FACULTY OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE AND POLICY STUDIES

DIPLOMA IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

(ELC270)

CLASS:
D1AM1104A

GROUP PORTFOLIO:
GOSSIP IN WORKPLACE

PREPARED FOR:
MADAM ROHAZLYN BINTI ROSLY

PREPARED BY:
NO. STUDENT NAME STUDENT ID
1. NURIN ATHIRAH BINTI SAMSUDIN 2021109383
2. NURUL NAZIHAH BINTI YAACOB 2021109785
3. NUR AMAL AMALIN BALQIS BINTI HAZIM 2021109361
4. SHARIFAH NUR SAADAH BINTI SYED 2021125351
ABDULLAH

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

No. Items Page

1. Group members introduction 3-4
2. Introduction 5
3. Role Play Situation 6-7
Articles
- Article 1 7-13
- Article 2 14-19
4.
- Article 3 20-25
- Article 4 26-31
- Article 5 32-34
5. References 35

2
NAME: NURUL NAZIHAH BINTI YAACOB

STUDENT ID: 2021109785

POSITION: HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER

NAME: SHARIFAH NUR SAADAH BINTI

SYED ABDULLAH351

STUDENT ID:2021125351

POSITION: SUPERVISOR

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NAME: NURIN ATHIRAH BINTI
SAMSUDIN

STUDENT ID: 2021109383

POSITION: TEAM LEADER

NAME: NUR AMAL AMALIN BALQIS

BINTI HAZIM

STUDENT ID: 2021109361

POSITION: COUNSELLOR

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INTRODUCTION
Bullying at the workplace will be the main topic of this portfolio. Bullying is

frequently described as actions or words that have the power to isolate or

psychologically injure a person at work. Bullying occasionally involves unpleasant

physical contact as well. Bullying typically consists of recurrent incidents or a pattern

of behaviour intended to terrorise, insult, denigrate, or humiliate a specific person or

group of people. Another definition of it is the violent assertion of dominance. People

in the workplace are affected by bullying, which is a severe problem.

The concept of due diligence is covered by occupational health and safety laws

all throughout the world. Employers are required to exercise due diligence by making

every attempt within their power to avoid workplace mishaps or accidents. Everybody

should be able to work in a secure and healthy atmosphere.

The responsibilities and obligations for workplace parties with regard to

harassment and violence in the workplace, including developing and carrying out

policies and programmes, will be outlined in the legislation in your jurisdiction. Bullying

may be implied even though it is not expressly stated in legal definitions of violence

and harassment. Our group selected a scenario in which superiors or bosses used

bullying strategically to get rid of good employees.

SAMPLE SITUATED SIMULATION

Teratak Holding is a big machinery company. Most employees are male and female.

There was a new employee at level 1 about a month ago. He was constantly bullied

by his seniors, who forced him to do their work and began gossiping about him when

he refused. This bullying kept happening until one day the new employee reported to

the team leader about the slander and bullying, he had received. Even when he tries

to make friends with his co-workers, he is constantly rejected at work. So, the team

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leader tries to find a solution by reporting the entire problem to the supervisor and

human resource management, as well as meeting with a counsellor to quick resolve

the company's image.

SITUATION: Bullying by co-workers who are on an equal footing through

slander, sabotage, and critic or gossip

Characters: Ms Nazihah – Human Resources Manager

Ms Sharifah – Supervisor

Ms Athirah – Team Leader

Ms Amal – Counsellor

Complain: The central problem with employees is that they frequently fail to accept

responsibility for every task assigned to them and have a propensity to place the blame

elsewhere. For instance, fights and gossip unpleasant remarks said behind your back.

In order to become the target of slander, gossip mongers will prey on those with ears

to the ground to learn about employee issues at work. If it is unsuccessful, they will

begin blaming others. This kind of worker typically refuses to listen and is unable to

take criticism or ideas. They decide not to pay attention to feedback or corrective

training that has been given after receiving a reprimand from superiors. They avoid

people or act distant and uncaring. Since they are not well liked by their co-workers,

this employee finds it challenging to develop relationships with them. Employees that

act in this way will follow instructions and perform their duties. If not directed, he prefers

to unwind in his office chair while engaging in gossip, which he then invites other

employees to partake in. As a result, a co-worker learns about another person's private

life, which then becomes the subject of unsettling rumours. This person keeps

discussing it and sharing it with other co-workers. The best use of free time is to finish

other tasks or, at the very least, take the initiative to come up with a wonderful idea.

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Solution:

• To resolve the conflicts, confront the bullies/Bad employers.

• Keep track of the evidence and submit a report to the superior.

• Developing an anti-bullying policy for the company to follow

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ARTICLE 1

Workplace Gossip: What Crosses the Line?

AUTHOR: Dana Wilkie

Is it gossip to speculate whether Carol in accounting is expecting her second child?

When does gossip cross the line from innocuous, garden-variety conversation to

something so potentially hurtful, harmful or liable that companies are within their

rights to forbid it?

In a December 2013 ruling, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Administrative

Law Judge Donna Dawson struck down what she called an “overly broad” no-gossip

policy at Laurus Technical Institute in the Greater Atlanta area. The institute had fired

Joslyn Henderson because she discussed an Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission (EEOC) complaint she had filed alleging sexual harassment and

retaliation by her manager.

The school had a restrictive no-gossip policy that banned talking about someone’s

personal or professional life when the person or his or her manager wasn’t present. It

also prohibited “making negative or disparaging comments or criticisms about

anyone; creating, and sharing or repeating, a rumor about another person; and

discussing work issues or terms and conditions of employment with other

employees.”

The judge concluded that the policy violated the National Labor Relations Act.

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Jon Hyman, a partner in the labor and employment group at Ohio-based Kohrman

Jackson & Krantz PLL, said the institute’s policy violated Section 7 of the act, which

addresses “protected concerted activity” of employees. In layman’s language this

means the law protects workers’ right to talk about wages, hours and other

employment conditions.

“The judge concluded that someone could read [the policy] to say, ‘We can’t talk

about how much we make or how the supervisor is working us too many hours or

about what’s going on with our jobs at work.’

What Is Gossip?

“Gossip” is endowed with several meanings. To some, it refers only to malicious or

actionable talk about someone beyond the person’s hearing; some believe that

gossip involves just untrue tales, while others think it can include truthful remarks.

Still others consider “gossip” to be any talk of a person’s or institution’s affairs—

whether personal or professional, innocuous or slanderous.

For instance, Peter Vajda, an Atlanta-based speaker and author on speaker on

business coaching, defines workplace gossip as a form of workplace violence, noting

that it is “essentially a form of attack.”

TLK Healthcare, an Austin, Texas-based health care recruiting company, includes

among gossiping employees those who tattle to the boss with no intention of offering

a solution or speaking to co-workers about a problem.

But some amount of workplace gossip is actually healthy, according to Rieva

Lesonsky, CEO of GrowBiz Media, a media and custom-content company for small

businesses.

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“It shows camaraderie among your team,” Lesonsky explained in a phone interview

with SHRM Online. “But if it’s starting to hurt someone’s feelings or affect morale or

attitude, that’s when the line’s been crossed. You have to be really observant to

know when that happens.”

Sometimes gossip “is a harbinger of something that’s true, and it makes you aware

of something, as a manager, that you need to work on,” she added.

Dangers of Gossip

Workplace gossip can be very serious, however, if the gossiper has significant power

over the recipient, wrote authors Nancy Kurland and Lisa Hope Pelled in their article

“Passing the Word: Toward a Model of Gossip and Power in the Workplace,” which

appeared in the April 2000 issue of The Academy of Management Review. Some

negative consequences of workplace gossip are:

• Erosion of trust and morale.

• Lost productivity and wasted time.

• Increased anxiety among employees as rumors circulate without clear

information as to what is and isn’t fact.

• Divisiveness among employees as people take sides.

• Hurt feelings and reputations.

• Attrition due to good employees leaving the company because of an

unhealthy work environment.

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Company Policies

In their employee handbooks, many companies have formal policies restricting

gossip. Given the recent NLRB ruling, how can they be sure these policies aren’t

“overly broad” so as to become unenforceable?

First, the policy should explicitly state that it’s not meant to limit employees’ right to

talk about wages, hours or working conditions; rather, it is aimed at gossip about

non-work-related issues, Hyman said.

Beyond that, he added, organizations have to decide where the line is between

innocuous banter among colleagues and conversations that could lead to legitimate

concerns about health, safety or harassment.

“Frankly, you’ll never stop people from talking about how so-and-so is cheating on a

spouse or came in this morning smelling like booze,” Hyman noted. “That’s human

nature. But there’s definitely a line you need to draw, for instance, where safety is

concerned, or [with] issues of harassment, or if somebody feels talked about

because of their race or sex. Then it becomes a liability if it’s not addressed.”

