Causes of Incivility and Costs to an Organization
Part II: Causes of Incivility and Costs to an Organization
What are the causes of workplace incivility?
Incivility in the workplace can be caused by a multitude of reasons, ranging from individual personalities to company deficiencies. According to Pearson and Porath, some organizational scientists consider the prevalence and costs of workplace incivility among the most serious dilemmas facing organizations today. That being said, research regarding incivility (the what’s, why’s, and how’s) has become increasingly important to organizations. At the point in which the article was written (2005), research regarding incivility was still in a preliminary phase. However, this research showed that incivility is widespread in the workplace and its roots can be traced to the phenomena of spiraling interpersonal conflict and escalating aggression. Discovering the causes of workplace incivility is important to managers and owners who must take the necessary steps to stop this behavior and promote a pleasant workplace atmosphere. Some of the most common causes of incivility are:
Individual Based Causes: * An individual’s personality or temperament – This could make a person either a tormentor or a victim, depending on their personality traits and disposition. Personality also helps define what incivility is and what it is not. Incivility may be difficult to detect because it lies in the eye of the beholder (Pearson and Porath). Therefore, a person whose feelings get hurt easily may interpret incivility in a situation where others do not. A person who has trouble self regulating and is impulsive may lose their temper easily and act uncivil towards others (Sukumar). Regardless of intent, individual personalities and temperaments play a large role in shaping the civility of a workplace. * Cultural differences among colleagues (Sukumar) – With today’s increasingly diverse workplace landscape, cultural differences are the norm, not the exception. This could
What are the causes of workplace incivility?
Incivility in the workplace can be caused by a multitude of reasons, ranging from individual personalities to company deficiencies. According to Pearson and Porath, some organizational scientists consider the prevalence and costs of workplace incivility among the most serious dilemmas facing organizations today. That being said, research regarding incivility (the what’s, why’s, and how’s) has become increasingly important to organizations. At the point in which the article was written (2005), research regarding incivility was still in a preliminary phase. However, this research showed that incivility is widespread in the workplace and its roots can be traced to the phenomena of spiraling interpersonal conflict and escalating aggression. Discovering the causes of workplace incivility is important to managers and owners who must take the necessary steps to stop this behavior and promote a pleasant workplace atmosphere. Some of the most common causes of incivility are:
Individual Based Causes: * An individual’s personality or temperament – This could make a person either a tormentor or a victim, depending on their personality traits and disposition. Personality also helps define what incivility is and what it is not. Incivility may be difficult to detect because it lies in the eye of the beholder (Pearson and Porath). Therefore, a person whose feelings get hurt easily may interpret incivility in a situation where others do not. A person who has trouble self regulating and is impulsive may lose their temper easily and act uncivil towards others (Sukumar). Regardless of intent, individual personalities and temperaments play a large role in shaping the civility of a workplace. * Cultural differences among colleagues (Sukumar) – With today’s increasingly diverse workplace landscape, cultural differences are the norm, not the exception. This could
Bibliography: (not cited properly yet – just website links): - The article itself - http://www.buzzle.com/articles/what-causes-workplace-incivility-and-how-to-stop-it.html - http://smallbusiness.chron.com/causes-incivility-workplace-10700.html - http://www.problematwork.com/340/workplace-incivility/ The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility is Damaging Your Business and What To Do About It, Christine Pearson and Christine Porath, Portfolio, NYC, 2009. http://rickdacri.wordpress.com/2011/03/26/cost-of-workplace-incivility/ http://legacyandleadershipcoaching.com/wordpress/2011/07/the-costs-of-workplace-incivility/