"The No Gossip Zone" -- Business Leaders and Gossip

CEO Sam Chapman fires people who gossip at work. At Empower Public Relations in Chicago, Chapman has instituted a “No-Gossip Zone Policy,”¹ This policy includes

A formal agreement among all employees (either verbal or written) to not participate in gossip . . . to identify and stop gossip when it is heard . . . to ‘follow up’ with the person who was being gossiped about and share what was said . . . to reveal one’s true feelings, thoughts, and desires within the work environment, thereby removing any need or environment for gossip.²

Chapman established this policy to increase productivity and job satisfaction among his employees. “In a recent study performed by Randstad Corporation, employees cited office gossip as their number one annoyance in their workplace. Employers also have good reason to curb loose lips, as office gossip takes up to sixty-five hours a year of an employee’s time at work, according to a July 2002 survey by Equisys. But it doesn’t have to be that way.”³

Managers have been, understandably, against gossip for a long time.⁴ What makes Chapman’s policy different is how seriously it is enforced. “No gossip becomes more than just a choice; it becomes a job requirement.”⁵ Not only are workers required to refrain from gossip, they are required to go directly to the person being gossiped about and inform them of what was being said.

Chapman defines gossip fairly broadly as “an exchange of negative information between two or more people about someone who isn’t present. So unless what you are saying is complimentary, it is best to be avoided. Pretty simple–if it is negative, it is gossip.”⁶ For Chapman, motivation is not a controlling factor. “The surprising fact is, the intent rarely makes a difference.”⁷ His reasoning is that after the negative information has been shared, the original speaker loses control over it, and it could be misused. “The only way to be truly safe from such a possible negative outcome is to avoid gossip entirely.”⁸ Chapman has been pleased with the results and provides multiple testimonies from employees about their new-found enjoyment of work.

As someone committed to resisting sinful gossip, I can see how satisfying it would be to transition from a workplace cluttered with rumors, innuendo, scandal, and whispers into a environment where co-workers were forthright and emotionally healthy. I am glad that the employees at Empower Public Relations have “bought in” to the concept.

I do wonder, however, how this policy works out in actual practice. Exactly what constitutes “negative information,” especially if intention is not taken into account? Over the long term, what are the effects of requiring the reporting of gossip to the one gossiped about? Does that turn employees against each other in another pernicious way? How do you document infractions of this policy for use in a termination proceeding?⁹ It seems to me that a no-gossip policy is “good business,” but it will only flourish in an atmosphere of grace.

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¹Sam Chapman with Bridget Sharkey, The No-Gossip Zone: A No-Nonsense Guide to a Healthy, High Performing Work Environment (Naperville: Sourcebooks, 2009).

²Sam Chapman with Bridget Sharkey, The No-Gossip Zone: A No-Nonsense Guide to a Healthy, High Performing Work Environment (Naperville: Sourcebooks, 2009), 10.

³Ibid., 1.

⁴See, for example, from the American Management Association, Robert L. Genua, Managing Your Mouth: An Owner’s Manual For Your Most Important Business Asset (New York: Amacom, 1992). For a similar approach from a Christian employer perspective, see Craig Williford and Carolyn Williford, How To Treat a Staff Infection: Resolving Problems in Your Church or Ministry Team (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2006). The Willifords use a medical model as their operative illustration of staff health and call gossip a symptom of “Flaccidity of the Lips.” (ibid., 71).

⁵Sam Chapman with Bridget Sharkey, The No-Gossip Zone: A No-Nonsense Guide to a Healthy, High Performing Work Environment (Naperville: Sourcebooks, 2009), 14.

⁶Sam Chapman with Bridget Sharkey, The No-Gossip Zone: A No-Nonsense Guide to a Healthy, High Performing Work Environment (Naperville: Sourcebooks, 2009), 6.

⁷Ibid.

⁸Ibid., 7.

⁹Chapman provides a few brief illustrations that shed some light on these questions, but he moves on quickly from the “No-Gossip Zone” after the first chapter to present advice about “authentic communication” and other self-help concepts for business people.

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With today's post, we have begun to consider the other side in our series -- opponents of gossip, starting with business leaders.

Tomorrow, we will listen to educators and social workers and their take on the problem of gossip.