Take Control of the "Rumor Mill" at Your Company

There's always going to be gossip at work. When the rumor mill inevitably starts churning out unchecked lies and half-truths, it creates a horrible environment that poisons morale and crushes productivity. As a leader, you need to take control of the situation before it gets out of hand.

In my role as CEO of DPS Telecom (and now also Digitize), I've developed a multi-pronged process to take control of my company culture. Instead of trying to combat rumors after they develop, I get out in front of the problem by broadcasting the official company message in a variety of formats.

Orientation Presentations Provide Important Context for Your New Hires

Information and facts are the best defenses against rumors. When you openly share with everyone, it’s harder for naysayers or gossip mongers to gain steam. That’s why, when you first start at one of my companies, you'll participate in an orientation presentation within the first several weeks.

Ideally, I would do this on day one, but it's more efficient (and actually more effective) to form a small group of new hires and present all at once. Presenting to a group shows your new employees that they have peers in this career adventure that they have chosen.

An orientation presentation at DPS, which I almost always deliver myself, is an introduction to several important topics:

1.??DPS History

2.??Success Strategies

3.??DPS Personality Profiles

This might seem like a big time commitment, especially for me to deliver myself, but consider the alternative.

When you hire someone, it's common to just plop them down at a desk, give them the standard (or substandard) training, and tell them to "do a good job!"

Once you walk away, it's a matter of moments before your current staff (for good or ill) drops by for an informal introduction. Your less scrupulous employees will almost immediately begin dispensing myths and rumors about “how things really work around here."

Are these the people you want controlling your company culture?

Monthly Company Luncheons Provide Official Company News on a Regular Basis

Because your business and the world surrounding it changes continuously, invest in more than one presentation per employee.

To help my staff understand how our company plans to respond to an evolving world, we hold company luncheons every month.

The event begins with a series of lectures from managers. I usually act as the MC and introduce my managers. They each have a pre-assigned topic and overall message, but they speak about it in their own words.

For example, my marketing manager might explain recent changes made to the website blog in response to Google’s ranking algorithm. My engineering director might talk about our work with the purchasing department to secure unusual parts or designs. I even ask recent graduates from my "Success and Leadership Training" class to talk about their experiences. Whatever we're working on, we talk about.

Policy adjustments are particularly attractive to the rumor mill. That’s why we use monthly meetings to announce any shift in policies, as well as sharing the rationale behind these changes.

We then break for lunch (I have sandwich platters brought in). Not surprisingly, even my detractors applaud my policy of giving out free food!

Defuse Rumors by Letting Employees Know That You Have a Plan

When I explain the concept of my monthly luncheon to other CEOs, they'll often ask me in a snide tone, "Do you honestly believe that your newest people are following along when you try to explain all that?"

It may be true that some people cannot (or just will not) follow along intently while I explain recent economic shifts and how we're adjusting our course. But every employee in one of my monthly luncheons also hears one of these two important things:

1.??"We're going to make this list of specific changes for this list of specific reasons."

2.??"Blah, blah, blah. I have a plan, and your paycheck will clear on Friday."

While some staff members won’t understand every aspect of my plan, the goal is to let them know there IS a plan. Sharing the existence of a plan, and sharing it with the entire team, is one of the best ways I know to derail the company rumor mill.

"Success and Leadership Training" is Another Way to Inform and Motivate

Because I believe that information and education are the best tools for derailing rumors, I also offer 24 hours of “Success and Leadership Training” designed to help motivated employees "break free from the herd" and become more successful.

This class happens once a week, from 5 PM-9 PM, for six weeks. It's free and totally voluntary. During these after-hour classes, up to 12 students are 100 percent focused on personal and career success, not on specific work tasks.

What are typical results?

1.??On average, two students usually think I'm out of my mind and leave the company entirely within the first two sessions.

2.??Most students grab onto a few tidbits of advice and do a bit better at their jobs.

3.??Usually, just two students really embrace what I'm teaching and earn a management or supervisory role within the next 12-18 months.

This class is designed to help my team overcome negative constructs that hold people back in their careers. In its own way, failure is just another type of rumor that I set out to defeat.

Proactive Messaging Repels Drama

We’ve all interacted with drama-loving employees. You know the type. These are people who might be great at their job if they weren't so entertained by stirring up trouble. They love setting up infighting and watching the chaos erupt.

But when you use proactive messaging, explaining what’s happening and why to your entire team, you deflate the value of gossip and rumors. It’s one of the best ways I know to proactively inoculate your team against employees who love drama.

Take These Simple Steps to Build a Better Company Culture

When you follow the tips I've shared here, you can create an environment that resists and repels drama.

And these are simple fixes. In particular, monthly luncheons are absurdly easy to execute. That's why I'm so utterly stunned that very few CEOs follow my advice.

In my nearly four decades of building and maintaining a thriving company culture, I’ve found that these straightforward steps are the best drams-reducing techniques. And the best part is that your problem employees, much like a schoolyard bully, can no longer get a reaction to their rumors and gossip. Eventually, they will get bored and leave voluntarily.