The,Rumor,Mill,Can,Grind,You,A business, insurance The Rumor Mill Can Grind You Up
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Are you familiar with the rumor mill at your business? Youcan kid yourself that there isnt one, but trust me. Your employees know aboutit listen to it take part in it. The path to the rumor mill begins withemployee uncertainty and lack of information. Once the rumor mill kicks in, itcan be challenging to shut it down because your statements and protestationsare viewed as spin or damage control. The economic situation we face today isan ideal one for cranking up the rumor mill. Talk of recession, cutbacks andlayoffs are just the thing to get the rumor mill grinding. Afew months ago, while Bear Sterns executives went public to affirm that theydid not have a liquidity crisis, the rumor mill said they did have a problem.Consequently, there was a run on the bank and a loss of market capitalizationthat eventually led to illiquidity. There is no doubt the situation was tightprior to the rumors, but the firms bankruptcy is as much a result of the rumormill as it is unsound financial practices. And the rumor mill is not limited to large companies. Itexists in every organization. Rumorscan be spread by malicious malcontents or by innocent employees simplywondering out loud. In both cases, a lack of real information from leadershipcontributes to their start. Different scenarios may be involved. One of themcould apply to you: #1 Its businessas usual. Things are going well. But, employees may not know this. If theydo know it, it is because managers have made it a practice to give them astate-of-the-union update every few months or so. Even in times of uncertainty,this information flow must continue. Management understands that their workersare entitled to know the status of the organization. And that, when people feeltheyre being treated honestly and with respect, theyre more likely to stick aroundthrough the difficult period. If employees dontknow the firm is doing well, it is because nobody has told them. This practiceof withholding pertinent information from workers is not unusual--and its oneof the primary causes of the rumor mill. Left to their own imaginations,employees will look at what is going on in the economy and extend thisuncertainty to their place of employment, thus damaging morale, decreasingproductivity, and potentially increasing turnover. #2 Business istight, but its nothing too serious. In this scenario, managers think theytheres no need to reveal that things are less than rosy because, in the longrun, everything will be alright. Yes, in the long run, things may be fine, butit is the short run that matters now. Many people are living paycheck topaycheck, and the idea of lost income is a powerful threat. So, although youmay be okay in the long run, your workers want to know that their jobs will bepreserved in the short run as well as thelong run. Rather than not report at all, managers should update employees andreassure them that, although business is off a bit, their jobs are safe and thereis no reason for concern. #3 Business isbad. Every day, we read in the papers of business bankruptcies.Unfortunately, that happens in good times as well as bad times. But a softeconomy increases the number of failed enterprises. Some misguided managerstell themselves that no news is good news and bad news will only causeemployees to leave. Wrong. No newsis an opportunity for the rumor mill to grind on, and bad news is anopportunity for the company to rally and come to together to meet the crisis. Managers who keep silent miss the opportunity to stop therumor mill. Better to tell employees the truth and get them on your side thanto tell them nothing and let the rumor mill push them out the door. Even inthe best of times, communication is one of the most neglected duties ofleadership. Rarely is it as good as it could be. With this already weakfoundation in place, we currently see firms doing less to disclose informationin the face of economic uncertainty when they should be doing more. These conversations dont need tobe scripted, theatrical events--just honest, adult conversations about how thefirm is doing and what employees can do to help. Do this and the rumor millwill not get a chance to crank up at your place. Dont communicate, and itmight grind you up.
The,Rumor,Mill,Can,Grind,You,A