Workplace Gossip and Cliques

How do workplace gossip and cliques harm a team? Read about their causes, their link with mobbing and the steps managers can take in this practical guide.

A whisper that starts in the tea room, a remark over lunch, and before evening it has become "news" that everyone knows but nobody has verified. What is said about an employee being dismissed, a manager favouring someone, or a colleague's private life spreads quickly by word of mouth. Workplace gossip often starts out as an innocent chat, but when left unchecked it erodes trust, splits teams into camps and in some cases turns into psychological harassment. In this article I look at why gossip and cliques arise, their effects on employees and the organisation, the responsibilities the law places on employers, and the concrete steps managers, HR and OHS specialists can take.

What Is Workplace Gossip, and Is Every Chat Gossip?

Not every informal conversation is gossip. People chat with one another at work, swap news and share what they are going through. These social bonds are an important part of solidarity within a team. What sets gossip apart is usually the following:

• Talking about someone who is not there: The person has no chance to defend or explain themselves.
• Unverified or distorted information: What is said is often based on half-knowledge, guesswork or interpretation.
• A negative or belittling tone: The purpose of the conversation is less to share information than to judge, mock or make someone look bad.
• Intruding on private life: Talking about the person's health, family, relationships or financial situation.

There is also "organisational rumour": speculation that arises when no official information is given on matters such as restructuring, dismissals, pay or a change of management. Such rumours are often directed not at individuals but at the organisation, yet they can cause intense anxiety in employees. An anxious employee spends the day thinking about what the next piece of news will be instead of focusing on their work; this affects both productivity and safety in jobs that demand attention.

Cliques: Gossip in Organised Form

A clique is the formation of closed subgroups within a team, and those groups beginning to exclude others. People from the same hometown, those who have worked the same shift for a long time, those close to the manager or those of the same generation may naturally be closer to one another. This closeness is not a problem in itself. The problem arises when the group becomes a base of power and begins to show the following behaviours:

• Information being shared only within the group, with others left "outside".
• Some employees being systematically left on their own at breaks, meals and social events.
• Newcomers finding it easier or harder to settle in depending on whether they are "accepted" into the group.
• A shared negative narrative forming about those outside the group.
• A perception of favouritism in decisions, shift allocation or the sharing of overtime.

Cliques are most often seen in periods when uncertainty rises. When news of a merger, a new manager or downsizing arrives, people turn to smaller, trusted groups in order to feel safe. In family businesses, groups that form around family members or employees close to them can make cliques even more visible.

Why Do People Gossip?

Explaining workplace gossip only by "bad intent" often falls short. Behind gossip there are usually some unmet needs:

An information gap

When management does not give timely, clear information on important matters, employees fill the gap with their own guesses. Rumour is an effort to make sense of things in the face of uncertainty.

Anxiety and uncertainty

Fear of losing one's job, economic worries and uncertainty about the future push people to find relief by talking. According to Gallup's report published in 2026, 66% of employees in Turkey say they experienced stress during much of the previous day; the global average is 40% (Gallup, 2026; 2025 data). High-stress environments are environments in which rumour spreads quickly.

The need to belong

Being part of a group and having "inside" information gives a person a sense of power and belonging. Gossip sometimes becomes a means of being accepted into a group.

Perceived injustice and anger

Employees who feel wronged but cannot voice it through official channels may express their anger indirectly, through gossip. In Gallup's data for Turkey, 36% of employees report having felt intense anger the previous day (Gallup, 2026).

Poor communication arrangements

In the OSH Pulse 2022 survey in Europe, 26% of employees reported poor communication or cooperation within the organisation (EU-OSHA, 2022). Where speaking directly is not safe and problems cannot be raised face to face, conversations flow through back doors.

The manager as a role model

If the manager themselves talks about employees with others, or belittles some in front of others, this behaviour is accepted in the team and spreads.

The speed of digital channels

Today workplace gossip circulates not only in the tea room but also in team messaging groups, private chats and on social media. A screenshot can reach dozens of people within minutes; because it is written, it also leaves a much more lasting trace than a spoken remark. When the purpose and rules of official work groups are not defined, these channels can easily become a space for rumour and mockery.

Gossip is often a symptom of a communication problem; suppressing only the symptom does not remove the problem.

The Effects of Workplace Gossip and Cliques on Employees and the Organisation

Suppose that in a textile workshop, comments about the private life of an employee who has recently divorced start to circulate. At first it is whispered about among a few people, then conversations stop abruptly when she comes over at break. Within a few weeks the employee starts eating lunch alone and adjusting her break times so that they do not coincide with other people's. The error rate in the production records rises and she takes sick leave frequently. If the manager reads this picture as "low motivation", they will miss the real problem.

For the person being talked about, the workplace can become a place where one has to be on guard every day. These people often show the following reactions: difficulty going to work, constant anxiety, sleep problems, anger and helplessness, withdrawal and, in time, alienation from the job. Long-term exclusion can seriously affect a person's self-confidence and job performance.

The effects for the organisation spread over a wider area:

• Loss of trust: Employees hold back from speaking openly with each other and with management.
• Disruption of information flow: Information is not shared between cliques; gaps in handovers increase.
• Loss of productivity and quality: Time and energy are spent on rumours and tension within groups instead of on work.
• Staff turnover: Excluded employees, especially new starters, think of leaving at the first opportunity.
• Safety risk: In teams that do not trust one another, the reporting of risks and the asking for help decrease.
• Legal risk: Systematic and targeted gossip, exclusion and humiliation may be assessed as psychological harassment.

