The high cost of incivility in the workplace: Why respect and courtesy are imperative
There is a quiet but growing idea that respect is 'outdated', says organisational behaviour specialist Siphiwe Moyo.
Workplace behaviour, incivility, be nice sign, office. Unsplash/Caroline Attwood
Stephen Grootes is joined by Siphiwe Moyo on The Money Show.
Recent international studies have revealed a rise in workplace incivility.
The standard dictionary description of civility emphasizes 'courtesy' and 'politeness', so incivility could be equated basically with 'rudeness'.
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While we don't have figures for South Africa, there is a quiet but growing idea that respect is 'outdated', says organisational behaviour specialist Siphiwe Moyo.
"Being direct is often the preferred way nowadays.. It's seen as politically correct, being woke and so on. The idea is that saying things like 'please' and 'thank you' is old school, and you should rather just get on with it."
Siphiwe Moyo, Organisational Behaviour Specialist
Moyo highlights ways in which this trend of incivility or little acts of disrespect can lead to a loss of productivity in the workplace.
"You can get to a point where there is a tit-for-tat happening - 'you ignored me so I'm going to ignore you'."
Siphiwe Moyo, Organisational Behaviour Specialist
"People can say, how do I collaborate with someone who can't say please and thank you - I'm going to start holding back information... All these things we think are 'soft' and not important, they do not encourage collaboration and eventually you can see it in the productivity."
Siphiwe Moyo, Organisational Behaviour Specialist
Leadership plays a really important role here, Moyo says, as leaders knowingly or unknowingly set the tone of what is acceptable in an organisation.
"A culture is created through role modelling, so if you're a leader and you really mean it, you must call out bad behaviour very early. You must give a signal of what is ok and what's not."
Siphiwe Moyo, Organisational Behaviour Specialist
"People will definitely rise or fall to the level of what you tolerate as a leader."
Siphiwe Moyo, Organisational Behaviour Specialist
For more detail, listen to the interview audio at the top of the article