It Pays to be Civil at Work

by Oct 7, 2015

Workplace incivility is widespread, and is reported to be sky-rocketing these days. Over the past 14 years, surveys were conducted involving thousands of workers about the treatment they are getting on their jobs. About 98% of the respondents were reported to have experienced workplace bullying.

Workers who undergo such scenarios feel disrespected and less productive, and what’s much worst is once they get fed up, they finally decide to quit. Half of them intentionally reduce their effort or produce poor work quality. Civility must be practiced in order not to harm customer relationships, too.

The study also shows that customers are less likely to buy from a company with an employee they perceive to be ill-mannered, whether it is directed at them or at the other employee.

Different professionals like employees, managers, HR executives, and CEOs were also interviewed for the said study. The research administered questionnaires, conducted experiments, organized workshops, and spoken with medical practitioners, lawyers, judges, law enforcement officers, architects, engineers, consultants, and coaches about how they cope up and manage incivility or workplace bullying such as these and if they are somehow putting up a workplace bullying training.

Relevant information were also collected from more than 14,000 respondents from across the United States and Canada to track down the prevalence, kinds, roots, costs, and treatment of incivility at work. Incivility is expensive, and a few companies recognize or implement some action to prevent if not totally stop workplace bullying from happening.

The stress of continuous hostility from a boss can take its toll and surprisingly results to a big impact. It can either affect just one employee or infect the whole office.

In this article, you will learn about the various findings, costs, and proposals for interventions as well as the diverse forms workplace bullying that can take place.

Read more of Christine Porath’s and Christine Pearson’s article as published on Harvard Business Review.

Do you know how much money chronically bad behavior costs your company? Spoiler alert – it’s a LOT higher than you want it to be. Download our data and worksheet to see how it’s costing your organization and what you can do to fix it.

 

Catherine

About Catherine Mattice

Catherine Mattice, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, is the founder/CEO of Civility Partners, an organizational development firm focused on helping organizations create respectful workplace cultures and specializing in turning around toxic cultures. Civility Partners’ clients range from Fortune 500’s to small businesses across many industries. Catherine is a TEDx speaker and an HR thought-leader who has appeared in such venues as USA Today, Bloomberg, CNN, NPR, and many other national news outlets as an expert. She’s an award-winning speaker, author and blogger, and has 50+ courses reaching global audiences on LinkedIn Learning. Catherine’s award-winning book, BACK OFF! Your Kick-Ass Guide to Ending Bullying at Work, was hailed by international leadership-guru, Ken Blanchard, as, “the most comprehensive and valuable handbook on the topic.” Her latest book is Navigating Toxic Work Environments For Dummies (Wiley).

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