Improving Workplace Civility

Tips for Improving Workplace Civility for Millennials
Keywords: workplace civility, workplace bullying, millennials, women business

Have you ever encountered a person so rude that it negatively affected the rest of your day? If you have, then imagine that you get to work with that same person for 8 hours a day for most of your adult working life. It’s a terrible thought isn’t it? Rudeness in the workplace is common and the occurrence is rising. In fact when thousands of workers were surveyed, ninety-eight per cent (98%) of them have reported experiencing rude or uncivil behavior in the workplace on a weekly basis. Millennials are the new players in the workplace and keeping them in it is a must to keep your company afloat in the 21st century.

Every individual who experiences workplace bullying will respond negatively and would often lead to retaliation. Millennial employees who experience an unhealthy workplace will become less creative and will more likely to get fed up and leave. Most of the time, employees who feel disrespected by a colleague or supervisor will deliberately decrease their work efforts which will result to lesser quality of work and lesser productivity. Workplace rudeness can also lead to decrease in sales since customers or consumers will less likely buy from a company that have rude employees whether or not the rudeness is directed at them. In fact, researches have shown that when employees don’t feel respected and they perceive their company as tolerating the lack of workplace civility, these employees are more likely to do the

In order to retain millennials in your workplace, here are some of the tips to improve if not maintain workplace civility.

Publicly demoralizing or openly mocking subordinates or colleagues. Employees and colleagues feel disrespected and unappreciated when they are publicly called out or mocked. They become the laughing stock in the office. How would you feel if you were on the other side of the mockery?

Managers or co-workers walking away from a meeting or conversation. When you walk away from an on-going conversation or a meeting either to answer a call or a text; you are basically implying that your affairs are far more important that theirs. If you are in a meeting or in a conversation, it is a healthy workplace behavior to turn your phone off.

Reminding subordinates of their “place” in the workplace. Milleninials know their roles and responsibilities within the workplace. If you are not the HR Manager, then it is not your job to keep reminding them of their “place” in the workplace.

Taking credit that is not yours. Since millennials crave for frequent feedback about their work or productivity, they will feel unappreciated if you take credit for what is not yours to