Through a poll of 800 managers and employees in 17 industries, Porath and Pearson discovered just how people’s reactions play out. Among workers who’ve been on the receiving end of incivility:
• 48% intentionally decreased their work effort • 47% intentionally decreased the time spent at work • 38% intentionally decreased the quality of their work • 80% lost work time worrying about the incident • 63% lost work time avoiding the offender • 66% said that their performance 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
Experiments and other reports offer additional insights about the effects of incivility. Here are some examples of what can happen.
1) Creativity suffers - In an experiment conducted with Amir Erez, a professor of management at the University of Florida, participants who were treated rudely by other subjects were 30% less creative than others in the study.2) Performance and team spirit deteriorate - Survey results and interviews indicate that simply witnessing incivility has negative consequences. In one experiment, witnesses to incivility were less likely than others to help out, even when the person they’d be helping had no apparent connection to the uncivil person.3) Customers turn away - According to a survey of 244 consumers, disrespectful behavior by employees makes people uncomfortable, and they’re quick to walk out without making a purchase.4) Managing incidents is expensive - According to a study conducted by Accountemps and reported in Fortune, managers and executives at Fortune 1,000 firms spend 13% percent of their work time—the equivalent of seven weeks a year—mending employee relationships and otherwise dealing with the aftermath of incivility.
For more on this research and to find out what leaders can do to tame incivility in the workplace, check out the full version of this article in the Jan./Feb. 2013 edition of Harvard Business Review at http://hbr.org/2013/01/the-price-of-incivility/ar/1.
About the researchers
Christine Porath, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Her research focuses not only on the effects of bad behavior, but also how organizations can create a more positive environment where people can thrive; and how individuals and organizations benefit in terms of individual well-being and performance.
Christine Pearson, Ph.D., is a professor of global leadership at Thunderbird School of Global Management. She has built a worldwide reputation as an expert on curtailing and containing dysfunctional behavior at work, including the dramatic sweep of organizational crises as well as the corrosive impact of problems that escalate from low-intensity incivility and aggression in the workplace.
Porath and Pearson have also co-authored a book titled, “The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility Is Damaging Your Business and What to Do About It.”
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