Measuring and Promoting Civility in the Workplace

Incivility is all over the place these days. We see it in the news, on social media, from government leaders. As a result, many organizational leaders are currently considering how to ensure that societal incivility doesn’t spill over into the workplace.

To help executives better understand what to expect, we start with two key questions: Do organizations, and specifically companies, impact the culture of the communities in which they have presence? Do outside behaviors and attitudes impact the workplace?

First, some definitions. When we discuss civility in the workplace, we mean the following:

• Respect: Demonstrating regard for others' ideas, feelings, and time.
• Politeness: Engaging in courteous and considerate interactions.
• Inclusiveness: Encouraging participation and valuing diversity.
• Supportiveness: Offering help and showing empathy towards colleagues.
• Conflict Resolution: Addressing disagreements constructively and calmly.

Now, let’s look at what we know and don’t know:

• Legislating behaviors or morality has been a standard mechanism for societies and organizations for a very long time. And while not perfect can create change and direct behaviors. Rules that employees have to adhere to while in the workplace are very common, and those rules often cover how they should treat their fellow workers.
• Organizations may often underestimate their workplace impact. When examining the impact of organizational culture on the workforce, we consistently find that the company culture overrides the local culture when it comes to workplace issues. In other words, staff within a company is more like other staff within the same company regardless of where or in which country they are located. The country or location is not driving the organizational culture, the organization is.
• Due to cognitive dissonance, we know that if people consistently behave in a certain way, attitudes shift in congruence to that behavior. So, in other words, if the rules of organizational life demand civility in the workplace, attitudes should conform to the behavior.
• What we don’t know, and which has not been researched, is do those shifts in attitudes and behaviors carry over outside of the workplace? If people behave in an uncivil manner outside of the workplace or in their day-to-day lives, those behaviors and resultant attitudes may carry over into the workplace, unless guarded against and not tolerated.
• Modeling acceptable behaviors in the workplace can also have a large impact. If an organization has rules of civil interaction in the workplace, but they see leaders or managers or other staff behaving in an uncivil manner, and it is tolerated, then the goal of having a civil workplace is sure to fail. Leaders and managers at all level have to model the behavior and attitudes for which the organization is striving.

So we know that organizations can influence civility in the workplace, but how do we know how well it is working? Thankfully, these are concepts that are easily measured in an employee population on either a census or pulse survey. Here are some sample norms based on our client base, followed by additional items, that could be used to measure civility in the workplace; when we work with a client, we work with them to choose the combination of items that best fit their needs

Other items that can be used to measure civility include:

For more examples, you can find an additional 20 items specific to the healthcare environment and their corresponding factor loadings, in the article Development and Psychometric Testing of the Workplace Civility Index: A Reliable Tool for Measuring Civility in the Workplace, by Clark, C. et al and published in J Contin Educ Nurs. 2018;49(9):400-406.

Of course, not all of these items would need to be used to evaluate civility in the workplace. You want to be careful to choose the right mix of items. (If you’re not sure what is the right fit for your organization, contact us.) After collecting the survey responses, the data should be analyzed to identify patterns and areas for improvement. Key metrics to report on and track over time could include:

A Civility Index: An overall score reflecting the level of civility based on aggregated survey responses.

Incivility Hotspots: Identification of departments, teams, or locations where uncivil behavior is more prevalent.

Actionable Insights and Recommendations:

Based on the survey findings, provide actionable insights and recommendations for leadership, HR, and managers:

1. Training Programs: Develop and implement training programs focused on communication, conflict resolution, and inclusivity.
2. Policy Review: Ensure organizational policies clearly define acceptable behavior and outline consequences for uncivil actions.
3. Support Systems: Establish support systems such as employee assistance programs, peer support groups, and anonymous reporting channels.
4. Leadership Accountability: Hold leaders accountable for fostering a civil workplace environment through performance metrics and reviews.

By systematically defining and measuring civility through a well-designed employee survey, you can provide valuable insights and tools to enhance respectful and constructive interactions within your organization. It’s also worth creating opportunities for employees to recognize that despite our differences, we also have much in common. Team building exercises, off-site meetings, and other activities can help foster a rich and respectful culture. Ultimately, efforts at cohesiveness and civility will likely win out over divisiveness and incivility.