Lesonsky said employers can’t use no-gossip policies to forbid normal griping about

supervisors, which the Laurus Technical Institute appeared to try to do.

“As a manager, you do have to suck it up a little, because there’s bound to be some

amount of resentment toward the boss,” she said. “If someone says, ‘He’s really

hard-nosed,’ you’ve got to let that go. But if it starts to be something like, ‘She drinks

every day at lunch,’ it’s going to undermine your authority and credibility, and that’s

when you may need to take action.”

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Writing policies prohibiting gossip may be tricky enough that companies may instead

want to focus on educating employees about the dangers of talking about co-workers

behind their backs, said Hyman. “Work this into a broader initiative addressing

whatever you want to call the behavior—whether bullying or just unprofessional

conduct.”

Lesonsky said another approach is to hire a business coach.

“There are ones who specialize in team attitude, and they’re a lot like a marriage

counselor,” she explained. “They sit people down and discuss what’s at the root of [the

gossip], and maybe they learn that people feel resentful because the manager favors

certain employees. Depending on where you are on the managerial team, you have

to check the whole train to make sure there isn’t a weak link somewhere.”

Source: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-
relations/pages/office-gossip-policies.aspx

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REFLECTIVE SUMMARY 1

Explanation about the articles

The article is mostly about going over the ways that gossiping at work goes too far.

Workplace gossip can cause problems that can be very serious if the person doing the

talking has a lot of power over the person being talked about. There are two ways to

stop gossip at work that are both very effective. Make sure that these rules aren't "too

broad" so that they can't be enforced. First, the policy should make it clear that it's not

meant to stop employees from talking about wages, hours, or working conditions.

Instead, it should stop employees from talking about things that have nothing to do

with work. Second, the organisations have to decide where the line is between

harmless chatter among coworkers and conversations that could lead to real concerns

about health, safety, or harassment.

Personal response towards the article

I agree with the writer very much about the ways to stop it that are mentioned in the

article. This is because it is mostly about how to stop gossiping at work. Also, they can

find out that people are angry because the manager likes some employees more than

others. Depending on where you are on the management team, you have to check the

whole train to make sure there isn't a weak link somewhere. This kind of law is the

best way to stop the unfair rumors that have been going around at work.

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Article 2

Office Gossip: The evolutionary trait of gossiping, is it helping workplace to evolve?

AUTHOR: Sakshi Bhatt & Aarushi Bhargava

May 30,2022

Most of us have enjoyed the famous sitcom “The Office” with the quirky everyday

stories of corporate offices. One of the most prominent limelight and funny elements

of the show is gossip.

Remember, when Michael Scott spreads gossip about Stanley having an affair, then

spreads a series of false rumours to try to convince everyone the original rumour

was not true. Eventually, these gossips and rumours cause Andy to question his

sexuality, and Pam and Jim to debate whether or not to tell the office that Pam is

pregnant.

Similarly, in reality too, sometimes gossip leads an employee into a lot of mental

trouble affecting different aspects of a person’s life. Research has highlighted that

office or job-related gossip can increase employee cynicism.

Gossip is a blurry area in terms of definition as it could be talking about a person

behind their back about their personal lives or choices which can be a true or an

untrue tale and can be positive or negative.

According to research published by The International Journal of Human Resource

Management, 14 per cent of workplace coffee-break chat is actually gossip and

about 66 per cent of general conversations between employees are related to social

topics concerning other people.

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As gossip is one the most common things in every office, ETHRWorld interacted with

industry leaders to understand the effect of office gossip on employees and

workplace culture.

Is office gossip harmful?

Scientifically, gossip has been the evolutionary trait that enables humans to survive

and thrive in their race. So, gossip is a part of our traits, but when it comes to the

workplace it can have different effects.

Speaking about how gossip is a natural part of workplaces, Madhulika Vedula,

Director - Human Resources, Providence India, says, gossip is a form of

controversial information as humans tend to talk about different things; it could lead

to sharing of personal information.

She says, “Gossip typically relates to sensational information or rumours about

others. In any structural setup, conversation or communication is the pin that brings

people together, and it is human for people to converse about a range of things,

often adding personal perspectives or hearsay that are perceived as facts by others,

which can lead to gossip.”

