Is there one (or more than one) employee who uses employee reviews as a chance to snitch on colleagues’ bad behavior?
The answer is almost always, and unsurprisingly, yes. Gossiping is part of human nature. However, it can also lead to a toxic office environment. Read on to learn more about how to eliminate the impact of this harmful conduct on employee reviews.
Define the Line Between Snitching and Whistle-blowing
There’s a difference between the employee who points out an ethical violation (such as lying to customers or regulators) and the person who tattles on a coworker because he or she is a few minutes late.
As the manager or HR professional, ask yourself if the news you’re receiving from this employee has an impact on the company. If the employee being tattled upon is breaking the law, you want to know about it. Has Jack left his lunch in the fridge over the weekend? That’s not news.
Changing Toxic Behavior through Corporate Policy
Linda Willey, an HR professional who serves on the Society of Human Resource Management’s discipline panel, believes there are steps companies can take to reduce the toxic version of snitching.
Willey suggests that crafting policies regarding office tale-telling is a company’s best protection against this behavior. Make it clear that snitching for snitching’s sake doesn’t fall within the definition of professional conduct, and it won’t be tolerated.
Educating Employees
Managers and human resources professionals need to communicate to employees about the effect of gossip in the workplace. Simply creating policy isn’t enough – the workforce must understand why it’s been implemented.
Willey points out that managers and HR staff have a right to root out tattling. “It can impact morale and productivity, and teamwork goes down obviously because people start to not trust each other and they start cocooning,” she said in an interview with the Wharton School of Business.
Enforce the Policy Consistently
In order to remove this toxic behavior from your office once and for all, you have to enforce the policy you’ve set in place. And you have to do so consistently.
When you notice that the kind of negative, unproductive snitching is taking place, tell the employee to stop. Explain why it’s not acceptable. Give the employee a chance to change his or her ways. If he or she continues, take action.
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