This document discusses workplace incivility, including its definition, forms, costs, and ways for leaders to address it. Specifically, it defines incivility as low-intensity disrespectful behaviors that violate workplace norms. Examples include rude comments, failing to give credit, and social isolation. The costs of incivility include decreased work effort, quality and time from employees as well as increased turnover. The document recommends that leaders model good behavior, teach and reward civility, and create a culture that promotes respect across cultures to address incivility.

1. WORKPLACE
INCIVILITY 
Co-Presented by:
L i n Yi
Qi Zhegang
Yin H a o

2. OUTLINE 
¡ Definition
¡ Research Background
¡ Forms of Incivility
¡ Costs of Incivility
¡ What’s a Leader to Do
¡ Global Approach
¡ Conclusion

3. DEFINITION 
¡ Workplace incivility: defined as a form of
organizational deviance… characterized by low-
intensity behaviors that violate respectful workplace
norms, appearing vague as to intent to harm.”
¡ Incivility is distinct from violence
¡ Examples include:
Ø Insulting comments
Ø Not giving credit where due
Ø Spreading false rumors
Ø Social isolation
Ø Bad manners

4. RESEARCH BACKGROUND 
Motivation of Research:
¡ Rudeness at work is rampant, and it’s on the rise
¡ Consequences have been severe, e.g. low morale of
staff, broken customer relationships, ruined reputation
Methodology of Research:
¡ Interviews, questionnaires, experiments, workshops, etc.
¡ Collected data from14,000+ people in US and Canada
Two Key Findings of Research:
¡ Incivility is expensive
¡ Few organizations recognize or take action to curtail it

5. FORMS OF INCIVILITY 
2) “Boss from hell” à destroy lower level staff’s
1) Show indifference towards co-workers confidence and morale at work
(esp. those who are seeking for help);
3) Isolation 4) Absent-minded during meetings/ presentations 

6. COSTS OF INCIVILITY 
¡ Through a poll of 800 managers and employees in 17
industries, we learned how people’s reactions play out.
Among workers on the receiving end of incivility:

7. COSTS OF INCIVILITY 
¡ Many managers would say that incivility is wrong, but not all
recognize that it has tangible costs.
Employee feedback that
¡ 48% intentionally decreased their work ef fort.
¡ 47% intentionally decreased the time spent at work.
¡ 38% intentionally decreased the quality of their work.
¡ 80% lost work time worr ying about the incident.
¡ 63% lost work time avoiding the of fender.
¡ 66% said that their per formance declined.
¡ 78% said that their commitment to the organization declined.
¡ 12% said that they left their job because of the uncivil treatment.
¡ 25% admitted to taking their frustration out on customers 

8. COSTS OF INCIVILITY (CONT’D) 
¡ Creativity suffers
§ Less Creative and have fewer new ideas if treat rudely
¡ Performance and team spirit deteriorate
§ negative consequences, less likely than others to help
¡ Customers turn away
§ Criticizing colleagues, disrespectful behavior
makes customer uncomfortable
§ Regardless of the circumstances, people don’t
like to see others treated badly,
¡ Managing incidents is expensive
§ one incident can soak up weeks of attention
and effort, waste of manpower

9. WHAT’S A LEADER TO DO 
MANAGING YOURSELF
Leaders set the tone, be aware of your actions
¡ Model good behavior
§ Role model, leader is rude
§ Create a culture of respect and express your appreciation.
¡ Ask for feedback
§ Leadership style
¡ Pay attention to your progress
§ Self awareness and set good example and alert people when rude.

10. WHAT’S A LEADER TO DO 
M A N A G I N G T H E O R G A N I Z Z AT I O N
¡ Hire for civility
§ Avoid bringing incivility into the workplace
§ However, Only 11% of organizations report considering civility at all
during the hiring process.
¡ Teach civility
§ People can learn civility on the job. Role-playing is one technique
§ Video can be a good teaching tool, especially when paired with
coaching.
§ Highlight the tone, volume and speed of the speech

11. WHAT’S A LEADER TO DO 
M A N A G I N G T H E O R G A N I Z Z AT I O N
¡ Create group norms
§ Work in the group to discuss what should and should not do
§ E.g. Hospital, smile, greet customer to gain customer satisfaction
¡ Reward good behavior & Penalize bad behavior
§ Motivate the staff with incentives, e.g. bonus and TPM
§ Warning, punishing action
¡ Conduct post-departure interviews
§ Interview with resigned staff to find out Root cause

12. GLOBAL APPROACH 
¡ Take civility global = learn how to read
behavior and to react respectfully across
cultures
¡ Before you go:
Ø Know who you are
Ø Know where you are going
Ø Be open-minded

13. GLOBAL APPROACH (CONT’D) 
¡ Once you’re there:
Ø Show respect
Ø Be agreeable
Ø Show patience with others and yourself
Ø Pay sharp attention
Ø Break out of your comfort zone
Ø Be adaptable
Ø Accept and learn from mistakes

14. A CULTURE OF CIVILITY
¡ Have a cooperative approach
¡ Be aware of underlying needs
¡ Recognize individual differences
¡ Be open to adapting to positions
¡ Start from leaders
¡ Clearly define expectations for how
employees treat each other
¡ Reward civilized behavior
¡ Encourage stress management

15. CONCLUSION 
¡ In order to minimize the workplace incivility, it requires the
efforts from both leaders and employees
¡ Organizations need to promote the cultures for civility
¡ Civility can be enhanced by building competencies in skills
such as listening, conflict resolution, negotiation, dealing
with difficult people, and stress management