Preventing Staff Gossip-Avoiding Toxic Gym Culture
There’s always one word many people tend to dread, especially within a work environment: gossip. Gossip is a reality that can happen in any workplace, and when not addressed appropriately, can negatively impact your club and gym culture you have taken the time to implement.
It begs the questions: Why is staff gossip bad, why it happens, and how does it affect gym culture?
Simply put, gossip can be a form of harassment that is designed to hurt and degrade others or their reputation. Gossip in this form can happen if a person wants to feel important, feel superior, boredom, jealousy, insecurities… and many more. Gossip can also happen due to a real misconduct and should always be taken seriously.
Negative gossip in your club doesn’t just mean it affects your staff personally, it can trickle down to the gymnasts, and even worse, shut down a gym if not handled properly and correctly.
What are some ways you can prevent and manage staff gossip?
- Educate
The best way to keeping the grapevine at bay is to establish your core values and policies. When bringing on new staff, ensure they are up to date on your club policies and objectives, and remember to keep educating staff every year. Maintain your stance on your policies and ensure every staff member knows what their role is. When you are onboarding, you should be holding all levels of your staff to the same guidelines, this could mean maintaining an open-door policy or taking time to meet with your staff one on one. Educating should not mean berating, to avoid negative gossip and maintain positive energy, promoting growth and learning should be the focus of your workplace culture. - Communicate
Open communication between club owners and staff is a must in order to keep the gym running smoothly. There should be a form of accountability and honesty among staff that should be maintained. Staff that feels as though they are neglected and unheard by management are more likely to be unmotivated to perform at a higher level and more likely to turn to gossip behavior. Another good tip is to empower your coaching team to follow a conflict resolution plan that can help prevent internal conflict. Keeping in close contact with your staff by having regular coaching sessions can help improve growth and can help identify any negative behavior or activity within the gym. - Model Good Behavior
As a club owner, you should be the model of good behavior and your staff can follow along. Don’t bring other’s down, including other club owners or other business. While it is completely normal to have an ego boost or judgmental tendencies, keep a cool and professional stance when engaging with staff. If an individual/group is negatively mentioning another individual/group, do not participate and attempt to redirect the conversation to a positive connotation. You should always show respect to all individuals including but not limited to staff, parents, vendors, gymnasts, etc. If you make a mistake or know that a conflict may arise, take accountability for the action and seek solutions to improve the situation.Staying ahead of the gossip game can be difficult, but if you continue to implement your goals for your club and ensure they align within your staff, you are providing an environment that should remain positive and collaborative. By avoiding staff gossip, you will see positive overall satisfaction levels of coaches, parents, and gymnasts. A positive environment is a thriving environment.
