Developing Policies about Uncivil Workplace Behavior

Workplace incivility, including aggression and bullying, is a troubling phenomenon. Uncivil behaviors not only harm individuals but also diminish employee performance and sometimes result in legal action against companies. Thus, it behooves organizations and management to become vigilant and responsive to such behaviors. Yet the evidence shows that with the recent exception of attempted legislation in Hawaii (Chiem, 2007), few companies or jurisdictions in the United State have policies and procedures aimed at addressing uncivil behavior. In this article, the authors outline some points to consider when developing policies to counteract uncivil behavior in the workplace. In the process, they incorporate the views of two corporate representatives (a diversity manager at Georgia Power and a human resource manager at PepsiCo) and an attorney with the U.S. military. The authors conclude that the driving principles of the policy should be that every employee has a right to be treated with respect and that false accusations are taken as a serious offense. Some organizations have already included respect for each other in organizational mission statements, so providing linkage to the mission statement could further strengthen any policy developed on uncivil behavior. Most important, managers need to be aware of how uncivil behaviors affect working relationships and lead to legal, psychological, and retention issues.