Digital Signage Solutions

Last week, I blogged about not letting the grapevine fill the void left by the lack of employee communications. Communicating bad news is never fun, but it must be done. And even in good times, the rumor mill will always run like clockwork.

So what can you do to minimize the impact that gossip has? I found this helpful list from OgilvyImpact:

1. Minimize the gossip by being as open and transparent about the company’s situation as possible.  I know that companies can’t tell their employees everything, but there’s a lot that they deserve to know.  If they trust management, understand where the company is heading, and know what they can do personally to contribute to the future of the company, then they’re more likely to focus on that than random gossip in the hallway.
2. Address the gossip. If it’s really rampant, regardless if it’s accurate or not, one of the best things that a company can do is proactively address the gossip with employees to shut it down and re-build trust in management.
3. Use it to your advantage. Gossip isn’t always detrimental, particularly if it’s used to the benefit of the company.  Identify the thought leaders within your company – and they may not be at the most senior levels.  When you find those thought leaders, then court them with information that you want the rest of the company to know. 
   
4. Find a way to leverage social media.  More and more companies are using social media for employee communications purposes.  Yammer, Twitter and Facebook can be very important tools in making sure that people know what’s really going on within a company. 

I really like tip #3. What better way to enhance your internal communications messages than to use the rumor mill as part of the solution. The post also points out that more than half of HR professionals are hearing more gossip these days. That's because companies are not doing a good job of giving employees the information they need.

Gossip can cripple productivity, leaving internal communications professionals to pick up the pieces. Proactively communicating using the vehicles at your disposal (newsletters, digital signage, intranet, etc.) will cause these rumors to die on the vine.
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