Lack of civility in the workplace is a growing problem which left unchecked, can lead to serious problems both for the company and its employees, said author and associate professor of management at Georgetown University, Christine Porath, during an interview with Knowledge@Wharton.

Rampant incivility not only makes the work environment tense, but can also lead to a drop in productivity and even cause serious health issues to those involved.

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According to Porath, the most common reason people give for this behavior is being too stressed or overloaded at work. Also, the ongoing growth in email communication sometimes causes issues. This is due to neither party being able to hear the others tone of voice or see their facial expressions.

She also noted that the most common cases are between a manager and an employee. However, Porath believes it is possible to reverse this trend.

“I’ve definitely seen leaders in organizations go from being fairly uncivil to winning awards for best places to work. The first step is to make a commitment.”

Listen to the entire interview at Knowledge@Wharton by clicking here.

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