Incivility in the Workplace (or Just Bullying?)

Incivility is both a negative issue and a business issue that have been in existence for many years. It is a burden to everyone with the devastating effect of employee turnover and in disrupting the flow of work.

According to Christine Porath, an assistant professor of management at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and the co-author of the 2009 book The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility is Damaging Your Business and What To Do About It, stress and lost productivity related to incivility result in a multibillion-dollar annual hit to the U.S. economy.

In their research, Porath and her co-author found that after being the victim of on-the-job rudeness and hostility, two-thirds of employees said their performance declined. Four out of five said they lost work time worrying about the unpleasant incident, while 63 percent wasted time avoiding the offender. More than three-quarters of respondents said that their commitment to their employer had waned, and 12 percent even quit because of the bad treatment. Further, simply witnessing incivility toward others or overhearing any outbursts causes people to suffer. Taking it a step beyond the “human” impact, incivility has a direct, negative impact to the bottom line, the company’s reputation and ability to recruit.

Gary Namie, along with his wife Ruth, founded the Workplace Bullying Instituted based in Bellingham, Washington. While incivility can be experienced with subordinates, peers and supervisors, Namie noted that a study found that 72% of bullies were bosses. Does incivility exist in your organization? Are you a victim or a perpetrator?

Here are some “subtle” signs of incivility that you may recognize:
• Checking email or texting messages during a meeting
• Not listening
• Belittling others’ efforts
• Leaving snippy voice mail messages
• Shutting someone out of a network or team
• Acting irritated when someone asks for a favor

In its more blatant form:
• Losing one’s tempter
• Withholding information
• Damaging someone’s reputation
• Rude or obnoxious behavior.

One responsibility of management is to maintain a safe, non-hostile work environment. What steps can you take to eliminate incivility in your workplace?

1. Establish a Zero Tolerance Policy in your workplace. Implement a Code of Conduct policy for your organization that sets a clear, written standard of behavior. Clearly indicate what is acceptable and what is not. Have a formal mechanism through which employees can report inappropriate behavior. It is important to imbed civil language and practices into every level of an organization, including job descriptions, hiring practices, training policy and the day-to-day code of conduct.

2. Ensure that senior executives lead by example and they set the standard. Leadership needs to be involved in the process and committed to modeling civility and reinforcing its importance. They must display exemplary workplace etiquette.

3. Provide training. Incivility, in some cases, may be simply a lack of self-awareness and the individuals’ need to change an ingrained behavior. Train employees on how to solve problems and find non-threatening ways to vent anger and resolve conflict. Encourage mutual respect and support among employees. What one person may think is business-like, direct behavior might come off to another as curt, rude or disrespectful.

4. Encourage open communication. Make an attempt to consider how others perceive words or actions. Encourage employees to choose the most successful message, medium or behavior based on those parameters. Ask employees to remain sensitive to the possibility of miscommunication or unclear intentions.

In closing, be mindful of the immense cultural differences in social norms. What may be acceptable in our culture may appear rude in another. We are a diverse workforce and the cultural backgrounds of all employees needs to be understood.