Creating a Civility Culture

Incivility hits the bottom line in four ways: (i) Creativity suffers; (ii) Performance and team morale deteriorate; (iii) Customers turn away; and (iv) Managing incidents is expense. Fortune 1,000 firms spend 13% of their time – about 7 weeks a year – dealing with incivility and the cost of management and legal consultation afterwards. Even exemplary workplaces can suffer. When Cisco estimated the cost of incivility – assuming only an extremely low probability of rudeness among employees – the cost was US$12m a year. Cisco took action by creating a global workplace civility programme.

It can take constant vigilance to keep the workplace civil and to prevent rudeness from creeping into everyday interactions. Some of the actions that managers can use to keep behaviours in check and foster civility are:

1. Hire for Civility: Give existing team members a say about their potential future colleagues before hiring. Both Southwest Airlines and Four Seasons prioritise civility when hiring.

2. Teach Civility: Use role-playing, for example. One hospital in Los Angeles asked temperamental doctors to attend “charm school” to decrease their brashness.

3. Create Group Norms: Ochsner Health System adopts a 10/5 rule: when within 10 feet of someone, make eye contact and smile; when within 5 feet, say hello. Patient satisfaction and referrals have increased.

4. Reward Good Behaviour: Zappos uses “Wow” recognitions to reward employees doing the right thing. It includes a cash bonus of up to $50. Recipients are eligible for a “Hero” award chosen by executives.

5. Penalise Bad Behaviour: Don’t shield offenders – even rainmakers and protégés. Some are responsible for large lawsuits or the mass exit of employees.

6. Conduct Postdeparture Interviews: When done right, these reveal a lot about the behaviours that drive employees to join rival firms.