Don’t mention it… the top five taboos of office conversation
We spend long periods of time with our work colleagues and enjoy chatting to them – but a new survey says there are a number of conversation topics are still off-limits for many people. Tony McDonough reports
Gossiping at the water cooler is a staple of modern office life – but there are some topics many office workers feel they really don’t want to talk about.
Independent job site CV-Library surveyed 1,100 professionals across the UK, including in Merseyside, and discovered there were a number of workplace talk taboos – often around money and their personal lives.
The top five topics people believed were best left at the door with their hats and coats, were:
- Salaries – 67.5%
- Office relationships – 65.5%
- Your relationships outside of work – 57%
- Why someone was let go – 52.9%
- Your boss – 47.3%
When asked why they deem these types conversations to be inappropriate for the workplace, 59% said this was because they could be seen as unprofessional. What’s more, almost one in four said they could cause tension or ill-feeling amongst the workforce.
Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library, said: “The friends we make at work are understandably important to us. So it’s not surprising that topics of conversation can turn to our private lives, relationships or office gossip.
“As an employer, this can be a tricky situation to navigate. While you want to nurture a friendly working environment and encourage staff to get along, you need to make sure you set a good example and lay down some ground rules.
“Negative or unprofessional conversations can cause low morale. Be sure to clearly outline your policies surrounding office gossip, particularly in terms of confidential news within the business.”