What Price Rudeness?

A recent study by a professor, Christine Pearson, shows that "many workers left jobs because of continuing incivility but rarely reported that as the reason." (NYT 'Shortcuts' 11/2010).  So much for exit interviews. 

An early-career guy recently told me that he did not really want to join co-workers for 'Happy Hour' - "Why do people think you want to spend more time with them when they are rude to you at work?"

Professor Pearson's research also showed that '60% of disrespectful behavior came from above, 20% from colleagues and 20% from below.'  That reinforces my longstanding belief that rudeness rolls downhill, and untimately lands on customers.

Counterintuitively, it appears that Boeing's 'team' model had a negative effect on morale; people reported losing a sense their 'contributions were respected as a source of competitive advantage -- they experienced a shift to where people and positions were expendable or interchangeable with other workers around the world.' (NYT 'Off The Shelf'11/21/10.  )  This research is from the book Turbulence:  Boeing and the State of American Workers and Managers, by four experts.  They also report that managers and employees alike had intentions to quit the company.

At a more general level, an article in the Hartford Courant, "Don't Let Hostility Replace Civility" by Rand Richards Cooper (11/21/10) urges Americans  to 'reboot' from being 'half-cocked' with rage to choosing to exercise 'small acts of diplomacy' in every day life, such as while driving.

While existing studies show that most people think it is other people who are rude, not them, these articles reinforce a trend I've observed in my 30+ years of working -- people more easily insult each other in meetings.  I feel like a Missy Manners when I am shocked to hear one woman tell another she is stupid and ugly in a planning meeting, with no apparent consequences.  I close with a quote from Professor Pearson:  "It's amazing how many (leaders) expect their employees to treat customers with respect and how few worry about how their colleagues treat each other."