Office rudeness is on the rise. Catcalls, disparaging remarks whispered behind closed doors, and raging e-mails are testaments to the fact that many of us are overworked and stressed out. While much has been written about violence in the workplace, it is often the small and subtle egregious acts, the little incivilities, that take the largest toll. Rudeness is at the low end of the continuum of workplace abuse; workplace rudeness isn't violence or harassment or even open conflict, although it can build up to any of those things. Links between the work environment and indicators of employee loyalty, commitment, and productivity show this is not a “fluff” issue. In addition, a recent study on workplace incivility reveals that rude employees and managers can cost a company millions of dollars a year. This paper will give some background on rudeness at work, identify the kinds and causes of poor behavior, enumerate the costs to organizations, and discuss what employers can do to reduce rudeness at work.
Obnoxious behaviour has become endemic in the workplace. Some of the worst offences are: not turning off mobile phones in meetings; leaving a jammed printer, gossiping, and snapping at coworkers. Yet, it is this small stuff that relentlessly grinds down collegial working relationships. Incivility is at the low end of the continuum of workplace abuse. Workplace incivility is not violence or harassment or even open conflict, although it can build up to any of those things. Links between the work environment and indicators of employee loyalty, commitment, and productivity show this is not a “fluff” issue. In addition, a recent study on workplace incivility reveals that rude employees and managers can cost a company millions of dollars a year. This paper will look at a definition of incivility in the workplace, the causes of poor behaviour, the costs to organizations, and what employers can do to help.
In decades past, workers were, in effect, told to leave their emotions at home and most complied. No more. A person with high emotional intelligence (EI) has the ability to understand and relate to people. In fact, this skill is now considered to have greater impact on individual and group performance than traditional measures of intelligence such as IQ. When emotional intelligence is present, there is increased employee cooperation, increased motivation, increased productivity, and increased profits. However, emotional intelligence is lacking in the US workplace. This lack is clearly chronicled in the comic strip, Dilbert, where Scott Adams, the creator, lampoons what occurs in the workplace: vapid corporate-speak with no guts and no emotionally-honest message. This article defines emotional intelligence, describes how the comic strip, Dilbert, daily depicts situations where emotional intelligence is lacking, and discusses the organizational benefits of having emotionally intelligent managers and employees.
Workplace violence has become an important issue in the nineties. Bosses, co-workers, spouses, and supervisors are being killed at work at an alarming rate. Stress, drugs, and layoffs are just a few of the factors that prompt such crisis events. This paper examines what leads to workplace violence. It also addresses the tangible and intangible costs of this violence. And finally, the paper discusses what public personnel managers can do to legally protect them selves.
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