Building a Culture of Civility and Respect in the Workplace – Part 1: Civility

Written by Arthur Elliott on February 6, 2025.

Workplace Civility

Building a Culture of Civility and Respect in the Workplace – Part 1: Civility

A Current View of Civility in Society and the Workplace

Civility is an ever-evolving concept that changes as our society’s values and habits change. To ground us, we start with a general definition of civility and then look at data showing how perceived levels of civility in the workplace have been changing over time.

What is civility?

What is civility?
According to the Institute for Civility, civility is claiming and caring for one’s identity, needs, and beliefs without degrading someone else’s in the process. It is important to note that civility is about more than just politeness, although politeness is a necessary first step.

Civility is about disagreeing without disrespect, seeking common ground as a starting point for dialogue about differences, understanding biases and personal preconceptions, and teaching others to do the same.

How has civility in our general society and in the workplace evolved?

While civility is not a new topic, it is important to note that there has been an increasingly negative shift in overall levels of experienced civility both in society and in the workplace.

Over the past decade, tensions around the pandemic, politics, and unrest in many parts of the world have put the concept of civility in the spotlight. As early as 2013, studies from Weber Shandwick, a communications and public relations agency, warned that “civility in America continues to disintegrate and rude behavior is becoming the new normal.”

Moving forward to 2019, a new Weber Shandwick report found that 93% of Americans named incivility as a problem and 68% considered it a major problem. In 2020, the New York Times reported that in a survey of 1,000 American adults during the pandemic, 48% of adults and 55% of U.S. workers felt that, after the 2020 election, civility in America would improve. However, according to the Washington Post, as the year progressed the expectation of improvements with civility had fallen to 30% overall and 37% amongst U.S. workers.


The Civility Index

Where are we now in 2024? In 2024, SHRM released a first in what will be an ongoing measure of societal and workplace changes in civility: their Civility Index. The data below, taken from the Civility Index report, highlights the shift toward incivility in both our general society and in our workplaces.

The first chart shows the percentage of Americans who are currently experiencing perceived incivility in society and the predominant locations in which they are experiencing those uncivil interactions.
Over half of U.S. workers (53%) who have experienced or seen incivility said it occurred in a store or while they were shopping, 45% said they experienced or saw incivility online or on social media, and 37% said they experienced or witnessed incivility at a restaurant or bar.

The second chart, also taken from the SHRM Civility Index data, shows the percentage of workers surveyed who believe they have experienced incivility in their workplace. Based on the data, nearly three-quarters of U.S. workers surveyed (74%) said they believe people in their workplace are generally civil today, a surprisingly positive number given all that we regularly hear about this topic.

It is important to note, however, that 26% of U.S. workers, almost a third of those surveyed, had experienced incivility in their workplace. The good news is that, while incivility is being experienced in the workplace, it is not the primary source of this experience for most. Even so, rising levels of incivility are being felt and have potential negative impacts on the workplace.

In summary, general incivility in society is carrying over to the workplace and is expected to continue increasing through the coming election and beyond. All of this points to workplace civility as a critical area for HR leaders and organizations to be aware of and actively work to protect and support in their individual cultures.

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Additional Resources:

Institute for Civility: Home – Institute for Civility
SHRM: Civility at Work – 2024 Civility Index Research (shrm.org)
Advancing Workplace Civility: a systematic review and meta-analysis of definitions

References:

  • Advancing Workplace Civility: a systematic review and meta-analysis of definitions, measurements, and associated factors: Frontiers | Advancing Workplace Civility: a systematic review and meta-analysis of definitions, measurements, and associated factors (frontiersin.org)
  • Berkeley Lab: IDEAs in Action – Workplace Civility (lbl.gov)
  • Gallup: Talking Politics at Work: A Double-Edged Sword (gallup.com)
  • Harvard Business School: Election 2024: What’s at Stake for Business and the Workplace? – HBS Working Knowledge
  • Harvard Business Review: Make Civility the Norm on Your Team (hbr.org)
  • LinkedIn: (6) Navigating the 2024 Political Season: Promoting Civility in the Workplace | LinkedIn
  • The New York Times: A Nation on Hold Wants to Speak With a Manager – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
  • The Washington Post: Opinion | Americans’ behavior gets worse. No wonder our politics are lousy.
  • SHRM: When Politics Comes to Work: 4 Ways HR Executives Can Promote Civility Amid Division (shrm.org)
  • Your Thought Partner: Leader Strategies for Navigating a Politically Divided Workplace This Election Season (yourthoughtpartner.com)

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Supervisor Orientation Test

Welcome to your Supervisor Orientation Test! There are a total of 12 questions and you need to get at least nine correct to receive a passing grade. You may refer back to the Supervisor Orientation training materials if you need a refresher.

Which statement most closely describes an EAP?

A supervisor is not allowed to dispense a disciplinary action while an employee is being seen by the EAP, even if performance problems are continuing.

EAPs can reduce the risk of lawsuits by helping troubled employees resolve personal problems before they face adverse actions such as termination that can lead to expensive legal challenges.

Many professionals in the workplace may consult with supervisors, but the profession founded on the basis of helping troubled employees and consulting with supervisors in managing and intervening with troubled employees is:

Your employee says she has marital problems after you confront her about coming in late and calling in sick. As a result, you recommend that she call the EAP. The attendance problems stop. However, two months later, attendance problems return. Your prior discussion and recommendation to use the EAP was a "supervisor referral"?

Some employees have personal problems, but no performance problems. How would you respond: Your employee tells you she is having financial problems. She says if things get worse, she might have to file for bankruptcy. She has no performance problems. What would you do?

Your employee has a problem with absenteeism. When confronted, he says he will seek help from the EAP. A month later the absences continue. At this point, there is no need to make a supervisor referral because the employee has already gone.

Which one of these interactions with a troubled employee would most likely be perceived as serious and motivate change?

If you refer an employee to the EAP, but do not consult with the EA professional and do not provide written information concerning performance problems, all of the following are likely to happen EXCEPT:

If the employee is referred to the EAP, but refuses to sign a release of information, the supervisor will have no way of knowing if the employee followed through with the referral.

Meeting with an employee after referral to the EAP, and planning specific dates and times for other follow-up meetings is a powerful way of helping an employee feel a constructive sense of urgency to follow-through with the EAPs recommendations and reduce the likelihood of a return to performance problems.

You are concerned with your employee's continued absenteeism and problematic behavior on the job. You decide to refer your employee to the EAP. Unfortunately the employee does not go after agreeing to do so. How should you respond?