Taking action on strained social relationships: Approaches to addressing incivility

Incivility threatens employees’ well-being and core capacities of companies. Incivility goes beyond individual behaviour to shape a workplace culture. Anyone can be a carrier. What is perceived as uncivil may be universal in some instances. However, people vary on what they identify as incivility, with personal values, cultural norms, and personality playing a role. As incivility has the power to impact individual performance, team functioning, and organizational success, there is a strong business case for companies to take action and formulate preventive measures. An encouraging direction in designing interventions is to promote positive employee interactions. Such interventions have been shown to increase employee engagement, satisfaction and commitment, and thus contribute to a happier healthier workforce, which is the foundation of successful work and overall company success.