05.08.07 The 5th Managerial Flaw that Encourages Negative Gossip : Absence of Conflict Handling Procedures

Absence of Conflict Handling Procedures

Another managerial weakness that commonly fuels negative gossip in the workforce, team or community is the failure to install structures for handling grievances.

The fact that Aaron left the people to complain about Moses’ delay without any appropriate divine control or interventions raises a question as to whether they had any complaint handling processes at the time. If yes, then Aaron simply overlooked them.

In our JuaLink story, there are indicators to show that systems, processes or procedures for addressing team members’ conflicts or grievances were lacking at the Agency. For example, you may have discovered that when the rumour about downsizing struck and team members started leaving one by one, the management team, including the human resource officer, justlooked on with folded arms. Not until the second board was installed and an investigation conducted did the team members’ disgruntlements come to light. By that time, the exodus of performers from JuaLink to Bidacom Africa could not be reversed.

Therefore, in the absence of such procedures, team members can easily resort to ‘corridor talk’ with all its distortions, which, in essence, propagates negative gossip.