Issue: My employees prefer to spend time spreading rumors rather than working.
You cannot get rid of the drama that people enjoy sharing in your workplace. However, you can control how and where they spend their time based on establishing metrics and expectations. When employees waste time feeding the grapevine, it usually means that they are upset about something or they don’t see the value of their work.
The first thing you must do is educate employees on the reasons that the work is being done. Define how customers benefit and how employees are integral to the organizational mission. Then ensure that your team has a purpose that is aligned with the organization’s mission. Remind people of this mission and how it connects to the work that they are doing.
Once that has been achieved, collaborate with employees to establish measurements of success in terms of the quality of the work and focusing on satisfying the customer. The final and most challenging thing to do is praise those who are refusing to feed the grapevine and deal sternly with those who are. When employees continue to be rumor mongers, it means that they may no longer fit into your organization. Be sure to give them a choice on whether to stay and modify their behavior or leave.