Every agency is at risk of becoming victim to the behavior of individual employees. This deterioration of company culture often stems from gossip and rumors starting with a couple of people and spreading like wildfire. Whether the information has any merit, it can create anxiety, fear, and doubt among staff very quickly, leading to a downturn in an organization.
To avoid this type of problem running rampant at your agency, agency leaders must take appropriate mitigating action. Here are steps that every agency can put to work when gossip problems threaten agency culture:
1. Assess the Severity – Depending on whether you’ve gotten wind of the problem early on or if it has been bubbling under the surface for quite some time, it is essential to understand how serious it is. Once you’ve had an opportunity to investigate the topic of controversy and how many people are part of the discussion, you’ll have a good idea of how big of a problem you are facing as an agency leader. This clarity will help you formulate a plan to deal with the situation in the best way possible. 2. Address the Problem Head On – It can be tempting to ignore a problem or assume it is not that big of a deal and will remedy itself. However, gossip and rumors will erode at agency culture very quickly whether the information has any truth to it or not. Burying your head in the sand and hoping everyone comes to their senses naturally is a recipe for disaster. The truth is gossip typically gets louder and spreads faster, creating a snowball effect as moves through the organization. What started as a simple problem can suddenly involve multiple people from multiple departments caught up more in discussing rumors than doing their jobs. Instead of hiding from the problem, it’s better to face it directly. Be willing to pull individuals aside and have candid discussions about how their behavior is problematic. Make sure it is clear to the employee that their conduct is damaging the agency from an operational and cultural standpoint. 3. Implement a Zero Tolerance Policy – While addressing the current problem quickly and directly takes care of the immediate issue, the agency will want to have a long-term solution to prevent or deal with future occurrences.
Employees will always have thoughts about running the agency and possible suggestions for improvement. Employees will also have conflict with one another. These are natural consequences of having people working together who have their own experiences, personality, preferences, and working styles. And while none of these are wrong in and of themselves, when employees promote their opinions and preferences in a disrespectful way to leaders and co-workers, it can be very damaging to the organization. To prevent this type of activity, give employees guidelines on how they can appropriately provide feedback to leadership. Also, be sure to explain the consequences if they choose to take inappropriate action. Agencies must address gossip problems within their agencies to build a positive culture. Using these steps will help leaders navigate current issues and prevent the rise of these problems in the future. For more on this topic, check out the full episode of The Independent Agent here.
About the Author Justin Goodman has spent the past 20 years in insurance. He is the co-founder and CEO of Total CSR and co-founder and Managing Director of Project 55. By the age of 29, he was recognized as one of the top five construction insurance experts nationwide by Risk and Insurance Magazine. He also was named to Insurance Business Magazine’s Hot 100 and most recently the 2024 Insurance Journal Agent of the Year. Justin has trained over 50,000 CSR’s, account managers and producers through his work at Total CSR. He has a passion for developing the next generation of insurance professionals. When not with his family, he devotes his free time to speaking engagements and advising agency owners across the country.
