Blabber mouth colleague

[Whatwoidoyoudo]

I’m furious.

I am one of a small team of managers (4 of us) that manage a large number of staff.

As a manager I’m responsible for leading appraisals and talking to staff when we need to when things are going wrong.

I had to speak to a colleague yesterday, they became upset and we spent a long time discussing the issue. I then spoke to the others in the management team about it to gain their opinions but also keep them in the loop.

i have today found out that one of the mangers had then shared this with 2 of my colleagues (ones that aren’t in the management team), one of whom is a known gossip.

I reassured the member of staff I spoke to that only myself and the very small manager team would ever know. I now feel like I’ve lied and let them down.

im livid. We are a small team and I know it will cause friction if I address this and also o will “dob in” the member of staff that came to tell me. That will impact on their working relationship with the manager in question.

wtf. I thought I could talk to my colleagues in confidence. I thought they were my support network.

I feel awful for th member of staff whose private business has been shared.

So you go back to the other managers and the blabber mouth, say it has been dealt with, it was blown out of proportion and in future if anything similar happens you expect Confidentiality and tell them not to discuss this further with other staff. Perhaps in hindsight as it wasn't a big deal you could of just dealt with it yourself at the beginning then updated briefly instead of everyone else getting involved.

Thanks for your practical advice @TraitorsGate .

You’re right, have to address this and think this is the way I will do it.

I just need to say as a few people asked- I didn’t know that anything happened- I was informed at the managers meeting and asked to address it.

I kinda feel like the manager that told me should have/ could have addressed it there and then and then it wouldn’t have been such a big deal! But we don’t all work the same I guess.

Ok, thanks for your opinions everyone. I’m going to sort this first thing.

Yes perhaps the manager could have dealt with it at the beginning or just discussed it with you to deal with.you could ask them that and also ask blabber why they told another member of staff, maybe it was gossip who bought it to the managers attention, I would also ask them how it all came about. Maybe a staff/management meeting is not the place to discuss individual staff. Good luck, you sound caring.

Absolutely this. I've recently had a conversation with my manager where I got really upset and cried. She was open that she needed to speak to X person and Y person about what I had raised. If I found out it was just being chatted about I'd be so upset.