Furthermore, she talks about how and when gossip becomes harmful and says

gossip becomes harmful when it starts affecting an employee’s wellbeing and

workplace culture.

“It becomes harmful when this gossip becomes detrimental to an individual’s mental

and emotional wellbeing, or an organisation’s culture, values and business,” says

Vedula.

Similarly, talking about the two sides of gossip, Hardeep Singh, President of Right

Management India, says gossip has a bright and a dark side to it. On the one hand,

it could help make humans connect and communicate, but also affect a person's

identity.

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Singh says, “There is a bright side and a dark side to gossip. While Gossip can help

foster communities and deploy social norms, it could also damage and infringe on

esteem for individuals.”

“It does satiate an innate need for many humans around bonding, venting, and

power to name a few. However, in the event gossip starts to leverage second-hand

noise in the absence of data and transparency, it could lead to damage of

perception,” he adds.

Moreover, Singh says that gossip becomes dangerous when it starts targeting a

group or a specific person. Also, he says that gossip is a waste of time.

He says, “It becomes dangerous when it targets a person or group of people. It also

results in unhealthy rumours being spread, or an endless list of assumptions which

can't be verified.”

“Conclusively, such gossiping is pointless and we can spread the fact that by

gossiping, we end up wasting more of our time than utilising it, so it is us who are

most affected by it,” he adds.

The impact on workplace culture and image

Gossips are not usually restricted to employees, but they can also affect the

workplace culture in several ways.

Highlighting that gossip affects workplace culture, Singh says, “Gossip has a direct

impact on the culture and environment of the organisation, as it impacts perceptions

and alignment to social norms.”

Bringing another point to the table about the impact of office gossip on workplace

culture, Vedula says, if the organisation’s values and vision are communicated

properly it helps to keep employees engaged instead of gossiping.

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“An organisation’s values, when continuously communicated and built into the

organisational culture, will create a workplace ethos that honours those values so

that employees self-reflect before initiating or spreading negative information in the

form of gossip. Without a strong values-based culture, employees are also less

engaged, and therefore less loyal, and less invested in supporting organisational

goals,” says Vedula.

Is there a workplace policy for office gossip?

As gossipping is natural and a part of communication, what kind of policy should be

in place to reduce the negative effects of gossip?

Commenting on how office gossip can be controlled, Vedula says office gossip can

be controlled through maintaining transparency with employees and creating an

open-door culture for employees to reach for help.

She says, “From an organisational standpoint, minimising gossip about key

organisation matters is vital to building a healthy work culture. This can be done by

building transparency in organisational processes and policies, with a shared

rationale behind decisions.”

Adding to the open-door culture, she says, “An open-door culture, which makes it

easy for our employees to approach their leaders/managers is important. Having

senior management respond quickly to events, and communicate regularly on focus

areas for the organisation is also critical.”

She also highlights the importance of hiring candidates who align with the vision of

the company to avoid such gossip conflicts.

“When we interview candidates, we also look for character traits and values that

align to our organisational values and professional conduct, because we can trust

our employees to be the gatekeepers of our reputation,” says Vedula.

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Speaking on whether office gossip should be controlled, Singh says the focus should

be on managing the gossip instead of trying to control it.

He says, “An organisation’s relationship with gossip is weaved into its cultural fabric.

It might be worthwhile to have organisations establish cultural norms around gossip

and manage gossip instead of controlling it.”

Sharing about the importance of knowing the ‘why’ behind the gossip, Singh says, it

is crucial to address why the gossip is being started and who is allowing the

transmission of gossip.

“Establishing the ‘why’ of decisions on a bedrock of data and transparency along

with an understanding of who is the centre of influence, allows organisations to

manage gossip,” says Singh.

Office gossip is going to be a part of the corporate culture, as it serves both positive

and negative purposes. But with the evolving workplace culture, the culture of gossip

can also evolve, especially in terms of addressing the negative effects of gossip and

trying to take steps against the spread of such negative gossip which in turn affect

an individual’s life.

