“Lies, rumors, and office gossip have always been an entrenched part of the workscape. The office water cooler has long been a place to chitchat about the latest company news and to swap lurid tales . . . Left unchecked, certain kinds of office gossip can lead to serious problems. Employees who perceive that they’re working in a hostile environment might also feel that they are the subject of discrimination. [Annette] Simmons says management sets the tone with its attitudes and policies, but a flood of gossip is often the result of workers who lack information and have too much time on their hands. ‘When management withholds information, it creates a vacuum. People fill in the unknown with their assumptions, and things begin to spiral down.'”
Author: Samuel Greengard
Source: Work Force Magazine
Subjects: Human Resources, Organizational Behavior
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