Is your workforce more aggressive and angry than you remember it to be from a few years ago? The loss of workplace civility is a very real problem that’s impairing the organizational culture, and the consequences are more expensive than a handful of additional conflict management training sessions for the workers. According to new research from SHRM, the lack of civility in the workplace is now costing American businesses approximately $2.1 billion per day.
The benefits of civility are innumerable, and workplace kindness has always lent itself to creating a thriving workforce, but the rise of toxic workplace culture across businesses has chipped away at positivity. Rudeness at work may seem like a problem that can be done away with through a simple warning, but the cumulative effects of the decline in civility are quite concerning.
The apparent loss of workplace civility is affecting businesses in more ways than one, causing a clear dip in employee productivity. (Image: Pexels)
The Loss of Workplace Civility Is Costing U.S. Businesses $2.1 Billion in Lost Productivity
The Society for Human Resource Management recently published its investigation into the state of civility at work, and its findings are eye-opening. The Civility Index found that U.S. workers witness 208 million “acts of incivility” every day.
The scale measured in at 198 million last quarter, following which the number of offending incidents began rising around the 2024 election season. It has since remained at record high numbers. The scale of these incidents is costing U.S. businesses approximately $2.1 billion in lost productivity.
When the work culture is toxic, morale falls, and workers grow more reluctant to come into work and interact with colleagues. Cases of absenteeism rise, and productivity is impaired by these distractions and debilitating attitudes. Overall, the lack of civility at work makes it hard for anyone to feel comfortable, urging more employees to look for job opportunities elsewhere.
What Is the Reason for the Rise of Toxic Workplace Culture?
Divides along cultural and political lines were previously locked out of the workplace, but in recent months, the boundaries have begun to blur. SHRM’s Chief Human Resources Officer Jim Link connected the decline of workplace kindness to the rise of “digital bravery.”
In the modern world that’s largely interconnected online, many have become more fearless about expressing sentiments on the internet that they would never be able to express face-to-face. Unsurprisingly, these are largely negative, hateful thoughts and not conductive discussions about unity.
These heated online debates have begun entering the workplace as well due to their impact in such spaces, and the negative attitudes are also carried over to work. Digital bravery is not admirable in any sense of the term, but it has emboldened many to express destructive sentiments more freely. The lack of strict action from employers and HR teams also leads many to believe that such behavior is permissible at work, allowing it to flourish beyond measure.
How Can HR Address the Loss of Workplace Civility?
While return-to-work (RTO) mandates are bringing employees back into the office, they aren’t sufficiently preparing them for how to make the transition. Workers returning to work after periods of isolation are not equipped with the tools or the professional patience necessary to participate in the social economy.
Addressing the rise of toxic workplace culture is an HR responsibility, and there are a few ways to address this.
- Set the standard by modeling appropriate behavior at work and moderating how management sets a precedent for workers
- Clarify the culture with examples of how to communicate at work and ensure early issues are addressed rather than ignored
- Create strict regulations regarding workplace behavior and establish consequences for any violations
- Identify overt and covert signs of hostility at work and ensure they are addressed
- Conduct training on workplace etiquette for employees to better understand the regulations
- Train HR teams and managers on conflict de-escalation to ensure that incidents are diffused quickly
- Encourage civility in all interactions, both online and offline. Emails are not an exception to the rule
- Create avenues for employees to navigate their queries and struggles so they can be addressed safely
The Benefits of Civility are Well Worth the Effort
Creating some exceptions for hostility and rudeness at work by excusing it as a joke or as a way for workers to let off steam is never a good idea. Whether loud or discreet, bad manners in the workplace make it an uncomfortable space for most employees to occupy, and they instigate feelings of resentment and dissatisfaction.
Promoting kindness at work can feel like a lot of work when the general outside persona of some employees leans towards cruelty, but it is possible to operate under a policy of zero tolerance for unwanted behavior at work.
Starting a Monday with a smile may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but guaranteeing that employees enjoy the rest of their week at work does sound like a benefit for all the workers on the job.
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