Source: Office Gossip: The evolutionary trait of gossiping, is it helping workplaces to

evolve?, HR News, ETHRWorld (indiatimes.com)

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REFLECTIVE SUMMARY 2

Explanation about the articles

This article focuses on one of the most prominent elements, which is gossip in the

workplace. Gossip can be defined as something vague because it is about someone

who likes to talk behind their back about their personal life or their choices which leads

to a positive and also negative story. There is a lot of gossip that happens in the office,

which is evolutionary gossip, natural gossip in the workplace, dangerous gossip, two-

sided gossip and many more. all this gossip will have an impact on the culture and

also the image in the workplace because 14 percent of coffee break chats in the

workplace are actually gossip. According to research, Madhulika Vedula who is

Director-Human Resources, Providence India. He said, gossip is a form of

controversial information because people tend to talk about different things. He also

emphasized that gossip affects workplace culture because it affects perception and

alignment to social norms. Office gossip can be controlled by maintaining transparency

with employees and creating an open-door culture for employees to reach out for help,

Vedula said. The focus should be on managing rather than trying to control it, he

added. Singh emphasized the importance of hiring candidates who are aligned with

the company’s vision to avoid gossip conflicts.

The personal response towards the article

Personally, I strongly agree with the author's opinion because for me gossip at work

is not something that can be taken for granted because in every work place there must

be problems like this. With this, everyone can learn from gossip and bullying in the

workplace. We also need to prevent a tense atmosphere in the workplace because it

will lead to a bad atmosphere and this will lead to a negative atmosphere in the

workplace.

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ARTICLE 3
What Is Workplace Gossip? (With Tips and How to Handle It).

By Indeed Editorial Team

Published May 15, 2022

What is workplace gossip?

Workplace gossip is the informal interaction or communication that doesn't relate to

work activities among work colleagues. Instead, it typically focuses on personal,

private, or sensitive information. But not all gossip has to be bad. When employees

can talk with one another, it may help them bond as a team, supporting each other

and helping the rest of the group through any challenging moments. Gossip can also

reveal potential improvements for the team, if members are found frequently

discussing the same issues.

Reasons people gossip.

People may propagate personal information unintentionally and start a thread of

gossip. This information usually comprises inferences and rumors rather than

established facts, and it can be difficult to establish its original source. The following

are some other reasons people may gossip in the workplace:

• Fear of the unknown. If someone doesn't have the information they want, they

begin to fear the unknown and can start trying to gather it from colleagues,

especially if they believe others are hiding the information. Having open-door

conversations in the workplace may help employees avoid this fear.

• Sense of belonging. People can begin to feel that their colleagues are

excluding them if they perceive they don't have all the information the others

might have. Sharing information across the workplace and with all the

employees can avoid gossip and increase productivity.

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 • Sense of connection. Many people typically enjoy having productive, open

work relationships with their colleagues, and gossip can be a quick and easy

way to build that connection.

Managing gossip.

It's reasonable to assume that there's going to be a certain amount of gossip

between colleagues since people want to know what's happening at work. To avoid

engaging in unnecessary negativity, it can be vital to understand when this gossip is

potentially becoming harmful. Management can step in and act if any talk is

becoming disruptive to the workplace, hurting employees' feelings, or hurting the

motivation and morale of team members. If a manager frequently addresses gossip,

they can examine the workplace to understand the themes of the gossip.

For example, you can manage gossip as you might manage other behavior from

your colleagues. When possible, use a coaching approach to help your team

member improve their behavior. Gossip management can start with a frank

discussion between the manager or supervisor and the employee, but if discussing

the adverse effects of the gossip doesn't change their behavior, you can give a

verbal warning, then a formal written warning. One employee's behavior can affect

other employees' actions if they see the management not addressing the negative

behavior.

Stopping gossip from turning negative.

The following strategies allow more productive conversations and can help in

preventing gossip from becoming negative.

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Address the gossiper.

Addressing the person, or people, doing the gossiping one-on-one is essential.

Depending on how large the staff is, you might know who this is or you might have to

ask your team for specific information. Hold a confidential meeting with the team

member and ensure they know the impact of this behavior. Discuss the

consequences of the behavior, whether it's a demotion, written warning, or potential

job loss. Addressing the person causing the gossip professionally and confidentially

can often put an end to the gossip.

Encourage positive sharing.

Provide your team with positive stories to talk about rather than them spreading

gossip about one another. If the company receives positive feedback from a client

about an individual team member or their product, make sure the entire team knows

about it. Encourage your team to celebrate and repeat these moments. Doing so has

the extra benefit of reducing employee turnover and increasing morale. You can try

creating a bulletin board where team members can post positive moments about an

interaction with a helpful colleague or a customer.

Determine the difference between gossip and chit chat.

It's easy to confuse gossip with idle chit-chat. Conversations of superficial chit-chat

can be neutral, meaning that the discussion doesn't have a good or ominous tone.

