Be Nice! A Workplace Essential

Rekindling kindness among your staffers may not be one of your top workplace wellness goals, but new research shows that it’s probably worth checking in to.

According to the American Psychological Association, many office environments are seeing a growing problem known as workplace incivility … or, in its most basic form, rudeness.

Study co-author Jeannie Trudel estimates that the percentage of people subjected to incivility is as high as 85%, and it appears to be getting worse as people in the workplace shoulder heavier burdens, seemingly at the expense of traditional social niceties.

In an interview with USA Today, Trudel notes, “It’s very hard to target because you don’t really know if someone actually means to be rude or if it’s just off the cuff, so it’s an insidious problem. There are very, very negative effects of accumulated minor stresses.”

You expect to have to deal with some measure of rude behavior in daily life: in traffic jams, in line at the DMV, maybe from an overworked server at a busy restaurant.

But when incivility occurs chronically at work and begins to take a toll on your employees’ stress levels, sense of well being, and confidence, it’s time to do something about it.

Of course, you can’t manufacture peace, love, and harmony where it doesn’t exist, but you can establish some ground rules on effective interpersonal interaction.

For starters, share some tips with your staff members on how to maintain civil workplace relationships, such as these from Lorman Education Services: