There is no smoke without fire.
If we go by this saying rumours might not be completely baseless as they might hold some truth in them. Rumours is something which is part and parcel of our everyday life, both personal and professional.
Whether it’s about a class mate, colleague or about or current/previous organization we tend to hear about these rumours and form our perception about an issue. True or false rumours do frame a particular line of thinking where it effects one consciousness.
When we speak of organization rumours we need to understand the nature of these rumors and to the extent they are affecting the brand image. It should always be remembered that rumors spread much faster than the information shared through company’s communication channel. Also whether to ignore or address these rumours must depend on the nature of the rumour.
For e.g. if a rumour is based on an important information which is yet to be announced to the employees or the stakeholders then such rumours have the tendency to impact the brand image in a negative way. It is usually the information meant for public and private stakeholders such as mergers or acquisition, changes in business strategy, bad exit or any other negative case tend to tarnish the image. So in such situations the responsible teams should be active to handle queries, clear out confusions and provide adequate and honest knowledge to the stakeholders involved. Such rumours may also lead to involvement of the Senior Teams at times.
Another e.g. of rumours which usually involves internal misunderstanding, miscommunications or conflicts then in such cases the managers should be addressing such rumours within their teams and operational areas to maintain a positive environment. They should pay attention to the periodic disruptions that lead to such rumours and try to resolve the issue before it takes a potential surface.
But whatever, the case is rumours are unavoidable and unpreventable so the organizations should be apt to deal with rumours. So in such cases, crucial departments such as HR, Communication, PR, Finance, Sales etc. should be brand endorsers. Even in the most hard situation they should bring out the positive attitude and thinking of the company and rule out the negativity. The team should focus on what benefits or the gaining experience the organization provides as compared to others than getting along with the rumours.