Gossip can be negative or positive, depending on the subject of discussion. For

example, a neutral conversation can start with someone discussing a new promotion

within the company, and the other person is discussing how they're looking forward

to hearing their ideas. Gossip may discuss the same promotion by also stating how

the person only got the raise because they're friends with the owner.

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You can recognize gossip by a few key traits:

Reports others are presenting as fact without confirmation.

Belittling or negative dialogue about a colleague.

Harming a colleague's character.

Sharing confidential information without permission.

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REFLECTIVE SUMMARY 3

Explanation about the articles.

There is a lot of office gossip in workplaces large and small. Rumours can spread on

a variety of topics, such as improper relationship between employee and manager or

promotion. Either way, office gossip can reduce productivity and demoralize your

workplace. Gossip is a conversation between specific friends, family members or

colleagues about one or more people. It is usually based on personal or private

aspects of a person's life. But this information is disseminated as if it is true and

verified.

Such slander damages the reputation of the victim of gossip, which in turn damages

the professional competence of members through incomplete or incorrect word of

mouth. Information is obtained based on his appearance and personality. Gossip

indirectly affects productivity. It can also affect an individual's reputation and future

standing in the organization. It also creates division rather than team building.

Here are some tips and tricks for handling gossip in the workplace. First, define the

difference between gossip and casual conversation. Rumors and gossip can

undermine a team's ability to work together effectively. This is disrespectful,

counterproductive and selfish and prevents employees from getting work done. If you

become aware of an issue that directly affects you, verify the accuracy of the

information by asking the affected manager or colleague rather than simply passing it

on.

Next, define the difference between gossip and casual conversation. Take complaints

seriously. Gossip can be very harmful to those who accept it. For example, if an

employee complains to you, take it seriously and try to resolve it.

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Lastly, encourage positive sharing. To spark conversations in the workplace,

managers can encourage the spread of positive messages. This type of employee

appreciation can include encouraging discussion of a colleague's career

accomplishments, performing qualified tasks, and more. Managers should prevent

team members from discussing the details of other people's personal lives (although

it is okay to discuss their own).

Personal response towards the article.

In my opinion, be brave enough to tell people that you have no interest in listening to

rumors or bad-mouthing your co-workers. If you feel like the conversation is going in

the wrong direction, calmly tell the other person that you don't want to talk about and

can also change the topic and ask about your family or your children or your

colleagues' work. You may have to do this a few times, but they will eventually get the

message. Not all workplace gossip is bad. Positive gossip has a strengthening effect

or influence on the personality and character of others. This enables employees to

maintain good relationships at work and improves team cohesion. However,

remember that employees prefer positive gossip. Create a work environment based

on appreciation and recognition.

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ARTICLE 4

Workplace gossip: Everything you need to know

Gossip is defined as "...informal, evaluative discourse about a member of the

discussants social context who is not present" in this study (Wert & Salovey, 2004, p.

123). Furthermore, workplace gossip is described as "...the dissemination of

information between two or more persons behind their backs concerning a situation or

person they may or may not know, addressing information that is of no value to them."

The messages content is not intended for public consumption, and disclosing it leads

to unfavourable outcomes such as fueled conjecture, erroneous perceptions, and a

breakdown in confidence " (De Gouveia et al., 2005, p. 67).

Gossip has an impact on and is pervasive in everyones daily life. The importance of

gossip in conversation is highlighted by the following:

• a person who does not gossip or does not react to gossip with a bit of curiosity

may be marginalized from their social group (Eggins & Slade, 1997, as cited in

Foster, 2004; Gluckman, 1963),

• whereas a person who gossips excessively may also be marginalized from their

social group (Eggins & Slade, 1997, as cited in Foster, 2004; Gluckman, 1963).

(Gilmore, 1978; Yerkovich,1977).

For decades, anthropologists, sociologists, economists, sociolinguists, philosophers,

social historians, psychologists, and evolutionary biologists have conducted extensive

research on gossip (Besnier, 1989; Foster, 2004; Fox, 2001; Handelman, 1973;

Holland, 1996). Although office gossip researchers have made numerous

recommendations to control, reduce, or eliminate office gossip in the workplace (De

Gouveia et al., 2005; Jacobs, 2009; Matthews, 2007), insufficient research has been

conducted to determine which elements have an impact on the occurrence and

perceptions of office gossip, as well as the characteristics of these elements.

