Office Gossip and Toxic Workplaces

A new study reveals taht office gossip is one of the top signs of a toxic workplace. We have a fun conversation with legal expert specializing in employment law - Javier Perez. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So, how gossipy is your workplace? This is West Michigan's
morning news Steeve Kelly and Rep. Keita. A new study
shows that it's one of the top signs of a
toxic work environment. Legal expert who specializes in employment law
and more, Javier Perez back on the liveline. Thanks for
doing this this morning.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Good morning, Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
This can be kind of tough, right, I mean, it's
natural sometimes, I think for people to say, hey, Schmid,
he's not here today. Oh didn't you hear? Some of
that stuff is normal, and I guess okay, but the
really good companies find a way to do as little

(00:42):
of that as possible. How does it work or how
should it work? Hobbier?

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yeah, I mean, I think being proactive about these kind
of issues, knowing that gossip is kind of human nature
when you're around these people all day, all week, and
making sure the expectations are clear that you're not, you know,
bad mouthing or gossiping your coworkers, and you know, if
you need to kind of crack the whip or have

(01:09):
some kind of discipline disciplinary protocol in place if that
stuff does happen, can set the tone for what's acceptable
in the workplace, and being clear about that from the outset,
I think can make a big difference.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
These days, we all play a lot of different people
at work. We wear a lot of hats, and one
of my biggest pet peeves we got stuff to do, right,
is when some chowderhead leans on your cubicle and just
starts talking, Hey, what's going on this weekend. I have
a hard time, because I'm a pleaser saying listen, Jack,

(01:47):
I got stuff to do. Take a hike. Especially when
it comes to gossip. It's just not helpful. What's a
polite way to say, Hey, Jack, take a hike?

Speaker 2 (02:00):
You know, I mean, I think that is a common
challenge for people that work in an office. You know,
sometimes I'll get trapped in my office, like someone stands
in the doorway to where I can't leave. So I
know that that is a challenge. I've found ways to
kind of have a soft touch and say like, oh,
I got to get back to this email, or you know,
maybe I'll get lucky in the phone will ring. I think,

(02:24):
you know, I embarrassed admit it, But sometimes I'll like
look at my phone and pretend like I got a
text I need to attend to just about kind of
trying to not hurt the other person's feelings. Absolutely, you
can get, you know, caught in that vortex and you'll
lose half an hour or an hour easily.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
Hobbyer isn't the key the word gossip, And what I
mean by that is if if we're just honest with
people and communicate better with each other, then I think
that kind of helps eliminate gossip. I mean, you can
talk in the worst workplace. Gossip is kind of a
different story though, right right.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
I think gossip really is more the issue of talking
behind someone's back or talking about people behind their back,
and that I think is always going to be kind
of counterproductive to morale and and everything else is going
to make you feel like you can't trust the people
you work with and what they're saying about you behind
your back. But no open communication I think is critical

(03:25):
to kind of a functional workplace. I don't know what
you do about people kind of bad mouthing other than
the set clear expectations as an employer that that's not acceptable.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah, that sort of stuff doesn't happen here. It's okay
to model super productivity and positivity and those sort of
workplaces actually exist, right, don't read into that. Press's looking
at me.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
Steve has by the way, for the record, just so
you know how you are. He's told me, hey, Jack,
you got to leave the studio so I can get
some work done to me.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
Especially when companies are involved in some sort of big
flux or change. We've all been around that before, and
there's always some idle chowderhead that has a lot of
theories that keep me from going home. To your point,
I got this to do before I go. I don't
care what you have to say. I just don't.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Yeah, well, the end of the day is the worst
time for it. You're just a hostage there. I know
what you mean.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
My gosh, I'm mad about it now. Legal expert specializing
in employment law hobby or Perez always great stuff.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Thank you, thank you for having me.