The SHRM Civility Index shows incivility levels at record highs for 2024’s fourth quarter, scoring 40.9 out of 100 on workplace incivility and 49.7 on society incivility. Over three-quarters of U.S. workers stated that they had experienced or witnessed incivility over the past month.
Along with those acts of incivility, the costs of incivility also rose for employers. The Civility Index shows that, collectively, employers lost over $2.7 billion per day in decreased productivity and absenteeism due to incivility. This figure is an average daily increase of almost $600 million for American employers from the third to the fourth quarters of 2024.
SHRM launched its Civility Index in May 2024. The Index measures the levels of civility and incivility in the workplace and society on a quarterly basis. Individuals report whether they have personally experienced or witnessed incivility at work and, more generally, in society over the past month. SHRM calculates scores on a 100-point scale, with 0 indicating incivility never occurs and 100 indicating incivility always occurs.
Researchers at SHRM state that the increased levels of incivility are no great surprise due to the current political divide leading up to and resulting from the election. The Civility Index found that political differences constituted 60% of the incivility that individuals experienced. About 56% of those who experienced or witnessed incivility at work stated that politics was a contributing factor, and 53% attributed the incivility at least in part to the U.S. general election.
Other survey results create concern that the current atmosphere of incivility is unlikely to decrease any time soon. Forty-four percent of workers believe that incivility over politics, the election, and the incoming U.S. president will increase in 2025.
As a result, employers who wish to cut down on absenteeism and decreased productivity of workers due to incivility in the workplace need to take affirmative steps to address these issues. Workers want employers to address the need for civil discourse at work and stress the need for better management and supervisory support. Almost 75% of workers surveyed felt that supervisors and managers could have done more to address incivility in the workplace, and about 62% of workers reported that management had ignored acts of incivility in the workplace.
Management must step up and squarely address incivility rather than ignore it if they want to combat incivility that creates significant financial losses for employers. Establishing neutral ground rules to work together and resolve incivility issues can be key to a more productive workplace.
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