Editor's Note: This is the second article in a series of articles that will be taking a look at challenging situations that may be facing your workforce. Lynne Eisaguirre began the series by tackling How to Deal with Problem Employees Within the Limits of the Law and  will be covering common behavioral problems (gossiping, violence, drug use, etc.) that your employees may posses and how to address these issues in this and upcoming articles.

Ask employees how they feel about gossip and you'll get the same answer from all of them: They dislike it. Yet ask those same people if gossip exists in their workplace and you'll get the same answer: absolutely. So, what gives?

Social scientists tell us gossip is a time honored and popular way to increase social functioning and connection. The truth is, we all gossip, because we all talk about other people. When we say we don't like gossip, what we really mean is that we don't like gossip about us or people we like.

The problem in the workplace, of course, is that gossip can poison environments, reduce productivity, and perpetuate nasty rumors. The best leaders make it clear that they will simply not tolerate gossip in any form. That means, of course, that they have to "walk the talk" and not gossip themselves.

The best way to deal with gossip is to head it off at the pass by making sure that your employees know from the start that you will not tolerate gossip. If you do that, and if you lead by example, you'll be much less likely to invite them to engage in this bothersome activity.