Change Agents: Meet the Nicheperts

Do your co-workers find the rumor du jour hard to resist? Is your office laced with backbiting and backstabbing? April Callis of Springboard Consulting says she has the cure: Gossip Stoppers. The East Lansing, Mich., trainer has given this half-day workshop 30 times this year at infected workplaces like hospitals and universities and is now fielding requests from corporations.

At an anxious time when job stability seems a distant memory, Gossip Stoppers is just one of a host of pinpoint-focused consultancies tapping into a pervasive yearning for equilibrium. Is your trust busted? They'll fix it. Too many sourpusses on staff? Likability training will sweeten dispositions. Been putting off hiring a consultant? Good news, procrastination preventers are standing by, if only you would ... well, that's an issue, isn't it? These nicheperts are part of a growing coalition of consultants who, unlike the all-you-can-eat practices, limit their work to bite-size pieces. They range from one-person shops doing half-day workshops at $1,750 a throw to boutique firms signing on for six-month gigs at $200,000 or so.

With its trademarked name and playful logo, Gossip Stoppers offers treatment for that specific ill. On-site, Callis delivers analysis of gossip's causes and destructive potential, along with tips for improvement. She focuses on creating solutions rather than assigning blame, and she makes listeners responsible for stopping rumors by refusing to pass them on. Gossip Stoppers kits include paper clips to remind rumormongers to fasten those loose lips and breath mints to help them remember to sweeten what they say.

If rumors are rife, it's generally management's fault. While the bosses are waiting for every department to sign off on a decision, leaks spring, and worried staff members start spinning. "After so much downsizing," she says, "there are fewer employees left. They feel overworked, without control and in a negative spiral."

Michelle and Dennis Reina, based in Stowe, Vt., have for years researched and consulted on organizational trust issues, and this year they branded themselves the Reina Trust Building Institute. In a typical six-month stint with a company, they first define types of trust: contractual ("doing what we say"), communication (being open and honest) and competence (trusting one another's skills).

Typically, trust breaks down when change is managed or communicated badly. In one American Express department, for example, reports human resources officer Carol Mimon, a restructuring and leadership change reduced trust and engagement among top talent. Her department worked with the Reinas to rebuild trust and hang on to top people. The Reinas' approach is a seven-step program that starts with acknowledging what has happened, then segues into taking responsibility, spreading forgiveness all around, letting go and moving on. In the current climate of restructuring, Michelle Reina says, "trust is built and broken every day. The changes and downsizing don't break the trust, but how the change is managed."