Office Gossip
Office gossip is inevitable in a small circle of human beings, but care must be taken not to indulge in it too frequently or too intensely. It is acceptable to talk about others’ professional persona and/or actions at the workplace, provided that a respectful tone is maintained. However, it is not admissible to discuss and speculate about others’ personal lives.
Frequent and careless gossiping can cause festering of negative emotions such as distrust, envy, and annoyance - and such a build-up rarely has healthy release; it could gradually affect the morale and work performance of the employees in a workplace. An atmosphere of incessant gossip-mongering can lead to the erosion of business partnerships and friendships. It could lead to one worker complaining to the Human Resources department about his/her colleague – and in extreme cases, termination of one’s career.
The Human Resources department must be pro-active with providing moral education to employees. Employees must be told that one human being is intrinsically different from every other human being in the world; hence, we all live our lives differently – we all celebrate happiness differently, cope with fear and distress differently, and view the world in our own distinct, beautiful ways. It is not right to examine, judge and gossip about other people’s lives from the fixed reference of just our own life – we must be open-minded in accepting the quirks, behavioural traits and lifestyles of our co-workers.
The office is a temple to human achievement, to one’s higher self; and it must be maintained as such, without unnecessarily tainting its corridors with baseless, hurtful stories about human weaknesses.
