Office Gossip That Is Good For You

Do you feel like everybody in your team seems to know about the CEO putting in his papers? Or like they all know about the colleague who is dating the new VP? Do you sometimes wonder how everyone else seems to know and you don’t? Then here’s the secret for you. It comes from the water cooler a.k.a coffee machine gossip mongers.

If we turned you off with the word ‘gossip’; too bad for you! You have no clue as to what you’re missing out on!

If you do change your mind; then these are some of the stories that you might hear at the water cooler and how they’ll affect your life.

The Gossip:

The Company just shut down their sales office in Manhattan.

The Implication:

Who cares about sales? I work in the Human Resources team.

Wake up and smell the sunshine. Your company just shut down an entire department; which would mean that they can’t, any longer, afford to pay the staff and keep that place running. This would mean that they aren’t doing as well as you thought they were.

How does that affect you? They’ll soon begin layoffs or cut down on appraisals.

Your Career Move:

Start pulling up your socks. Make sure you become indispensable. Prove your worth by taking up additional tasks and if nothing works out, start job hunting.

The Gossip:

The MD of the company is earning $ xx xx xx xxx every month.

The Implication:

If the company can afford to pay an obscene amount like that to the MD, and not to forget the innumerable perks that go with it, they can’t be as down-in-the-dumps as they claim to be. They can definitely afford to pay more than the crummy salary you’re at right now. After all, the amount you’re being paid is like pocket change for him.

Your Career Move:

At the next appraisal, try and make sure you can tell them why exactly you are expecting a salary hike. You have to be clear about the reason; and the MD’s salary isn’t a point you can use. So think of a good number of reasons (around 7 – 10) about why you deserve this raise. If you don’t get the raise that you were aiming for in the first place, then it might be a good idea to leave the company.

We say this because if the company can’t pay you when they’re doing well, how can you expect them to pay you if they do hit a rough spot eventually?

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