4 Proactive Strategies to Combat Workplace Incivility

Incivility: It’s not a problem … until it is.

Many organizations think their culture is strong and divisive political discussions won’t be a concern in their workplace. But it’s still important to establish policies before incivility becomes an issue.

“The key thing here is to be proactive,” said Bernadette Jones, SHRM-SCP, co-founder and CEO of Visionova HR Consulting in Richmond, Calif. “It’s not a problem today, but six months from now, it could be a really big problem.”

Jones outlined four strategies for combating workplace incivility in her concurrent session titled “Peacekeeping in Polarized Times: HR’s Role in Navigating Political Debates and Triggering Topics” on June 25 at the SHRM Annual Conference & Expo (SHRM24) in Chicago and virtually. Those strategies are as follows:

1. Understand the Challenge.

Organizations first need to take stock of their workplace’s current needs and how discord has been handled in the past. If polarization is already a problem, a full reset may be needed.

“You really want to look at: What is the culture of your organization? What is the makeup of your organization?” Jones said. “Your culture as an organization plays a big role in how you navigate political discussions. … There needs to be a discussion on what is acceptable in our culture and then how can we support that.”

2. Guide the Discussion.

Leadership needs to be on board for any initiatives to succeed. An effective way to get workplace leaders to buy in is to present them with numbers, Jones said. Starting with data can help you make the business case for civility and justify the need for any organizational changes.

“What’s the impact on people? How are workers feeling about these conversations?” she said. “Share that data. Sometimes, that can be the stimulus for being proactive and making a change.”

3. Set Boundaries.

We often set boundaries in our personal lives with family, friends, and acquaintances. Our work lives are no different, Jones said. At the organizational level, boundaries are reflected in policies.

Sometimes, these are just unwritten standards understood by everyone in the workplace. However, written policies are more effective, Jones said. Such policies should be clearly communicated to employees and regularly reiterated, even if there haven’t been any concerns to date.

Additionally, policies shouldn’t just dictate what not to do, but also what employees should do. Examples of permitted conduct or topics are helpful, as are suggestions for how to communicate respectfully. SHRM’s “1 Million Civil Conversations” initiative seeks to encourage safe and empathetic conversations in the workplace that enable everyone to thrive.

4. Take Action.

This step is the most important, according to Jones. HR professionals need to feel empowered to bring about change in their workplace and act to prevent incivility. A sample action plan could include the following steps: assessment, policy development, training, support, reviews, and adaptations.

Jones designed this process to be a cycle, explaining that being proactive means continually re-evaluating the needs of your workplace and the effectiveness of the policies you already have in place.

Michael McElwreath, SHRM-SCP, senior manager of HR for cybersecurity firm OPSWAT in Tampa, Fla., said Jones’ recommendations reinforced the approach his company has already been taking to combat incivility. “I’ve seen it work,” he said.

OPSWAT’s founder and CEO is Israeli, as are some of its staff, so discussions about the Israel-Hamas war are an especially sensitive subject, McElwreath said. OPSWAT’s HR department chose to assess the organization’s culture before guiding employees toward understanding that respectful conversations are appreciated, but discourse on this topic would not be acceptable in their workplace. No new formal policies were needed, but clear boundaries were established.

Their approach involved considering “who we want to be as an organization and then making sure that all of our policies that cascade down align with who we want to be,” McElwreath said. His colleagues stressed “understanding when a statement or opinion is that person’s statement or opinion versus another person attacking” a co-worker’s character, and “understanding what we’re OK with encouraging and facilitating versus saying, ‘Not right now.’ ”

Jones articulated the role HR plays in setting the stage for workplace dialogues and dictating what is appropriate to discuss, at what times, and with whom.

“As private employers, you have the right and responsibility to make sure that the speech that’s happening in the workplace is about work,” she said.

When conversations do occur that are uncomfortable or heated, it’s helpful to have effective methods at hand to address the tension without adding to it. Jones offered the following suggestions:

• Stay calm.
• Acknowledge emotions.
• Redirect focus.
• Take a break.
• Use “I” statements.
• Seek common ground.
• Set ground rules.

At the end of the day, every person has their own life experiences that inform their opinions. People with little in common will still agree on some topics, and even people who are incredibly similar won’t share common ground on everything.

Jones said the challenge ultimately comes down to this: “How can you disagree without being disrespectful?”