BLOG POST BY CHRISTINE TULK
Interrupting. Eye-rolling. Making faces while others are speaking. Rude comments. Not saying please or thank-you. Inappropriate jokes. Not paying attention while someone is speaking. These are just a few examples of workplace incivility (Cortina, Magley, Williams, & Langhout, 2001).
With everything on your plate as a leader, addressing these seemingly minor transgressions may seem like the least of your worries. Unlike bullying, harassment, and more intense forms of workplace aggression, incivility can seem minor in comparison. But there is a lot of evidence that incivility has an impact on productivity.
Examples of work-related consequences include:
- intentions to leave the organization (Pearson, Andersson, & Porath, 2000)
- reduced job satisfaction (Cortina et al., 2001)
- ineffective meetings (Odermatt et al., 2018)
- wasting time avoiding instigators (Pearson et al., 2000)
- reduced job commitment (Ambrose & Cropanzano, 2003)
- not completing assigned work (Mao, Chang, Johnson, & Sun, 2019)
- lower sales performance (Sliter, Sliter, & Jex, 2012)
There is also increasing evidence that employees who experience incivility suffer health-related consequences. Researchers (e.g., Andersson & Pearson, 1999; Cortina, 2008) compare experiencing incivility to “daily hassles” that accumulate to cause strain comparable to more serious life events such as divorce (Lazarus, 1984).
Examples of health-related consequences include:
- symptoms of insomnia (Demsky, Fritz, Hammer, & Black, 2019)
- psychological distress (Cortina et al., 2001)
- poor mental health (Lim, Cortina, & Magley, 2008)
- burnout (Liu, Zhou, & Che, 2019)
- reduced ability to recover from work (Nicholson & Griffin, 2015)
So, what might be contributing to incivility in your organization? If you’re thinking this has nothing to do with leadership, you may not be entirely wrong. For example, employees who are narcissistic are more likely to instigate incivility (Odermatt et al., 2018) and employees who are disagreeable (Milam, Spitzmueller, & Penney, 2009) are more likely to be targeted. But, there is one potential cause of incivility that leaders often do have direct control over — organizational justice.
Organizational justice — the idea that you’ve been treated fairly (or unfairly) by decision-makers in the organization — is central to how employees judge decisions made by their leaders (Colquitt, Conlon, Wesson, Porter, & Ng, 2001). By treating employees fairly, leaders and their employees are more likely to develop quality relationships (Cropanzano, Anthony, Daniels, & Hall, 2017). Employees are also more likely to feel positive and to reciprocate by being good organizational citizens (Colquitt et al., 2013). In other words, they will “go the extra mile” for you.
On the flip side, employees who believe they’re being treated unfairly are likely to feel angry and may retaliate against you or the organization (Barclay, Skarlicki, & Pugh, 2005). Retaliation can include severe acts like theft, sabotage, or aggression (Colquitt et., 2013), but this kind of behaviour isn’t likely to be tolerated and can result in serious consequences like termination. Uncivil behaviours, however, like interrupting or making a sarcastic comment are less intense. The instigator can deny intent to harm with explanations like “I didn’t mean anything by it” or “Bob or Jane is being too sensitive.” Even if the individual does intend to harm or undermine you or another employee, incivility is difficult to discipline and that makes it a safer choice for an employee who feels they have been wronged.
To understand whether your employees might believe they’re being treated unfairly, ask yourself the following 4 questions.
Question #1 – do your employees receive the compensation and recognition they Deserve?
Think about the last time you thought you didn’t get fair compensation or recognition for your work. Perhaps you didn’t get an expected bonus (or even a thank-you!) after working really hard to meet a deadline.
Now, think about how you felt. Annoyed? Irritated? Angry? Did it change your attitude towards your supervisor or organization?
The consequences of employees who feel short-changed in terms of rewards or recognition for their work can be long-lasting (Ambrose & Cropanzano, 2003).
Question #2 – Do you follow policies and procedures when making decisions?
Although most employees obviously want the benefits of more money or a coveted promotion, they don’t necessarily think you’re being unfair if things don’t go their way. This is particularly true if there are bias-free and ethical procedures for making decisions and if employees are permitted to express their views and provide feedback (Colquitt et al., 2001).
Consider a situation where more than one individual is applying for a promotion. Obviously if there’s only one position then someone will be disappointed. Try to think of yourself as one of the losing candidates. How would you react if there was a selection procedure that evaluated the merits and shortcomings of each candidate? How would you react if there was no process and someone less qualified than you got the job? Having fair procedures can go a long way toward taking the sting out of losing.
Question #3 – Do you provide your employees with Candid and adequate information about decisions?
This form of organizational justice involves providing enough information so that employees understand how you reached a decision. When decision-makers explain procedures, give reasonable explanations, and communicate details of a decision in a timely manner, employees are more likely to feel they’ve been treated fairly (Colquitt, Greenberg, & Zapata-Phelan, 2005).
Continuing with the example of losing a promotion, think about how you would feel if you were merely informed that you lost. Compare that to how you would feel if your boss had even a short meeting with you to give you feedback and offer suggestions for next time.
Question #4 – Are you respectful and courteous?
Don’t underestimate the power of your own actions — particularly when conveying decisions. If an employee thinks you’re disrespectful towards them, they’ll probably also think you’re not fair (Colquitt et al., 2013). What’s more, employees who view you as disrespecting their coworkers can also react negatively (Reich & Hershcovis, 2015).
As a leader, you’ve attained a degree of success and your employees are looking to you for cues on how to behave (Cortina, 2008). By modeling respectful and courteous interactions with your employees, you will encourage your employees to do the same.
To conclude, there are multiple reasons why employees might be uncivil towards you, other employees, or even customers. You may not be able to change an employee’s personality and you may not even have control over pay raises and bonuses. But, you can try to make sure that your employees feel they’re treated fairly by being open and transparent about how you make your decisions and by modeling respectful behaviour in your own communications with employees and other organizational members.