by Eleanor Hecks, HR and hiring writer, Editor-in-Chief of Designerly Magazine
The consequences of workplace incivility stretch beyond an occasional aggravated comment or sigh during a long meeting. Company culture suffers when one staff member undermines another or publicly calls them out, and HR professionals are left to deal with the aftermath. Creating a positive work environment is only possible if employees embrace the efforts of team building and policies meant to foster positive relationships. Retaining top talent and attracting skilled new hires means prioritising protecting staff’s mental health and preventing bullying or aggressive work environments.
Defining Workplace Incivility
SHRM’s most recent Civility Index report found that 8.3 million acts of incivility occur every hour, primarily due to political disagreements, stress and leaders’ failure to address the issue. Respondents also felt the issues would worsen throughout 2025. Disrespectful conversations in the workplace lead to negativity and unhappy workers.
Receiving or witnessing incivility can lead to lower employee engagement and fewer team collaborations. HR must address toxic dynamics that damage team morale to create a safe work environment for everyone.
1. Recognise the Warning Signals
Your staff may feel uncomfortable pointing out when they receive passive-aggressive comments, eye rolls and other unprofessional behaviors. Many actions are misunderstandings, but when a pattern repeats, it becomes clear that the other person’s behavior requires attention. Some signs that might clue you into issues within the team’s dynamics include:
- Lower team motivation.
- Higher absenteeism.
- A noticeable increase in employee churn.
- Ignoring one person’s input or talking over them in meetings.
- Increased conflicts between workers.
Pay attention to how everyone engages during meetings, and conduct exit interviews with departing staff members. Allow anonymous surveys and reports to HR. While you cannot be everywhere and pick up on every aggression, you can be aware and have an open-door policy for reporting concerns.
2. Set a Company Culture and Enforce It
Write out how you want your employees to treat one another. You cannot force people who do not like each other to be friends, but you can expect a certain level of professionalism in the workplace. Prohibit things such as spreading rumors, excluding team members from crucial conversations or gossiping.
For example, some rules you can create that might fix conflicts include:
- Let co-workers finish their thoughts without interrupting.
- Disagree respectfully, such as, “I see your point. We could also consider…”
- Value everyone’s expertise and contribution.
Meet with any worker who causes friction and offer training on inclusive language.
3. Offer Emotional Intelligence Training
Emotional intelligence (EI) may be one of the most crucial elements leadership can embrace, accounting for up to 45% of someone’s success in a given role. When department heads talk to their staff kindly and follow up with empathetic actions, the attitudes trickle down to others.
Encourage your managers to take courses and develop empathy, self-regulation, and self-awareness skills. HR can avoid micromanaging disputes between managers and staff by ensuring department heads and the CEO understand and implement EI.
4. Promote Collaboration Over Competition
In extremely competitive environments, some employees may work on individual success rather than team goals, leading to communication breakdowns and decreased group performance. Rather than setting people up to compete against one another, reward them for working together to develop creative solutions. Avoid too much competition as a form of cultural reinforcement.
The personality who says they prefer to complete the report alone may not like a forced team project, but they will learn why collaboration drives results. Even the design of the workspace can encourage working together. Seek open layouts and tech tools that drive communication, like Slack or Microsoft Teams. Set aside spaces for people to escape when feeling overwhelmed. Reducing stress can make building a respectful company culture easier.
Publicly recognise positive changes during a weekly scrum meeting, give out small bonuses for collaborative efforts and shout out successful team projects in the monthly newsletter. If an employee receives complaints from several co-workers but tries to adopt more respectful communication, call them in and praise them for their efforts. Point out exactly what they have changed that helps the atmosphere and why you appreciate it. Add a note to their annual review that could translate into a raise, and include a section on civility in your 360-degree review process.
5. Respond to Concerns
HR leaders should design policies and practice cognitive empathy, listening to workers’ underlying concerns and seeking to understand what they deal with daily at work. If you can put yourself in the other person’s shoes, you can anticipate their needs and find workable solutions to keep them from leaving over conflicts with others. Providing a safe place to share concerns and feel heard can reduce tensions and keep minor annoyances from becoming larger conflicts.
However, you should also act on any ongoing issues and find a resolution. Studies show that 83% of workers would leave their jobs if they could be happier at another. Even if you do everything right to prevent conflict, incivility can still creep into the office.
In addition to offering multiple ways to report incidents, create a resolution process. If a case becomes too severe and mediation fails, escalate the issue to senior managers or the legal department. Keep track of recurring behaviors to identify problems before they become unmanageable.
Build a Positive, Mutually Respectful Culture
Reducing incivility requires more than putting out fires as they occur. You must strive for an empathetic and positive work environment that starts with leadership and trickles down to new hires.
HR leaders have a responsibility to ensure staff’s mental well-being is protected, so lead by example with empathetic speech that communicates your expectations. By consistently intervening in disrespectful communication, promoting EI leaders and rewarding collaboration, you can shift the workplace into a more inclusive atmosphere where everyone strives to perform to the best of their ability.
About the author
Eleanor Hecks is an HR and hiring writer who specialises in topics surrounding DEI and accessibility in the workplace. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of Designerly Magazine, where she regularly discusses small business news and insights.
