#WISHRM24 Speaker Spotlight: David Schwallier, Lift Consulting LLC

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Have you ever worked in an environment where gossip is part of the culture? Unfortunately, workplace gossip is quite common. Whether it’s some juicy office romance, complaints about a manager, or disagreement over company policy, gossip often finds its way into work.  Left unaddressed, it leads to a decline in productivity, trust, and performance, and can damage relationships, creating a toxic culture.
 
Dave Schwallier, Director of Product Excellence with Lift Consulting, LLC, will be tackling this somewhat complex topic during his session “The Nearly Impossible Task of Eradicating Gossip at Work.” at the Wisconsin State SHRM Conference on October 10, at 10:15am CST. I was able to connect with Dave to delve into the world of office gossip and explore its impact on the workplace:
 
Please explain why the topic of gossip in the workplace is important to you?
Over the past five or six years, I have been very interested and engaged with studying, teaching, and facilitating workshops regarding organizational health, teamwork, and communication.
 
Many people think that gossip is solely the negative watercooler talk whispers, happening between two or more people, about one person or another individual who isn’t present. It’s much more than that. At its core it’s having something to say to or about someone else but avoiding the discomfort, skills, and time it takes to do so directly with that individual.
 
When I get to see what really goes on within many organizations, I see that gossip is “unknowingly” happening all the time. The impact of it is so significant and so much greater than what both those participating and those leading understand, and the costs are far reaching and immeasurable.
 
What are some of the consequences of gossip – for individuals, teams and organizations?
Gossip has a direct impact on individual well-being, team cohesion, and overall organizational culture. The indirect big picture consequences of gossip are emotional distress, poor individual performance, miscommunication, a lack of accountability, limited to no team synergy, retention challenges, and reduced employee engagement.
 
Most of the time organizations focus on immediate impact, and they are reactive to correct problem. However, without a holistic approach to gossip and healthy organizational culture, what organizations are missing out on because of gossip are the opportunities, productivity and synergy missed as a result of gossip. Just think about it- what’s the opportunity cost of losing one or more key emerging leaders in your organization over the next ten years? It’s impossible to measure and can be very significant!
 
What is one of the most critical causes of gossip in an organization, and how would HR or leaders go about identifying it?
An avoidance of communicating or having crucial conversations is one of the key drivers of gossip.
 
This can be identified whenever you hear two people talking about another person, when you as an HR leader or a manager always have people coming to you to “complain” about someone else’s performance or lack of accountability, and when you observe body language suggesting people have something to say but they aren’t verbalizing it.
 
How might HR leaders address gossip in their organizations?
There are a few ways to address gossip in the short and in the long term.
 
In the short term, it’s important to address those who “hear” gossip and are always the go-to person for folks to gossip or even “vent” to. These individuals need to understand that the receiver of gossip is as responsible for it happening as the actual person gossiping. We often think that empathetic listening skills are good to have and utilize when communicating. But people must have selectively permeable filters. We must not provide a platform for people to gossip when they should be addressing an issue, feedback, etc. directly with another individual.
 
In the medium to long term, one of the ways to minimize gossip is to provide communication training, development, and ultimately accountability. People need to learn how to provide critical feedback, how to hold other team members accountable, and how to have crucial conversations. None of that happens, however, without teams establishing stronger vulnerability-based trust with each other. The reason why someone often can’t “be real” with a team member is that they don’t trust that that team member won’t get angry, backstab them, or have an ulterior agenda that might negatively impact them.
 
What role does company culture play in preventing and addressing gossip?
The role of the company culture is significant in both preventing and addressing gossip. Initially, we should ask- do the core values of the organization drive behavior and decision-making? If so, are they adhered to? Is effective, transparent communication a key guiding principle for the organization?  Without it, the organization likely doesn’t have the culture that can either prevent or effectively address gossip.
 
Leadership, and specifically senior leadership, play the most significant role in both culture and gossip in particular. Many leaders will say “we’ve got a great culture” and “people don’t gossip here,” and then, as consultants we hear them gossiping TO US about others in their organization! They complain about things or people that they could be addressing directly with those individuals. When we see that kind of hypocrisy at a leadership level, people stop trusting, they see through leaders’ words, and gossip persists or gets worse!
 
The title of your session is “The Nearly Impossible Task of Eradicating Gossip at Work.” What makes eradicating gossip at work nearly impossible?
We find that in many organizations, leaders won’t take the time, won’t do the hard work, and won’t allow themselves to be vulnerable and uncomfortable enough to lead the gossip eradication charge. Eliminating gossip is not impossible. It’s just hard, takes time, demands accountability, and a clear strategy to stop it and keep it at bay.
 
The challenge for HR leaders is that you’ve got to influence executive leadership teams to understand the need for change, you’ve got to do much of the footwork, and you’ve got to find SOMEONE who will hold others accountable with you. The truth is that it takes a village. A village of people who are fighting for the same cause—a healthy organization.
 
Who might benefit from attending your session? 
You should attend this session if…

1. You’re seeing the impact of gossip on the bottom line through employee well-being, productivity, engagement, and retention, and it makes your job harder.
2. You’re tired of being the HR professional who always “puts out fires” because of poor communication and limited to no accountability.
3. You’re willing to lead the no-gossip charge. That is, you’re willing to have hard conversations with, and hold accountable, senior leaders for both precipitating, and unknowingly welcoming gossip.

This session isn’t just for HR leaders. It’s for any leader who is willing to step up and do something about gossip and your organization’s health.

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Be sure to connect with Dave Schwallier on LinkedIn, and add this informative session to your conference calendar!

Session title: The Nearly Impossible Task of Eradicating Gossip at Work
Date/Time: October 10, at 10:15am CST
 
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