Back in September my thought for the month revolved around the slow erosion of something significant within us every time we found ourselves at odds or disconnected from our work place environment, or if we felt the pressure – great or small – to work differently than our values might suggest we should. This was called moral distress.
There are various kinds of moral distress; some of which are simply a part of life. When we interact with people who are different than us, who have different views or perspectives, we have to deal with those differences. To some degree this can cause distress. These situations will never go away, they are a part of living and the human experience. The goal is to find productive ways of addressing this form of “inevitable” moral distress. However, there are other forms that are perhaps more preventable.
Christine Pearson and Christine Porath have written a book called, “The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility Is Damaging Your Business And What To Do About It.” I found it to be both an enlightening and challenging read as they documented the growing concern of incivility in the workplace. There is a great deal in the book, here are some highlights that jumped out at me:
“That 96% of people in the United States they have experienced incivility at work.”
“Dollar costs of incivility can be calculated.”
“Incivility causes stress and burnout, leading to lower job satisfaction, poorer performance, and less commitment.”
“Incivility erodes conditions that lead to optimal team effectiveness, including cooperation, creativity, and information flow.”
“More than half the employees who are treated uncivilly consider leaving; one in eight actually does so.”
And, “Costs of replacing employees range up to four times their annual salaries.”
Incivility is one key expression of moral distress. Working in an uncivil environment is costly in many significant ways. While there is no single, easy way to address incivility in the workplace, Pearson and Porath highlight some things that have been done and the very tangible benefits of doing so. One of those ways is for an organization to clearly identify its core values (which presumably include something regarding treating others with respect) and offering on-going training, education, and support throughout the organization emphasizing the practice of those values.
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“The Cost of Bad Behavior”
Back in September my thought for the month revolved around the slow erosion of something significant within us every time we found ourselves at odds or disconnected from our work place environment, or if we felt the pressure – great or small – to work differently than our values might suggest we should. This was called moral distress.
There are various kinds of moral distress; some of which are simply a part of life. When we interact with people who are different than us, who have different views or perspectives, we have to deal with those differences. To some degree this can cause distress. These situations will never go away, they are a part of living and the human experience. The goal is to find productive ways of addressing this form of “inevitable” moral distress. However, there are other forms that are perhaps more preventable.
Christine Pearson and Christine Porath have written a book called, “The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility Is Damaging Your Business And What To Do About It.” I found it to be both an enlightening and challenging read as they documented the growing concern of incivility in the workplace. There is a great deal in the book, here are some highlights that jumped out at me:
“That 96% of people in the United States they have experienced incivility at work.”
“Dollar costs of incivility can be calculated.”
“Incivility causes stress and burnout, leading to lower job satisfaction, poorer performance, and less commitment.”
“Incivility erodes conditions that lead to optimal team effectiveness, including cooperation, creativity, and information flow.”
“More than half the employees who are treated uncivilly consider leaving; one in eight actually does so.”
And, “Costs of replacing employees range up to four times their annual salaries.”
Incivility is one key expression of moral distress. Working in an uncivil environment is costly in many significant ways. While there is no single, easy way to address incivility in the workplace, Pearson and Porath highlight some things that have been done and the very tangible benefits of doing so. One of those ways is for an organization to clearly identify its core values (which presumably include something regarding treating others with respect) and offering on-going training, education, and support throughout the organization emphasizing the practice of those values.
This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 11:43 am and is filed under Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.