Megyesi (Mori șcă) Monica Estera Organizational behavior January 31, 2017 Organizational culture [623248]

Megyesi (Mori șcă) Monica Estera | Organizational behavior | January 31, 2017 Organizational culture
– GOSSIP –

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Contents
Introduction ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …… 2
Origin, definition, answers ………………………….. ………………………….. …………… 3
QUESTIONNAIRE ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………………. 6
Bibliography ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …. 8

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Introduction

This paper wishes to look on several aspects concerning the organ izational culture
and gossip as part of the culture of an organization. These aspects will include some
answers to questions such as what is gossip and the context that favors it to happen, who
are the gossipers and what do they gossip about along with the ques tion why do people
engage in gossip .
Furthermore, information regarding the types of gossip and the consequences
referring to each type will be provided together with a brief descriptio n of the functions of
gossiping and a few aspects connected to the rol e of gossip in the organization. In the
closing part of this paper some advice will be given as potential solutions for what can be
a threat to the overall well being of the organization and the people in it.
Organizational culture defines the way th ings happen in an organization, how its
members relate to each other, their work and the outside world. When it comes to members
relating to each other, there are studies and theories about social communication and
interaction, researches about how people work to gether in the same environment and what
are th e challenges that come with it .
The way an organization is built does influence the people in it considering the
climate it has, the values of the founders and the unwritten culture, made of past
experiences, the way the organization is perceived and the im pact it has in the environment.
For an organization to be successful and have an impact in society, its people should
work together for the goals and targets that are set. However, in this ongoing proc ess the re
can be things that act as barriers and they should be dealt with.
One of these things is gossip within the organization since this is a social
environment and people do talk about each other. In the next pages this subject will be
discussed more while trying to understand this phenomenon and how does it affect the
organization.

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Origin, definition, answers

The English word „gossip” originated as godsibb , which referred to a godparent, in the
context where godmothers assisted with the birth of a chi ld and therefore this word became
understood as women who talked frequently. More every day, gossip began to grow to what
it’s now known as a phenomenon throughout the entire world, present in every place of
work, every culture and community of people. Man y have started to write about it and s tudy
it and so reached to some important findings concerning the subject of gossip such as
definition s of gossip, the role s it has a nd the nature of its impact, by some considered good
and by others bad.
Some authors define gossip as a type of inte raction which involves at least two
people who have an evaluative talk about another person who is absent , while others also
include in their definition the purpose of this activity: „gossip consists of talk about people,
for exchanging information, entertainment, gain ing influence or social control ” (Rosnow,
2001) . For gossip to appear only three things are need ed: a sender, a receiver and an object
of gossip, which can be a person or a situation involving more people.
Gossip appears because people want to understand what is happening around them,
they need to explain themselves what they don ’t know and are not told about so they fill
the holes in a story with bits of facts and a lot of guess work.
Within the organizations, go ssip is regarded as an idea, belief or opinion which has
three main dimensions. First, it travels from one person to the other informally by talking,
then its source is not easily identified and last, once it starts it can’t be stopped or controlled.
Gossi p is problematic in the organizations because it is „constituted through
informal and unsactioned interaction. Key organizational stakeholders tend to find this
form of „unofficial discourse” both disconcerting and threatening on the basis that it is
almos t impossible to meaningfully regulate and control ”; also it can undermine formal
authority and challenge the managers’ power (Waddington, 2012) .
As for why is gossip so popular, f rom a social psychol ogical perspective, people
engage in gossip to achieve status, in timacy, information, power, and entertainment . Those
who have less power in an organization start to gossip because it can make them feel
important that they know something which others don’ t. In other words, employyes gossip
to gain social status and more power over others, by influencing them.

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Employyes who gossip know more of what’s happening in the organization than
those who refrain from gossiping. The object of gossiping can be a new employee, another
one who just got promoted or a person who went a gainst the norms of the organization and
so gossip acts as a social controlling tool for influencing others.
During the twentieth century, the activity of gossip was perceived as a negative one
where predominantly women participated, but studies have show n that is it not exclusively
an activity performed by women. When it comes to spreading gossip, it appears that men
spread it among more people while women spread it with more details. Men used gossip to
brag, joke or compete while women did it to analyse social power and build relationships.
Both used gossip in a more mean than fun way, but while women gossiped negatively about
the boss, men spoke of their co -workers getting more privileges.
As seen in the paragraph above, some may think gossip is exclus ively negative, but
there are others who see it positive as well. If negative gossip is about criticizing and
complaining, leading to counterproductive behavior , positive gossip can mean praising or
defending someone’s behavior or spreading information mor e rapidly to people. But it’s
not just that. Some say gossip increases productivity in the workplace, stimulates creativity
and generates new ideas if it is the positive kind. However, there are many who claim it’s
the opposite. They say gossip is harmful and costly, leading to low morale and performance
and even harassment or bullying. If on the positive side gossip can be used to share
information rapidly, on the other side it can be a tool for workplace competition and conflict
that lead to wasting time and minimum focus on the work. Negative gossip can drain
people’s attention and motivation and result in a toxic environment where key employees
can choose to leave the organization because of the impact gossip has on them, even if they
aren’t involved in it.
Rosnow’s ideas about the functions of gossi p can be a help to understand the types
of gossip better. First is the informational function which refers to gossip as a source of
information about what is h appening with the other workers, such as who got a promotion
or got called to the boss’s office for something. The influence function is used to control
people’s actions, and it’s the second function of gossip. A manager can influence an
employee’s performance by talking to him about an exemplary worker, encouraging him
to improve his performance. In this case, the behaviour of the speaker influences the
behaviour of the listener. The intimacy function was identified as the third one and this
promotes the establishment of socialization between people that may lead to friendship.

