Recently, a dispatcher friend of mine broke her foot. She was unable to drive and unable to perform her duties on the radio, so she was placed on light duty and assigned to work the desk at one of the stations. When she returned to the emergency communications center, she knew she would have to get back into the groove after being gone several months. What she didn't expect was finding herself the topic of the gossip floating around the bureau. Instead of her medical condition causing her to be assigned elsewhere, she learned, according to the stories, she had either been sent away because of her attitude or she had physically assaulted one of the other dispatchers. Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time un-substantiated stories had circulated about an employee. In fact, it is quite common, not only at this center, but at centers throughout the U.S.

Gossip and Rumors

Often the words gossip and rumor are used interchangeably, but they are not the same. Rumors are testimonials or opinions that may or may not be accurate. Gossip, on the other hand, is an intimate or sensational fact revealed about a person or situation. Gossip can further be broken down into speculative (created from employees' curiosity) and malicious (designed to cause turmoil or discredit certain individuals). Although speculative gossip is often less harmful than malicious gossip, both are unprofessional and distracting and create problems within communications centers and require management and employees to address them.

Gossip harms agencies in many ways. It damages trust and morale; hurts feelings; ruins reputations; decreases employee satisfaction; increases workplace stress and increases turn-over. Many of these issues are attributable to the negative atmosphere caused when co-workers talk about each other, regardless of whether the person is present or not. Another huge issue facing departments allowing gossip to continue, especially when supervisors are involved, is the possibility of an employee's privacy rights being violated.

Who Should Stop it?