The Workplace Impacts of Incivility
Incivility in the workplace can have many negative consequences for employees, teams, and organizations. Because of the clear impacts incivility can have on our employees and workplaces, it is critical that organizational leaders focus on creating and sustaining a civil workplace culture that can counteract this trend of incivility in the workplace.
- Nearly two-thirds of U.S. workers (66%) agree or strongly agree that incivility reduces workplace productivity.
- 59% agree that incivility causes employee morale to decline.
- Less than one-third of workers (31%) agree that respectful treatment is the norm in their workplace.
There is also evidence that increasing incivility has a direct impact on employees’ workplace satisfaction and general well-being.
- Over 3.5 times more likely to describe their organization’s culture as poor
- Over 2.5 times more likely to disagree that their organization is inclusive
- Over twice as likely to disagree that they feel safe to voice disagreements or express concerns at work
- Over 3 times more likely to say their job causes them physical reactions (headaches, fatigue)
- Over 2.5 times more likely to say they have a poor work/life balance
- Nearly twice as likely to say they are dissatisfied with their everyday life
Creating a Civil Workplace Culture
While it may seem daunting and challenging to try and affect incivility within our broader society, each of us can support and build a culture of civility in the workplace that fosters safety, inclusivity, and respect. What are the key elements of a civil workplace culture?
A civil workplace culture must be a place where leaders and individuals show and model some specific traits. Civil workplace cultures ensure that everyone:
Shows respect and openness
- Creates a climate of safety
- Encourages ideas without fear of criticism
- Builds broad-based organizational trust
- Supports mutual understanding minimizing conflict
Acknowledges diverse perspectives
- Encourages collaboration and teamwork
- Fosters diversity and inclusion
- Actively seeks diverse ideas to increase productivity and innovation
Ensures individuals feel heard and valued
- Encourages cooperation and collaboration
- Builds and sustains positive relationships
- Creates leader and employee engagement and commitment
We cannot assume that these behaviors will come naturally to our leadership or our employees. The organization can set the tone through the actions and behaviors that are acknowledged and rewarded.
Often leaders and employees also benefit from specific trainings in the people skills that support the behaviors above. What leaders model, employees will pick up and follow. Starting from the top is always a best first step.
What are some strategies for ensuring workplace civility?
It is important to remember that everyone comes to work with their own unique set of values and perspectives based on where they grew up, the kind of family and neighborhood they come from, their educational experiences and their political views.
All these things create strengths that each individual brings to the workplace and all of these unique perspectives can be key to a healthy workplace. To ensure the workplace stays healthy and positive, the culture has to create a place where everyone is open to listening, to learning, and to understanding each other.
We don’t have to agree; we just need to be willing to show respect.
As we discuss tools and strategies that can be used in your organization to build a civil and respectful workplace, be thinking about which ones are and are not being currently used in your organization:
1. People feel threatened. Face that reality head on.
How can organizations face this reality? Normalize employees’ feelings, implement a “listen more, talk less” approach with having difficult conversations. Listening can help HR leaders understand what people are afraid of, which helps with developing a strategic direction of how to address a particular fear/threat.
2. Come together as a leadership team.
Craft a strategy. Discussion is both widespread and inevitable. To prepare, lay out scenarios and talking points and decide how you would manage them. These scenarios and talking points give insights to managers about how to handle difficult conversations. The reality, of course, will likely be different. But you will have a playbook to build on.
3. Build community. Reinforce the culture you want to promote and protect.
Your values statement likely includes respect for the rights and dignity of others, belief in the value of difference, and a need to constructively engage in the face of disagreement. Living up to those values does not require opening the floodgates to partisan politics and hot-button issues.
Instead, such statements remind people that community matters and that civility and constructive engagement are both possible and expected. Building community means moving away from an “Us versus Them” mentality and has the potential to build a psychologically safe workplace.
4. Set rules of engagement and hold people accountable.
Company norms against disruption and in favor of a civil work environment are essential. Organizations need ground rules so that people who do not follow them are legitimately held accountable.
5. Prepare your managers for the crucial role they will play in helping teams work well together during challenging times.
Your managers’ abilities to empathize, listen, and support their employees will have a direct positive impact on overall employee safety and well-being. Coach your managers in different scenarios and possible responses. Give them talking points and strategies for addressing bullying and cancel culture incidents. Ensure your senior leadership remains approachable and available, leaders who invest efforts in getting it right will grow in their leadership capabilities through this process.
6. Train and coach employees for civility.
Don’t assume everyone instinctively knows how to be civil. Many people never learned basic interpersonal skills. When coaching employees, focus on helping them learn to listen fully, give and receive feedback, work across differences, and deal with difficult people.
Encouraging Healthy Discussion around Differences
Each individual in your organization comes to work each day with a unique set of values, experiences, and perspectives. That diversity of thought and perspective is an organizational strength but realistically, it can sometimes lead to disagreements. Some conflict is unavoidable and may even be healthy if it is handled the right way.
How can we encourage and support healthy discussion and disagreements?
Below are some key actions that set the stage for healthy discussions and disagreements within your organization.
- First and foremost, encourage respect for each other as people.
- Be accepting of the fact that we each have unique backgrounds, experiences, and views.
- Build on common goals as colleagues.
- Be willing to compromise and agree to disagree.
If these are incorporated into your organizational values and supported and modeled by your leaders, you will have created an environment open to healthy and respectful discussion, even if there are differences.
Disagreement can be healthy, but it is never okay for a situation or individual to become volatile or for employees to feel unsafe. If a situation at work becomes extreme and beyond the ability of HR and/or the Manager to address directly, remember that through your EAP you have several resources available for support:
- Counseling for employees and/or their immediate family
- Formal referrals
- Manager and employee trainings
- Critical Incident Response Services (CIRS)
Leaders help to build a culture of civility by communicating to employees and stakeholders that the workplace is a place where divisiveness and offensive speech aren’t tolerated, and where openness to the unique talents and perspectives of all will be championed.
Additional Resources:
Institute for Civility: Home – Institute for Civility
SHRM: Civility at Work – 2024 Civility Index Research (shrm.org)
Advancing Workplace Civility: a systematic review and meta-analysis of definitions
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References:
Advancing Workplace Civility: a systematic review and meta-analysis of definitions, measurements, and associated factors: Frontiers | Advancing Workplace Civility: a systematic review and meta-analysis of definitions, measurements, and associated factors (frontiersin.org)
Berkeley Lab: IDEAs in Action – Workplace Civility (lbl.gov)
Gallup: Talking Politics at Work: A Double-Edged Sword (gallup.com)
Harvard Business School: Election 2024: What’s at Stake for Business and the Workplace? – HBS Working Knowledge
Harvard Business Review: Make Civility the Norm on Your Team (hbr.org)
LinkedIn: (6) Navigating the 2024 Political Season: Promoting Civility in the Workplace | LinkedIn
The New York Times: A Nation on Hold Wants to Speak With a Manager – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
The Washington Post: Opinion | Americans’ behavior gets worse. No wonder our politics are lousy.
SHRM: When Politics Comes to Work: 4 Ways HR Executives Can Promote Civility Amid Division (shrm.org)
Your Thought Partner: Leader Strategies for Navigating a Politically Divided Workplace This Election Season (yourthoughtpartner.com)
