“Why cases of character assassination are a big threat to you and your company’s culture”
When a TK Maxx Marketing Assistant Vice President referred to a junior colleague’s partner as a “nasty piece of work” it certainly did not promote a healthy workplace environment. Neither the colleague nor their partner was aware of the commentary. Whether or not the statement was true or not, leadership at such organisations will only accelerate the spread of such a toxic culture if leaders themselves engage in such conduct. Marketing departments are said to run on strong emotions, and it is more important for their relevant management to refrain from the false rumour mill where at all possible. Based in the United Kingdom, TK Maxx is a brand of the company TJX Inc who are a global apparel retailer with brands in the United States such as Homegoods, TJ Maxx and Marshalls.
“How we spend our days, is how we spend our lives.” – Annie Dillard
An average human spends around 90,000 hours of their life at work. This equates to 50% of every day that we go to work. Given the significance of these figures, it is imperative to consider the importance of positive workplace cultures. In fact, a Study conducted by Alfredo Rodriguez-Munoz revealed that happiness at work directly affects happiness levels at home, confirming a spill over effect between workplace environment and life satisfaction. So, when an employee has a tough time at work due to any reason, it is expected for those feelings to affect their overall life. One such negative spill over comes from character assassination at the workplace.
Character assassination is a tactic often used to harm an individual for personal gains and stature. At the workplace, this translates into spreading false rumours about another co-worker, or making verbal and unjustified assaults to their personality, character, and integrity. The motive for such feuds is usually to surpass and undermine the expertise and reputation of a competent co-worker, to set oneself into the good books of an employer or higher management.
This toxic situation may also arise as a form of competition between two co-workers competing for the same promotion, position, or status in the company. Oftentimes, slander and derogatory remarks are also made by people in higher positions such as managers, who direct their rage towards those in lower positions. Whether the assassination is one-sided or shared between co-workers, managers or supervisors, such attacks often lead to negative outcomes across the workplace.
Fuelled by fear, character assassination attempts can wreak havoc on a victim’s job performance and career path. Aside from a negative workplace environment disturbing the victim’s overall levels of happiness, mental setbacks such as lack of confidence, loneliness and doubt also affect their relationships with other co-workers. In the TK Maxx scenario, it could even affect relationships at home. Productivity levels are also affected, where victims tend to be late, distracted, and neglectful of their duties. Not only do such ordeals impact personal lives of victims, but such slander also causes the victim to be passed over for promotions, left out of important meetings, and labelled as less competent. All these results prove to be exactly what the perpetrator desired. Even in two-sided assassination conflicts, such consequences hold just as true for both parties.
The impact of such conflict is detrimental to the organisation as well. When a workplace is rife with discrimination and malicious staff, everyone suffers. The hostility caused by character assassination leads to absenteeism, low morale, gossip, hostility, stress, and anxiety among employees. Low productivity is also a negative outcome. Furthermore, defamation victims and witnesses are more likely to quit, resulting in high employee turnover which in turn increases hiring and training costs. The severity of these factors are enough to shake the management into taking serious action and preventive measures when it comes to character assassination.
Another instance of employees assassinating the character of a co-worker is seen in the case of State Of NSW Vs Mannall (Australia, 2005). The victim reported that after being promoted to a management position, other employees slandered her with harassment, humiliation, derogatory remarks and abuse.
This case of character assassination included her colleagues spreading false rumours, disobeying her requests, and making offensive comments. The situation worsened when the company’s manager failed to play a positive role in the matter and ignored hostile behaviour against Mannall. The victim then wrote a letter to the regional director of the company highlighting all her issues. Even though the regional director reached out to the manager calling for an end to workplace disharmony, Mannall’s predicament continued due to the lack of strict and serious action against the bullies. Spanning 18 months after the victim’s appointment, HR finally appointed a formal consultant for this character assassination case. However, by this time, the victim was incapacitated by psychological issues. This resulted not only in the loss of a competent employee, but also a widespread lawsuit that tainted the image and credibility of the company. For a company that could not provide sufficient support to its employees in matters of slander and assassination, faced repercussions to its identity for years to come
Cases of character assassination hence require companies to properly outline and define their role as a just mediator. A supportive environment for hardworking employees is a huge part of a positive workplace culture. The more emphasis an organisation places on the safety and protection of every class of employee, the faster it will grow and achieve its goals.
Top tips for employers:
- Establish a company policy to define and clearly outline components of character assassination cases along with consequences.
- Devise a complaint funnel with an independent committee that will investigate the case.
- Outline rules and regulations for the committee to follow regarding confidentiality and information-gathering.
- Implement anti-character assassination programs that contribute to a welcoming culture where everyone feels like a valued member of the team.
- Propagate a safe and healthy environment where healthy competition and employee-to-employee harmony is promoted.
“There’s no magic formula for great company culture. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated.” – Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Group
