An employee quits. In the same department, another employee whose attendance has always been exemplary starts missing two or three days a month. Over the last quarter, department productivity has dropped, and no one seems to know why. These are all symptoms of the epidemic of incivility that is infecting many workplaces.
In their landmark study “Assessing and Attacking Workplace Incivility” (Organizational Dynamics 29, no. 2, 2000), Lynne Anderson, Christine Pearson and Christine Porath interviewed workers in a wide range of organizations including every standardized classification. They found that as a result of uncivil interactions with other employees, supervisors or managers reported:
- 22 percent of employees had intentionally decreased work efforts
- 10 percent had called in sick to avoid the instigator
- 28 percent lost productivity because they spent their time at work avoiding the instigator
- 37 percent reduced their commitment to the organization
- 12 percent had actually quit companies
Workplace incivility can be defined as behavior that violates workplace norms for mutual respect in such a way that cooperation and motivation are reduced. The behavior can be insidious and difficult to detect. One of the findings of the study was that incivility is often ambiguous. The intent to harm may not be clear, which often permits the instigator to pretend innocence or claim that the injured partly misunderstood or is too sensitive. It is often not reported because employees fear reprisals or damage to their careers. In exit interviews, incivility may not be mentioned by departing employees because they don’t want to affect future references or may blame themselves for not being able to “take it.”
Examples of workplace incivility include gossip, belittling remarks, vulgar words, conversations or gestures, leaving a mess for someone else to clean up, abusing subordinates, interrupting others and rudeness. Offenders may be male or female, supervisors or managers, young or old. Based on the research, instigators of incivility tend to be rude to coworkers, disrespectful of subordinates, and generally difficult to get along with. They are often emotionally reactive to problems and stressful situations. Some are particularly skilled at “kissing up and kicking down” – they may behave differently in the presence of someone higher up than they do with others in the organization.
Theories vary on why rudeness is on the rise. Some believe that the line between appropriate and inappropriate behavior in our culture has continued to blur due to images in media and entertainment. Absentee parenting and lower standards of discipline in schools are often cited. Time pressures and increasing workloads allow less time for social niceties and also increase stress and frustration.
Whatever the causes, the results are higher turnover and lower productivity. The most effective cure for workplace incivility is to take a comprehensive approach.
First establish clear standards for conduct and interacting with others at all levels of the organization. Many organizations make these standards explicit by publishing core values that include expectations for interpersonal conduct. Others include a policy defining standards of civility in the employee handbook.
During the recruitment process, all those with whom candidates have contact should model high standards of personal conduct. References for candidates should be checked thoroughly regarding incidents of unacceptable behavior.
New employee orientation should carefully communicate standards of conduct, should be knowledgeable of the organization’s expectations, and promptly address any behavior that crosses the line.
Instigators of offensive behavior should be disciplined, not transferred to other departments or given lateral moves to get them out of the way. This only allows their demoralizing activities to infect another work group.
Incivility has a high cost in any organization that allows it to go unaddressed. By insisting on high standards of conduct, thorough orientation and training, holding supervisors and managers accountable for their own behavior and the behavior of those they are responsible for, and encouraging employees to report occurrences, organizations can improve morale, reduce turnover, and increase productivity.
HR Viewpoint 