Rumours!!!Can we prevent their damage?
I watched a movie last night, which was based on the gossip’s and rumour’s effects on people and their environment. It wasn’t a great movie but anyway, it made me think about all the damaging effects hese two elements can cause to an organization.
Rumours are usually a ‘thorn in the flesh’ of public relations and communications officers. They are not always harmful but recent research has illustrated that during restructuring and layoffs it might have effects such as decrease of productivity, lower employee morale, corrupt reputations and interfere with formal organizational communication, thus rumour control seems to be a necessity. So can a rumour=unverified information cause such disasters? Can something ‘you heard’ be of such an importance to certain groups and make such a great deal of it? Of course they can if it’s about changes of personnel, job satisfaction and anything that might threaten their current status in the workplace and make them feel insecure of the future.
I believe the best thing for an organization to do is be proactive about it. Include a chapter of rumour control in issues management or even in the crisis communication manual. Rumours can bring ‘python’ crisis to a company and it’s a shame because there are things that PR communicators can do about it. Being prepared to respond to those rumours, be alert to any negative effects they might have, be transparent to your staff, let them know of any changes and how they will affect them…it’s about having effective internal communication within the company that prevent at some level all the behind-the-back gossiping.
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I used to work for a company years ago and there were rumors for like 6 months on an acquisition that actually never happened. It was terrible as we were all really worried we would lose our jobs-at least some of us- and unfortunately no information was communicated to us from top management, which was a shame as the whole issue kept going and going causing troubles and ineffectiveness to our work. And imagine it all started from a discussion someone ‘heard’. Of course, in that case, it wasn’t just the rumor that caused all this but also the managements ignorance of the situation. They only decided to talk to us when they saw the figures going down.
I will just try to describe what kind of situation can emerge by rumors spreading in a corporation and I will do my best in order to link it to a sociological approach; sexual harassement and that sometimes rumors can help!
When I started working at a company, my colleagues gave me the intention that they had problems with the general manager, most of the staff were girls; I didn’t even ask why; but every single girl who was coming into my office kept saying that i should be careful when working with Mr….! When I asked why one of them she told me that he sexually harassed her in the past and he did this to more girls who quit their job because they couldn’t stand this situation and the President knew everyting!
Everyone in the company, since i found out what was going on starting telling me more and more things about him.
What I am trying to say is that sometimes rumors can also protect a person; this rumor protected me. I knew and i know what kind of a person he is and i do avoid working with him or trying at least!
The President of the company should do something because for a corporation this is a very important issue that can end up being a crisis; but she did nothing! This situation is unethical and destroys the company’s profile and reputation when all girls quit because of the problem he causes
What Mary commented is true but…by knowing the situation that your company was in trouble you could at least start hunting for a new job…would you prefer not knowing the situation and one sunny day you boss would come telling you “you are fired”???
You have a point, I mean that was just a personal experience but I agree that it could also protect or inform employees for situations that are going on in a company.
It’s true that in general there are both advantages and disandantages to rumours’ existence. For instance they take place in informal networks inside the organization, where the latest information, rumours and gossip can be shared. Throughout the conversations and the interaction, employees tend to develop interpersonal relationships, self-respect, job satisfaction and of course like Hara said, they can also protect them from such situations. We just have to remember on the negative sides of the rumours. They can start a crisis-let’s not forget that about one fourth of global crises come from employees or members of the organization, probably disaffected, who might me looking for some kind of revenge. But let’s not stay there. During a crisis situation, a rumour could be killer. If there are questions and no answers, there will be rumours to cover the silence. They can contribute to exacerbate already serious problems.That’s why rumour control should be included within the issues management function as well as pick-up systems.