Typical workplace gossip fueled by a lack of critical thinking ability

It doesn't upset me, it doesn't annoy me, but I am aware of what is going on and I am actually concerned about the culture that is allowed to manifest.

So, I was working on an assignment in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2019 where I placed a historical post Why talent leaves and non-performers remain. I wrote this post back in 2015 for an someone named Emilly. 

She performed to a high level, is highly intelligent, is extremely motivated, somewhat outspoken but a little disliked in her workplace due to the politics of personal power and jealousy. She was looking for new opportunities when a management role was offered to her in a global company.

I reposted this article when she was offered the role of Area Manager, she had accepted and was in her new role. This post was picked up by one of my colleagues and discussed at length in my absence in very derogatory terms. 

This just happened to be when I was in the Democratic Republic of Congo; however, this was reposted when she accepted the role and moved to another city to start this role. Whilst this was just a coincidence, this was interpreted much differently by my colleagues.

One person had printed the post out and placed it on the noticeboard for all to read. Naturally all the office gossip mongers were in overdrive shooting their mouths off, not one of these fools even thought to look at the published date of the 24th of January 2015.

The questions I ask, this is an open plan office where the management read the noticeboard and sit at the table. What were they doing when this highly slanderous and highly emotional discussion was going on in an open plan office?

Whilst I do not need the protection of management against workplace bullying as I have shown that I am more than capable of taking workplace bullies down on my own. They have certain obligations, they need to shut down these malicious discussions with facts.

This was relayed to me all the way in Africa, there were apparently people with plenty to say. This was a topic of conversation in an open plan office and I received notification from multiple sources indicating that these loud discussions were taking place with plenty of people involved.

With the post printed out and placed on the lunch table where everyone congregates, it would be difficult to defend that management had no knowledge that this discussion was going on. What is most disturbing is the lack of critical thinking abilities of my colleagues, groupthink, pack mentality and follower mentality.