Workplace incivility: how it happens and how to combat it quickly

Workplace incivility isn’t easy to identify.

It can be toxic to your company’s culture if left unchecked. Rudeness, negativity, and lack of courtesy can certainly bring down the mood in your office, but they can also end up costing your company serious money.

It can be difficult to measure or define how prevalent it is; opinions will differ between victims, perpetrators, and observers.

But incivility needs to be challenged. To do that, it has to be identified and talked about openly. Company culture can be both a cause of and solution to, the problems of incivility.

Below, we’ll look at the definition and causes of incivility in the workplace, how to manage it, and how to catch yourself when you’re in danger of crossing a boundary.

What is incivility in the workplace?

Incivility is far more common than it should be and it seems to be on the rise. More and more employees report being treated badly or experiencing rudeness regularly. The behavior that counts as incivility (rudeness, unfairness) is not illegal, it is often hard to prove and difficult to be detected by HR managers. Being unnoticeable, incivility is very dangerous and destructive — it helps to increase turnover rate, decreases morale, and causes stress for the employees.

Cases of incivility have the tendency to grow into much bigger conflicts. Such conflicts, when they reach HR departments are not easy to investigate.

Incivility — the adjective being ‘uncivil’, rather than ‘incivil’ — is the opposite. It means demonstrating a rude or impolite attitude or behavior towards others with the effect of making them uncomfortable.

This could include behaviors such as;

• Insulting or demeaning comments
• Jokes made at someone’s expense
• Loud, distracting, or inappropriate conversation
• Being discourteous or impolite toward someone
• Unwanted physical contact, whether affectionate or sexual
• Racist abuse or discrimination
• Threatening behavior
• Physical or verbal attacks
• Harassment and stalking

In these cases, it’s pretty clear that the way to manage them is via the HR-led intervention and disciplinary route.

But in general, incivility is a low-intensity behavior; a lot of the time it’s hard to spot, let alone call people out on and punish them for it. It can manifest in single incidents or a set of acts over a period of time.

What are the effects of workplace incivility?

It’s not just a few extra awkward daily moments that are borne from incivility. It’s a range of measurable, tangible negative outcomes that can have a direct effect on your company’s bottom line and the psychological safety of your employees.

Some of the effects of an uncivil workplace can include:

Sickness absence — if an employee really doesn’t like coming to work because of uncivil behavior from their colleagues, they’re much more likely to take a leave of sickness absence. Whether that’s from genuine afflictions like stress, depression, or burnout caused by an unwelcoming culture, or simply wanting to take a day away from the situation, you’ll lose productive days.

Poor performance — outbursts of inappropriate conversation can distract anyone in earshot, causing a break in concentration and feelings of annoyance. But it’s the longer-term effects of incivility that can cause real harm to individual and team effectiveness. Incivility over time breeds contempt and resentment; this will prevent ideas from being shared freely and workers start to see each other as adversaries, not team-mates.

Loss of staff — you’ll struggle to retain talent if they’re pushed out by an uncivil culture. If it’s just a plain awful environment to work in, don’t be surprised if your best performers start looking elsewhere. Longer-term, if your company ends up with a reputation for being a horrible place to work, you’ll have a really hard time shaking it off. Both from online employer review sites and word of mouth, you’ll find it harder and harder to hire positive, proactive personalities — they’ll go to your competitors instead.

How to respond to incivility in the workplace

Intervening when you spot uncivil conduct.

Removing the sources of incivility might be the first thing you think of. But you can’t just change up your staff roster at a moment’s notice, so intervention will sometimes be necessary.

If you notice an uncomfortable interaction, observe, and take a moment to speak with the ‘victim’ of the incivility.

Ask them if the other person made them uncomfortable, and whether it’s a one-off incident or an ongoing concern. Ask what they’d feel alright with you doing in response — this is important so as to not embarrass them (“John said you made him feel uncomfortable!” can cause more disruption than it solves).

For a first-time offense, if action is warranted, it’s time to have a private word or two with the perpetrator. You don’t want to leap in with an accusation when it was caused by a simple misunderstanding that can be defused with a sincere apology.

If there’s a pattern emerging, though, you’ll probably want to consult an HR professional. Disciplinary action might be on the cards if they’re targeting someone in particular, or disrupting the workplace through rudeness or impropriety. The important thing is to make it a fair process — what’s perceived as rude by someone could be seen as harmless by another, so a bit of diplomacy will be needed.

That said, if behavior patterns emerge that aren’t limited to one person, you’ve got a cultural problem. And that requires a different approach.

How to stop yourself from being uncivil in the workplace

Are you known as a ‘big personality’ in the office? This can be a great compliment to your charisma and magnetic persona, and it can be something to be proud of.

It can also be a euphemism used behind your back to describe your penchant for crossing the line of what’s socially acceptable.

How can you tell which side of the line you occupy? Ask people for honest feedback. Questions such as these might help:

“Have I ever been a bit too much?”
“Have I ever crossed the line?”
“Have I ever offended you or anyone else without realizing it?”

This is an opportunity to learn, take responsibility, and improve your cultural leadership for the better. While it can be humbling and a little embarrassing to hear that you’ve crossed the line in the past, it’s valuable and useful feedback that can prevent further problems and ensure people talk fondly of you even when you’re not around.

People who are in positions of authority are rarely questioned or criticized by those they might affect the most, which is why seeking feedback can provide the valuable insight you might not normally hear.

It’s not a reason to hang up your hat and stop being a fun character. You don’t want to lose the reason why people like having you around. It’s just important to learn why they might not like having you around sometimes. And that’s an important step in building a more civil workplace.

What should be done to reduce incivility?

Good managers tend to observe their employees and try to weed out those, who exhibit symptoms of detachment from work or their teammates. The very first step requires having a one-to-one talk with the employee. The case of incivility has to be spotted first.

But there are strategies that should be applied before any signs of trouble are visible. To keep the company civil the problem of the company culture has to be addressed first.

There are several specific strategies to address incivility in the workplace. Efficient managers should consider:

• recruiting individuals that present good manners
• frequent evaluation of staff performance
• offer civility sessions
• ask for feedback, provide feedback about performance
• respect all your employees
• define clearly acceptable conduct: provide guidelines, create handbooks with rules of conduct
• ensure that all employees feel appreciated, safe, and heard

Summary

Incivility is not a rare problem and it occurs in many companies. It is not limited to just bosses and supervisors: fellow workers behave uncivilly equally frequently. Uncivil behavior may be encountered in any industry or place, where people work together and do business together, therefore civility has to become a part of the culture of the company.

It is not advisable to ignore incivility in the workplace since it can easily change into aggression, open conflict, or violence over time. Companies need to have a code of conduct set as well as the right policies in place. Respect is one of the most important values that have to be followed by people in all situations, both private and business ones, therefore it should be encouraged without exceptions. Incivility is a major challenge in the current economic era, but it can be dealt with and it can be prevented.