Ever had a coworker come up to you and say, “You can’t tell a soul what I’m about to tell you”? If you agree with such confidentiality without knowing what you’re about to hear, you’re asking for trouble. 

Granted, confidentiality is often necessary. Much of it has to do with where one sits in an organization. Still, the nature of such confidentiality can be tough to deal with.

Let’s say you’re a manager who’s been told about impending layoffs. These confidences may have to be kept until the pink slips are actually issued — And that could take months!

Well, keeping such confidences is a often part of a manager’s job.

So what to do when someone comes up and whispers, “did you know they’re laying off Bill and Bonnie next quarter?”

James Bono, Associate Dean at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy, is sometimes faced with making budgetary cutbacks, and sometimes that involves layoffs.  He says if someone inquires about who might be getting laid off, his response is brief and to the point: “We don’t discuss confidential HR issues.”

Bono says “People come to me and jockey for info all the time. I need to remind them that office gossip is truly harmful.”

So while sometimes confidences must be kept (and for good reason), it’s probably wise if we’re careful about how fast we agree to keeping them. 

Reason: When we put our confidentiality in a place it doesn’t belong, it can come back to bite us.  Additionally, the backlash of secrets, accusations of gossip, and withholding of information can damage the moral fiber of an organization. Not good.

As far as workplace excellence, I’d recommend a well-defined policy on confidentiality – and adhering to it.

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Filed in Work, Management, Workplace, Corporate Culture