According to the ILO's report on the psychosocial work environment published in 2026, 23% of the world's workers have experienced violence or harassment at work at least once, and the most common form, at 18%, is psychological violence (ILO, 2026). Gossip and exclusion can be among the quietest and most easily overlooked forms of psychological violence.

Gossip, Mobbing and the Employer's Responsibility

Not all gossip is mobbing. For mobbing, systematic, persistent and deliberate behaviour is generally required. However, gossip and exclusion that target a particular person, continue for a long time and aim to wear them down, exclude them or put them off the job can fall within this scope.

The legislation places a clear responsibility on the employer in this regard. According to Article 417 of the Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, the employer is obliged to protect and respect the employee's personality, to provide an order in the workplace in line with the principles of honesty, and in particular to take the necessary measures to protect employees from psychological and sexual harassment and to prevent those who have suffered such harassment from being harmed further. Prime Ministry Circular No. 2011/2 also defines combating psychological harassment in workplaces as primarily the employer's duty.

Article 5 of the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 requires a prevention policy covering the effects of factors related to social relations to be developed. In the Ministry of Labour and Social Security's 2024 Information Guide on Psychosocial Factors, "interpersonal relationships" and "organisational culture" are also among the categories of psychosocial hazards (ÇSGB, 2024). I covered obligations on mobbing and how to set up a prevention policy in detail in the article on mobbing in the workplace and employer obligations.

Practical Steps for Managers and HR

1. Close the information gap. Give timely, clear and consistent information on matters such as change, restructuring, pay or headcount. If something is not yet known, say so too: "A decision has not yet been made on this; we will tell you within two weeks." Acknowledging uncertainty creates far less anxiety than rumour does.
2. Do not take part in gossip. When a manager listens to gossip about an employee and joins in, they approve of that behaviour. Gently steer the conversation towards the person themselves or a concrete problem: "Have you talked to them about this directly?"
3. Make direct conversation easier. Create channels through which employees can raise their problems face to face and with confidence: regular one-to-one meetings, an open-door policy and, where necessary, mediation.
4. Put the rules of conduct in writing. Respectful communication, privacy of personal life and a ban on exclusion should be explicitly included in ethical rules or standards of conduct. These rules should be explained during induction.
5. Set up a complaint and reporting procedure. Create a process that an employee experiencing targeted gossip, exclusion or humiliation can turn to, that protects confidentiality and guarantees protection against retaliation. Complaints should be looked into promptly and impartially.
6. Break up cliques deliberately. From time to time, mix up project teams, shift pairings and training groups. People from different subgroups working together for a shared goal reduces prejudice.
7. Protect newcomers. During onboarding, assign the new employee a buddy and ask regularly in the first months whether they feel accepted by the team.
8. Manage the perception of fairness. Make the criteria used in decisions on shifts, leave, overtime, promotion and recognition transparent. A perception of favouritism is one of the strongest sources of nourishment for cliques.
9. Train managers. Noticing the signs of gossip, intervening in conflict and talking to an employee who is struggling are skills that can be learned. In the World Health Organization's guidelines on mental health at work, the recommendation with the strongest evidence is giving managers mental health training (WHO, 2022).

You can find how the subject can be approached in a wider framework in the article on toxic work environments.

How to Get Started in Your Organisation

1. Needs analysis: With an anonymous workplace climate survey, measure areas such as trust, communication, experience of exclusion, perceived fairness and the relationship with the manager. Compare across departments and shifts. Assess complaint records, exit interviews and staff turnover data together. If necessary, use small focus groups to listen to the experience behind the numbers.
2. Programme: Based on the findings, put together a plan made up of communication and conflict management training for managers, workshops for employees on respectful communication, structured team work with problem teams, and preparation of a policy and procedure on psychological harassment. Offer confidential individual support to employees who have been targeted and are struggling.
3. Measurement: Repeat the survey after six months; monitor indicators such as the number and type of complaints, staff turnover and absenteeism. An initial rise in the number of complaints often shows not that the problem is growing but that employees have begun to trust the reporting channel.

You can look at how this process can be planned with a psychologist's support on the corporate services page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can workplace gossip be prevented entirely?

Eliminating it completely is not a realistic goal; people will always talk about one another. The aim is to reduce harmful, targeted and systematic gossip and to fill information gaps with official communication. Where open communication is strong, the effect of rumour falls markedly.

When does gossip count as mobbing?

Behaviour that targets a particular person, continues systematically over a long time and aims to wear the person down, exclude them or put them off the job can be assessed as psychological harassment. Its legal character varies according to the specific case; in doubtful situations it is sensible to take the opinion of an employment law specialist.

What should be suggested to an employee who learns that they are being gossiped about?

It can be suggested that they first make a note of what they have experienced and, if possible, turn to a manager they trust or to HR. It is important to calm down before reacting and to assess whether speaking directly is safe. If the situation is causing the person intense anxiety, sleep problems or difficulty going to work, getting psychological support may be helpful.

What should a manager do on noticing cliques?

Instead of blaming the cliques, it is necessary to look at the conditions that feed them: a perception of favouritism, a lack of information, unclear roles, or whether there is an excluded group. Creating mixed teams, making transparent decisions and meeting one-to-one with excluded employees are effective ways of reducing cliques.

• #workplace gossip
• #cliques
• #team cohesion
• #organisational culture

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Eda Erkan Alapala

Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.

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