The Price of Incivility

Based upon the increasing number of calls and requests for assistance that we have been getting from HR managers, as well as staff managers and supervisors, civility is becoming more and more of an issue for organizations. It may be confined to specific work groups, or manifest itself more pervasively throughout the organization, but it can cause problems ranging from morale issues to turnover, with associated impacts on communication, productivity and team function, as well.

The January/February issue of the Harvard Business Review published an article, "The Price of Incivility," which explores this topic in depth. The article begins with, "Over the past 14 years we've polled thousands of workers about how they're treated on the job, and 98% have reported experiencing uncivil behavior. In 2011 half said they were treated rudely at least once a week—up from a quarter in 1998."

That's a startling rate of growth and prevalence, and speaks to something we have often observed—once incivility takes hold, it is very difficult to reverse. The authors go on to report that, in their surveys, those who have "been on the receiving end of incivility" reported these reactions:

• 48% intentionally decreased their work effort.
• 47% intentionally decreased the time spent at work.
• 38% intentionally decreased the quality of their work.
• 80% lost work time worrying about the incident.
• 63% lost work time avoiding the offender.
• 66% said that their performance declined.
• 78% said that their commitment to the organization declined.
• 12% said that they left their job because of the uncivil treatment.
• 25% admitted to taking their frustration out on customers.

As if this wasn't enough, the article goes on to report other impacts of incivility, and talks about the cost in time and money associated with incivility. Notably, they cite a study that was reported in Fortune which found that managers and executives at Fortune 1,000 firms spend 13% percent of their work time mending employee relationships and otherwise dealing with the aftermath of incivility.

Incivility at Work

Incivility shows itself in ways big and small. At its worst, it can manifest as outright rudeness in the way co-workers address and treat each other. However, sometimes it's smaller, seemingly insignificant actions that can add up to a lot of hurt and frustration.

Have you ever seen an employee who has:

• Purposely not greeted or acknowledged someone in the office?
• Rolled their eyes at a co-worker in response to something they said or did?
• Taken the last cup of coffee and not made another pot?
• Stood over a co-worker who was talking on the phone or typing an email?
• Answered a cell phone during a conversation?
• Engaged in a side conversation during a meeting or presentation?
• Gossiped about a co-worker?
• Taken credit for work someone else did?

These can be the kinds of things that, if they continue, can create a culture of incivility.

What Can Be Done?

The article goes into several ways that incivility can be addressed—many of which mirror those that we have been using in advising managers who call us, or in the training we do on the topic. At the most basic level, here are a few things to consider:

• Make sure that you have clear, widely-known policies in place that support a culture of civility.
• Incivility often permeates from the top and down through the organization. Make sure your leaders model civil behavior.
• Coach managers on how to recognize and effectively address incivility with their employees at the earliest stages.
• Provide training to employees at all levels on what the organization's standards are for civil behavior—and what the consequences are for when incivility occurs.
• Use both the carrot and the stick—reward behavior that meets your desired cultural norms around civility.

Pathways to Well Being

As your EAP, we're here to provide assistance and guidance when incivility becomes an issue, from counseling individual employees and managers, to consulting on the development of appropriate policies and guidelines, to training for work groups and organizations, either preventively or focused on groups where incivility has become a more serious issue. For our full service plans, managers and supervisors have unlimited telephonic consultation on work-related issues. Please contact your account manager to find out what tools and resources are available to you as part of your plan, or by arrangement.

Contact us to access your resources and get the support you need.