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As a result, scholars have focused more on the prevalence, repercussions, and control

of gossip than on the probable origins of gossip. The literature on workplace gossip is

being held back and it lacks a theoretical framework.

Workplace Gossip Statistics

• Approximately 75% of white-collar professionals admitted to chatting about

workplace concerns or coworkers while at work, according to new research

released by Captivate (a network of nearly 12,000 elevator screens in office

buildings across North America).

• Workers in the United States spend roughly 40 minutes each week chatting on

average.

• Moreover, half of the males (55%) admit to chatting at work, while four out of

five women (79%) do so. On the other hand, men appear to be the more

blabbermouths; they spend approximately an hour a week chatting about the

juicy details, compared to just over 30 minutes for women.

• Millennials (81%) are the most likely to gossip at work, followed by Gen Xers

(70%) and Baby Boomers (60%), respectively (58 percent).

• Almost a third of professionals (30%) claimed their supervisor had explicitly

requested rumours to learn about workplace troubles.

• Office gossip is their "primary source of knowledge" regarding workplace

happenings, according to more than a quarter (29%). Millennials were

particularly affected by this comment (41%).

• According to more than a quarter, office gossip is their "main source of

knowledge" about workplace activities (29%). This remark had an especially

strong impact on millennials (41%).

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Who do workmates spread rumours about?

Most office gossip is about workplace problems involving

colleagues, management teams, employers, and clients. According to the Office

Pulse research, the breakdown is as follows:

• "That one coworker" (71%).

• Executive/Management Team - 44%

• Immediate Boss - 34%

• Clients - 31%

• Human resources -20%

• Interns - 5%

Workplace Gossip and Technology

According to a poll done by Blue Coat Systems Inc. in 2003, among 300 respondents,

65% of employees in the United Kingdom and 39% of employees in the United States

had private chats at work using instant messaging. Furthermore, 80 percent of

employees with access to instant messaging admitted to engaging in workplace gossip

via instant messaging.

A survey conducted in 1999 among senior directors of 800 FTSE-1,000 (Financial

Times and London Stock Exchange) organizations discovered that, even though email

and internet use among employees had increased, organizations in the United

Kingdom had not taken adequate measures to ensure that they were protected from

legal liabilities that could arise from the use of these communication channels ("Are

you at risk?", 1999).

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The use of technology to gossip exposes businesses to the risk of cyber liability. 22%

of the businesses have been exposed to "cyber liabilities," which used emails to talk

with individuals within or outside the organizations. Over half of these firms said that

males were the primary perpetrators of email gossip ("Are you at e-risk?", 1999). As a

result, using technology to gossip exposes organizations to the risk of cyber liability

which is one of the major negative workplace gossips.

The negative consequences of workplace gossip

There are several consequences of gossip. These can be consequences for gossip

senders or the gossip recipient. Thus, workplace gossip can be very serious if the

gossiper has significant power over the recipient, according to authors Nancy Kurland

and Lisa Hope Pelled in their article "Passing the Word: Toward a Model of Gossip

and Power in the Workplace," which appeared in the April 2000 issue of The Academy

of Management Review. The following are some of the harmful outcomes of negative

workplace gossip:

• Erosion of trust and morale due depending on the condition of causality

attributed to the gossip episode.

• Lost productivity and squandered time.

• Employees become more anxious as rumours swirl with no concrete

information as to what is and isn’t true.

• Employees are divided as people take sides.

• Feelings and reputations are harmed.

• Attrition results from good employees quitting the organization due to a toxic

work environment with toxic gossip. Managers who support a healthy

workplace culture should address the issue in a way that supports and

promotes a positive culture. If they cannot figure out who is spreading the

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 rumours, they should remind them of the company behavioural standards in the

employee handbook and escalate the situation if needed.

There are several other perceived negative workplace gossips influence to employees

and the organisational citizenship behaviour in the workplace. These also contribute

to the harms of gossips.

Source: https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com/articles/workplace-gossip-everything-

you-need-to-know

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REFLECTIVE SUMMARY 4

Explanation about the articles

The article is mostly about how to gossip at work: everything you need to know. At

work, people often talk about other people. Almost every worker has said something

bad about someone who wasn't there or heard something bad said about someone

who wasn't there. Gossip is usually thought of as informal, casual, or unrestrained talk

or stories about other people that usually include unconfirmed information. Most of the

talk between employees is about social topics, such as rumours about other people.

