Blabbering your way out of a job
In this edition of SnagABlog, we’re sticking with the workplace manners theme we began earlier this week…Gossip is American as apple pie, state fairs and $5 cups of coffee.
Turn on MTV, flip through your fav celebrity magazine or just turn on the news and gossip is everywhere you look and listen, including the workplace. And while it may be OK to swap half-truths and hushed stories in the hair salon or locker room, it’s definitely not cool to do it at work.
According to a recent SnagAJob.com poll, nearly 20 percent of respondents found “the gossip hound” to be the most annoying co-worker from among the five choices given. (The other options were the slacker, the kiss-up, the hypochondriac and the loud talker).
Now the gossip hounds are annoying themselves, too. That is, if you consider getting fired to be annoying. If you’re still not convinced that loose lips sink jobs, then a March headline-making incident in the Northeast should be ample proof that employers are growing less and less tolerant of workplace gossip. You might have heard how four employees of a small New Hampshire town, each of whom had stellar employment records, were fired after allegedly fueling a workplace rumor - a rumor that reportedly put a co-worker’s marriage and career in jeopardy. (One worker was recently rehired; others are suing).
Talk about poetic justice; these four coworkers became the subject of rumor and speculation of their own when their petty little tale spilled onto CNN and other national news media.
Sure, that’s a worst-case scenario, but there are other risks when you spend more time dishing the office scoop than doing dishes on the clock. Coworkers can lose trust in you, your office friendships may crumble, and you could soon be in the break room all by your lonesome talking to the water cooler.
