How Workplace Gossip Can Harm Your Career & Company

By Valerie Alexander | Updated April 14, 2024 | 5 min read

It is so tempting to gossip at work.

Your colleagues hover around the Keurig, sharing the latest news about the new girl in accounting:

“She was out partying so late last night.”

“I bet she has a problem with drinking or something.”

“Do you guys think this is why she got fired from her last job?”

And you just want to hop in and join them.

This is good stuff!

In fact, you overheard her fighting with someone on her cell phone, so you can contribute something new, maybe even juicy.

Why gossip at work is tempting

You can be the center of attention for a few moments.

You are in the know.

This information will make you seem so important!

Whenever you feel this way—STOP!

There is absolutely no upside to engaging in office gossip except possibly to engage yourself to other office gossip.

Believe me that is not the crowd you want to run with.

Why You Should Never Gossip at Work

There is a multitude of reasons not to join this conversation.

Here are the top five.

Don’t forget to check out these gossip quotes that will help you eliminate rumors from your life at work.

1. It’s None of Your Business

What your co-workers do on their own time is their business.

Period.

If something you’ve heard about them might affect your job performance (not theirs, unless you are their direct supervisor) or endanger the company, then speak to the person directly.

Do so without judgment to find out the facts and see how to fix the situation.

Don’t discuss it with anyone unless you or the company are experiencing negative consequences, and even then, only in addressing a specific problem and only with the one or two people whose job is to handle it.

For anything else you’ve seen or heard, give everyone their privacy, just as you would want yours, which leads us to…

2. People Will Talk About You

When you engage in office gossip, you open yourself up much more to being the subject of it.

Think about what you’re saying about another person.

Now, picture that conversation about you in the break room or the bathroom when you aren’t around.

There are practical applications to the adage, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.”

The more you judge, the more you open yourself to the judgment of others, and since none of us are without flaws and stumbles, why put yourself in that position?

3. You’ll Be Seen as Untrustworthy

Whenever I am around someone spilling someone else’s secrets, I never think, “Oh, this is good—tell me more!”

I always make a mental note: “Never tell this person anything you don’t want broadcast throughout the company.”

In the workplace, information has value and power.

The more people can trust you with their information, the farther you can go and the more value you can bring to yourself and your employer.

Staying out of the gossip is a great way to become a leader, not a follower.

Why destroy that possibility by letting people know they can’t trust you?

I once worked in an office where I was assigned an assistant, Agnes (not her real name).

Before the end of her first day with me, the office manager came by my desk to warn me to be careful about what I shared with her.

I’ll never forget what she said: “If you want everyone to know something, you can telegraph, telephone, or tell Agnes.”

Trust me that is the reputation you do not want among your colleagues.

You Might Also Like: 7 Ways to Stop Gossip in the Workplace Before It Becomes Toxic

4. You Might Be Wrong

Think about how small and horrible you’ll feel after telling everyone that Bob’s wife is leaving him when you discover she was just out of town taking care of her sick mother.

Even if gossip is true, you don’t want to share it, but it is especially damaging when it’s not true.

Also, spreading something untrue about a co-worker that affects their job in any way—a loss of promotion, firing, etc., subjects you to a lawsuit for slander.

And if you put it in writing (including email and text messages, which are never fully erased and much easier to subpoena than you think), that becomes libel.

Better safe (and silent) than sorry!

5. Gossip Creates a Toxic Work Environment

According to Gallup, American companies lose $450-550 billion a year (yes, billion) solely due to unhappiness in the workplace.

Unhappy employees are likelier to call in sick, quit without notice, steal, engage in workplace violence, file a worker’s compensation claim, and have many other bad outcomes.

One of the chief causes of unhappiness is a toxic work environment.

Gossip leads to toxicity.

It creates a culture of fear and mistrust, making everyone less happy at work.

The person who is the subject of the gossip feels ridiculed and embarrassed, and everyone else sees that they have to watch their backs.

None of this allows for creativity, efficiency, or just plain fun.

When I consult with companies on how to lower costs, increase productivity and maximize profits by prioritizing happiness in the workplace, I always include a training unit on how to counsel, control, and curb (and, if needed, can) the toxic employees.

Companies save millions by weeding out those who are poisoning the workplace, and you do not want to be the person they’re all looking at.

Being the office gossip puts you on that list.