiders â for example, false statements being made about the beliefs, practices or lifestyle of a stakeholder from a different cultural background (see chapter 7).
Gossip thrives when information is lacking
Aristotle famously said that nature abhors a vacuum, postulating that any space or void would immediately fill with life. Gossip loves silence, filling it with vague information and speculation. Misinformation will thrive when no one in the workplace really knows whatâs going on. Employees who donât trust their manager or who lack information will make things up to fill in the blanks. A false answer, to them, is better than no answer at all.
This means that in times of change or upheaval, such as during restructures, gossip can run riot. In these circumstances, employees quite naturally feel fearful and insecure and seek answers, while the organisationâs leaders cannot answer every question, perhaps because not all the information is available yet. Gossips then step in to fill the information void.
IMPACT ON THE TEAM
Gossip can disrupt and damage:
- interpersonal relationships
- the motivation and morale of the team overall
- the systems of work and how employees work together (avoidance and missed opportunities to collaborate)
- productivity
- employee engagement and retention (high-performing employees, feeling either distracted or undermined, seek work elsewhere).
If the gossip spreads to social media platforms, the negativity and criticisms are even more public. These forums are less controlled and far more visible to the outside world, which ramps up the potential risks to the individuals and the employer. Social media creates the perfect environment for gossip to flourish, as the following case study illustrates.
CASE STUDY
FACEBOOK GOSSIP AFTER THE PARTY
The Christmas party at signage company Hancock Signature is always a raucous event. After this yearâs party, Zara posted some photos of the party on Facebook, including one of machine operator Spyros and Leila, a temp. Underneath the photo, Zara commented, âLove is in the airâ. The photo attracted multiple likes and additional comments alluding to a relationship between Spyros and Leila and suggesting that Leila had been drinking excessively at the party.
The following week in the office, the gossip is rife. Spyros is furious. He is happily married and was talking to Leila to make her feel part of the party, as she was new to the office. Leila, who is a teetotaller for religious reasons, is upset as well. She had been brought in to assist Zara with her work and she wonders whether Zara is trying to intimidate her. She goes to HR to ask what she can do.
You can see from this example how easily gossip can s...