So, gossip is a way to share information and talk to people in a casual way, even if the

information shared through gossip isn't always accurate or complete.

Personal response towards the article

I agree with the writer a lot about the ways to stop things from happening that are listed

in the article. This is because it focuses on how to stop gossip from having bad effects

at work. Due to the potential for these outcomes, it is imperative that we take measures

to curb the spread of rumours in the workplace. Therefore, if the gossiper has

substantial authority over the recipient, the gossip can have dire consequences in the

job.

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ARTICLE 5

Workplace bullying and psychological distress of employees across

socioeconomic strata: a cross-sectional study

AUTHOR: Caryn Mei Hsien Chan, Jyh Eiin Wong, Lena Lay Ling Yeap, Lei Hum
Wee
JUNE 13, 2019

Workplace bullying is gaining recognition as a serious public health issue. Bullying

among the working population poses a widespread threat to employee health [1], both

physical and psychological, with direct socioeconomic consequences [2, 3].

While the forms of work bullying are myriad, the outcomes associated with bullying are

singularly negative. In particular, workplace bullying carries implications for mental

health. Past research demonstrates that work bullying has an adverse impact on the

mental wellbeing of not just employees who are bullied, but has been shown to

demoralise and affect witnesses and bystanders as well [4].

The psychological consequences of workplace bullying, particularly in the context of

added vulnerabilities associated with low income is akin to a double setback for

employees already struggling on a day-to-day basis with the challenges and pressures

of work demands and responsibilities.

It has been documented in the organisational literature that economically and/or

socially disadvantaged groups in the workplace are more vulnerable towards being

victimized as a result of workplace bullying [1]. Individuals from lower income groups,

as well as employees who have ever experienced workplace bullying, have been

separately shown to be at heightened risk of poorer mental health.

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This is important given that socioeconomic disparities are a main determinant and

contributor of persisting health inequity. The association between workplace bullying

and psychosocial adversities may be mediated by socioeconomic status, which, in

developed countries [5], is postulated to aggregate in low socioeconomic sectors of

the population.

Little is known of the extent of workplace bullying in Malaysia [5,6,7] despite its growing

acknowledgement worldwide as a grave public health issue in the working population.

To this end, we sought to examine the prevalence of workplace bullying and its

association with socioeconomic factors and psychological distress among Malaysian

employees. We posit the hypothesis that workplace bullying and psychological

distress are likely to aggregate in low socioeconomic status groups.

Source: https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-019-

6859-1

33
REFLECTIVE SUMMARY 5

Explanation about the article

Because it has a detrimental effect on mental health, workplace bullying is a subject

that needs more emphasis. Because of this, workplace bullying will still be a concern.

The results of this study offer important knowledge regarding worker satisfaction in a

developing nation. The data also show how vulnerable economically disadvantaged

people, working women, and workplace bullying victims are, all of whom need to

improve their status at work. Our findings have implications for employee health and

workplace health planning to fill these gaps.

Personal response towards the article

I wholeheartedly concur with the remark made in the article, since it may be even

riskier if the employer does not take employee mental health seriously. Bullying has

more consequences than just behavioural and mental changes. There may also be

tangible consequences. Workplace bullying and extreme stress and worry can lead to

medical problems like insomnia, digestive problems, and unhealthy eating habits.

34
References
Bhargava, S. B. (2022, May 30). Office Gossip: The evolutionary trait of gossiping, is
it helping workplaces to evolve? Retrieved from hr.economictimes.indiatimes:
https://hr.economictimes.indiatimes.com/amp/news/trends/employee-
experience/office-gossip-the-evolutionary-trait-of-gossiping-is-it-helping-
workplaces-to-evolve/91878360

Health and Nutritional Issues Among Low Income Population in Malaysia. (2019,
June 13). Retrieved from mcpublichealth.biomedcentral:
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-019-
6859-1

Team, I. E. (2022, May 15). What Is Workplace Gossip? (With Tips and How to
Handle It). Retrieved from ca.indeed: https://ca.indeed.com/career-
advice/career-development/workplace-gossip

Wilkie, D. (n.d.). Workplace Gossip: What Crosses the Line? Retrieved from
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-
relations/pages/office-gossip-policies.aspx

Workplace gossip: Everything you need to know. (2022, January 6). Retrieved from
thehumancapitalhub:
https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com/articles/workplace-gossip-everything-
you-need-to-know

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