INTRODUCTION TO THE WORKPLACE

Week II - Good Work Ethics

Good Manners Can Make Work Easier to Bear

Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje c.2001 San Antonio Express-News

We all know them. The switchboard operator who cuts you off in mid-sentence. The co-worker who makes snide remarks at the coffeepot, sneers at your requests, ignores you in the hall. The boss who interrupts at staff meetings, openly berates underlings, frequently mistakes employees for doormats. It's as common as dirt, apparently. Judging from a recent study at the University of Michigan, the average American workplace is a seething cauldron of bad manners, hurt feelings and poorly masked hostility. ``And we were only measuring the subtle forms of rudeness and incivility - interruptions, insults, having statements ignored, being called on in a demeaning fashion,'' says lead researcher Lilia Cortina. ``We didn't even count things like temper tantrums, which obviously constitute rude behavior.'' What Cortina and colleagues found was astonishing, but should be of no big surprise to Dilberts everywhere: A whopping 71 percent of 1,100 workers surveyed said they'd been on the receiving end of rude or uncivil treatment by co-workers or superiors in the past five years. Among the most frequent offenders? Superiors who vent their spleen at those beneath them. ``The highest-level people in the organization were disproportionately likely to instigate incivility, so one way to look at this behavior is an abuse of power,'' says Cortina. ``They do it because they can get away with it.'' ``Some managers and supervisors may have great technical skills, but they may be lacking in people skills,'' explains Gloria F. Rodriguez, Director of the Center for Problem Solving/Conflict Resolution at the University of Texas at San Antonio. The goal of the 10-year-old center is to smooth ruffled workplace and dorm-place feathers. But rude bosses are just the half of it. The Michigan study, which surveyed employees of a large federal court system whose jobs ranged from mailroom clerks to unit heads, was replete with troubling findings: - Employees who speak out about rude treatment often experience ``social and professional retaliation'' - skipped promotions, ostracism, unfair discipline, less desirable job duties. This was especially true when a lower-status employee complained about a higher-status one. But those who keep silent suffer as well - sleep disorders, headaches, depression, anxiety, health problems. It's a true damned-if-you-do/damned-if-you-don't" scenario. - Women were slightly more likely to be targets of rudeness than men. ``This may be because women in general have a history of more victimization and oppression, so they may simply be more sensitized to slights than men,'' says Cortina. ``Or it may be because women tend to occupy the lower rungs of corporations, and we found lower-status people did experience more incivility,'' she says. Cortina's survey, which she said likely represents the levels of malfeasance at corporations across America, found that 40 percent of workers had perceived incivility once or twice in five years; 25 percent felt it sometimes; and 6 percent endured such abuse often. The more rudeness a worker encounters, the worse the effects. Is workplace rudeness on the rise? ``There's not much data on that,'' says Paul Spector, an industrial/organizational psychologist at the University of South Florida. ``There certainly seems to be more rudeness in movies, on TV, that sort of thing, but whether that translates into more rudeness in the workplace, no one can say for sure.'' Adam Butler, an Assistant Psychology Professor at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls who specializes in workplace issues, says the findings should not be overblown. ``In general, people aren't rude,'' he says. ``Human beings are very social animals and we have a strong desire to maintain positive relationships, especially at work, where we want to project a positive image of ourselves. People actually say and do stuff at home they'd never, ever do at work.'' Still, both agree Cortina's numbers show workplace rudeness is an issue, and companies do well to heed the call for increased politeness. As to what fuels workplace boorishness, both Spector and Butler implicate the same bugaboos. For one, employees who sense a ``low perception of control'' are likely to feel stressed out, and thus strike out. ``One big cause of workplace rudeness is the workplace itself,'' says Butler. ``One sure-fire way to reduce stress is to give employees more control at work. This means giving them more authority, more voice in decision-making, and letting them use a variety of skills. People who do the same thing over and over again experience more stress.'' Another help: Reduce overall stress on the job. Initiate flextime, leaves of absence, programs that help employees juggle work and family. Don't overwork employees. And consider the toll corporate decisions take on the average Joe and Joette. ``Take downsizing,'' says Spector. ``An organization will announce that it's going to lay some workers off, then keep the details secret for six months. This keeps everyone stirred up and upset. People tend to imagine the worse scenario. Not good.'' Most important, those at the top should set a good example. Rodriguez, who specializes in teaching people to resolve interpersonal rudeness, says: ``Often the problem is people get upset or rude simply because they don't feel like they're being heard.'' ----- (The San Antonio Express-News web site is at http://www.express-news.net