Often, harmless gossip at work turns not-so-harmless, when people start saying unpleasant things about a colleague or the boss. Ignore them at your peril, says Vikas Kumar
1 Build Trust “Create a culture of loyalty to the person who is absent, as Stephen Covey suggests,” says Virendra Singh, executive director, HR at RJ Corp. In other words, discourage people from speaking unfavourably about others in their absence.
2 Ignore Gossip “We tend to over-dramatise things; it’s human tendency,” says Singh. If it’s minor, ignore it. But if it appears malicious, act swiftly. “Have a discussion, confront the person but ensure no scene is created,” says Aparna Sharma, president, Noam Management Consulting.
3 Act Decisively “As a supervisor, I will try and understand where this is coming from, and say, ‘Let’s come to the point — what happened and what can we do about it?’ ,” says Sharma. There’s a fine line between being an agony aunt and a patient listener. “Don’t offer a shoulder to cry on,” she says.
4 Professionalise “Keep your organisation’s performance assessment and career progression systems transparent,” says Sharma. That way the incentive to criticise people on unverified and flimsy grounds goes down.
5 De-Control Though it could happen anywhere, Sharma insists promoter-led businesses tend to be a breeding ground for such behaviour. “The CEO should stop being a power centre, and bring in processes in place as far as performance, career and work decisions are concerned. People are then less inclined to bad mouth each other,” she says.
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