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The roles of gossip in the organization are to acquire and share information, create
bonding between different people and help them collaborate better with each other.
However, for this to work, people should be engaged in positi ve gossip thinking
about not hurting the other workers. Each employee is responsible for his or her behavior
as well as the communication in the workplace. They should be careful and think what
impact their words would have on others , what is their intenti on and not forget that what
they say defines them. They should set a good example by not involving in it and
communicate openly with the others. This is like people living in a glass house and they
should be careful about throwing stones.
The organization should communicate very good with its people to make sure
people know what is going on and so put a barrier in the process of gossip spreading. Gossip
can be destroyed at some level by telling the truth and it is effective when this reaction
comes immediat ely. The staff should be informed about the policies and plans of the
organization clearly so that any doubts are avoided. Face -to face meetings and
conversations can be a factor in helping decrease the phenomenon of gossip. Also, the
organization can provide leadership by teaching effective workplace communication sk ills,
encouraging interactions between e mployees. H olding them accountable for their
workplace interpersonal behaviour by rewarding some and withholding rewards from
others could be a way of ke eping things in control and encouraging people to shape their
work behavior accordingly for the wellbeing of all.

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QUESTIONNAIRE
Please answer the following questions about the interpersonal relationships and the
phenomenon of negative gossip at your workplace .
I. How woul d you describe your working environment considering the
relationships between workers?
1) Open and friendly
2) Balanced and flexible
3) Hostile and toxic

II. Which of the following describes best the communication topics at work in your
unit/department?
1) Strictly work -related conversation
2) Informal conversation ( non-job-related)
3) Evaluative talk of the leadership and other co -workers

III. How frequently do you hear your co -workers talking negatively about absent
third parties?
1) Daily
2) Often
3) Never

IV. What is your attitude towards co-workers talking nega tively about an absent
member of the organization?
1) I agree, it’s not bad
2) I don’t care, it’s not my business
3) I disagree, it’s not good

V. How do you think does negative talk between workers about each other impact
the interpersonal relationships in the organ ization? Choose one or more.
1) Lack of trust
2) Team divisiveness
3) Low motivation
4) Low performance 5) Hypocrisy
6) Other ____________
7) No impact – they remain the
same

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VI. What do you think can be a reason for a worker to gossip about his/her co –
worker?
1) Envy
2) Jealousy
3) Inferiority
4) Other ______ _

VII. How do you think interpersonal relationships can be improved in your
organization to decrease the phenomenon of negative gossip ?
1) Open and transparent communication between the workers a s well as
between the leadership and the workers
2) Accountability to the leadership for unfit behavior
3) Trainings and teambuilding s
4) It doesn ’t need any improvements – people will gossip anyway

Please complete the following of your present situation:
Gender:
1) Male
2) Female
Position:
1) High
2) Medium
3) Low
Period since working in this organization:
1) Up to one year
2) 3 to 5 years
3) 5 to 10 years
4) Over 10 years

Thank you for your cooperation!

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Bibliography

Chien C. Kuo, K. Chang, S . Quinton, Chiu Lu & Iling Lee (2015) Gossip in the
workplace and the implications for HR management: a study of gossip and its
relationship to employee cynicism , The International Journal of Human Resource
Management
Ellwardt L., Gossip in Organizations : A Social Network Study , 2012
Houmanfar R., Johnson R., Organizational Implications of Gossip and Rumor , Journal of
Organizational Behavior Management, 2004
http://www.chvbv.ca/gossip -in-the-workplace/
Michelson G., Iterson A., and Waddington K., Gossip in Organizations: Contexts,
Consequences, and Controversies , SAGE Journals, 2010
Waddington K., Gossip and Organizations , Routledge, 2012
Yue R. A, Talking about gossip at work , 2013