2 May 2007
Survey says gossip shouldn't get you fired
Newspaper readers take a liberal stance on work-based chit-chat.
An online survey on the website of the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper last week revealed that 63% of its 488 survey respondents believe "workers shouldn't be fired for gossiping about their superiors". It highlighted an area of employee communication that generates opposing viewpoints.
An additional 29% of survey respondents said workers should be disciplined, but not fired for gossiping. Only 8% said gossipers should be sacked.
If everyone who gossiped got fired from their jobs, we would have an unemployment rate of about 98%.
Why the furore?
The results come as four former employees of the town of Hooksett in
the US fight to have their jobs reinstated. The employees were dismissed
last month for allegedly gossiping about their boss, town administrator,
David Jodoin.
The four also reportedly discussed low morale in the workplace and perceived preferential treatment of another town employee. The employees' dismissal has sparked controversy both in Hooksett and New Hampshire as a whole.
According to a report on the newspaper's website, one survey respondent replied "If everyone who gossiped got fired from their jobs, we would have an unemployment rate of about 98%," wrote Goffstown resident Julie Smith.
No one is infallible
For others, the proper response to gossip was to issue a warning to
employees, as opposed to firing them. "It's impossible to remove
gossip from the workplace entirely," wrote
Debby Garofano, a respondent who spent 15 years working as an HR manager.
No one is infallible, and an employee with consistent, lengthy service to the company is worth retaining if possible.
Garofano wrote that she would have told the gossiping employees that their conduct was damaging and counterproductive to the workplace, given them a verbal warning and had them apologize to the person being gossiped about.
"No one is infallible, and an employee with consistent, lengthy service to the company is worth retaining if possible," Garofano said. But there were some people who believed the firings were justified. "If these women are actually guilty of gossiping about their boss then they were rightfully fired," wrote one respondent.
Have your say
What's your company's stance on workplace gossiping? Do you have
a policy or guidelines in place that your comms and HR department
need to work on conveying to employees? Join in the discussion and
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