Civility in the workplace

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Civility is about showing regards for others, being respectful, polite, considerate and sensitive to other people’s feeling, both in words and actions.

Why should anybody be interested in civility at the work place? Does it matter? Afterall, my co-workers and I are just strange bedfellows bunched together by the fact that we work for the same employer, you say.

Yes, it does matter to your health, to productivity, to common sense. If you are a career person, you find that most part of your life is spent in the workplace. For instance, someone who holds a 8-5 -job is most likely to spend at least 8 hours out of his 16 waking hours at work, with co-workers (assuming you sleep 5 hours a day). Sometimes if you have a deadline to meet or for some reasons you are working extra hours, it may be just more than 8 hours.  Lack of civility breeds animosity which generates emotional stress which in turn affects mental health and productivity. Where there is no respect for boss, co-workers, for customers, the overall image of the company is affected. Nobody wants to deal with a rude attendant or service provider.

If you work in an atmosphere where there is lack of civility, you are bound to spend a good part of day experiencing frustration if acts of incivility become a regular occurrence. The effect is far reaching as it  may elicit negative reactions; you may decide to avoid contact with the source of uncivil or rude act, you are less likely to give your all to your work, you may send time that you should otherwise spent working with emotional strain of the act  or discussing the act with another colleague.

Various studies have lent credence to the negative effects of lack of civility in the workplace. A 2012 study which tracked women for 10 years found that stressful jobs increased the risk of a cardiovascular event by 38 percent. The Baltimore Workplace Civility Study of 2003 involving a total of 130 surveys found that in response to the single act of workplace incivility that bothered them most,  88% of respondents discussed the incident with friends/family outside of work, 85% discussed it with co-workers, 70% contemplated changing jobs, 63% felt less of a commitment to the organization while 44% confronted the instigator.

Another researcher from the Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business , Dr  Christine Porath, noted that with incivility in the workplace, “employees contribute less and lose their conviction.”

According to a Lagos-based human resource consultant, Orie Vann, lack of civility in the workplace drains productivity and affects workers’ commitment to organisational goals.. “Lack of civility creates an unruly environment and you cannot work effectively in such an environment because people take time they would spend working to deal with emotional stress from lack of it (civility.)”

“ If you have a manager who comes to work late, calls the senior officers to a meeting and starts saying, ‘You idiot, why did you not do this? You goat,  why did you not do that?’ It will rub off on other workers because, they will go back and transfer that stress to their subordinates,” added Vann who noted that civility is as much about respect as it is about tolerance.

What constitute lack of civility at the workplace?

Some are uncivil because they learnt it from their superiors or are reacting to acts of incivility. A lot of times, people are uncivil out of ignorance. So, what is considered lack of civility? It is a show of incivility not to greet people when you get to work, not to show respect to your superiors/co-workers, to talk condescendingly or rudely to people in the workplace, to talk loudly or make loud noise, interrupt others when they are speaking at a meeting, steal a co-worker’s idea and portray same as your own, use swear words, dress shabbily or  wear revealing clothes to work, embarrass co-workers or subordinates in the presence of others, take food that is not yours from the refrigerator  and so on.

How do you engender civility in the workplace

• Observe the Golden rule-Do unto others as you will want them do unto you. Show civility and respect to co-workers just as you will want others to show you.
• Watch your communication: Both verbal and non-verbal communication should show respect for your superiors (no matter their age) and subordinates
• Be courteous, respectful. I have earlier listed acts of incivility, so do their opposite and your area there.
• Know thyself: There will always be people who are uncouth and lack manners even in the workplace. Therefore, it will be wise to manage your reactions to such negative attitude from co- workers or a difficult boss. Identify situations and circumstances that could trigger unpleasant feeling and choose positive reactions to such instances when they cannot be prevented.
• Enforce any violation of civility code in your workplace if you are a manager

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