To those who think consistent civility is an extravagance: Just one habitually offensive employee critically positioned in your organization can cost you dearly in lost employees, lost customers, and lost productivity.  ~Christine Porath and Christine Pearson

I receive a newsletter called Inside Higher Ed and a recent issue reported findings of a survey of Chief Academic Officers that I found surprising.  Almost three-quarters of CAO’s (71%) are very or somewhat concerned about declining civility among faculty.  CAOs indicate that professors are likelier to treat students civilly than they are to treat their faculty peers or administrators that way.  More than 8 in 10 (83 percent) agree or strongly agree that civility should be a criteria for evaluating performance.

What surprised me is that college faculty really should be examples of leadership, I think.  So I did a little more investigating and the statistics only got worse.  I came across an article from HBR in January 2013 where authors Porath and Pearson said, “Rudeness at work is rampant, and it’s on the rise.  Over the past 14 years we’ve polled thousands of workers about how they’re treated on the job, and 98% have reported experiencing uncivil behavior.  In 2011 half said they were treated rudely at least once a week—up from a quarter in 1998.”

Porath and Pearson also found that among workers who’ve been on the receiving end of incivility:

• 48% intentionally decreased their work effort.
• 47% intentionally decreased the time spent at work.
• 38% intentionally decreased the quality of their work.
• 25% admitted to taking their frustration out on customers.

So last week, while conducting a training session on conflict resolution, I shared these statistics.  The group I worked with said they thought the statistics were quite believable, and began to describe to me the kind of incivility they both see and experience at their organization.

Here’s another example of just how uncivil we’ve all become.  Ochsner Health System, a large Louisiana health care provider, has adopted what it calls “the 10/5 way.”  If you’re within 10 feet of someone, make eye contact and smile.  If you’re within five feet, say hello.  Ochsner has seen greater patient satisfaction and an increase in patient referrals as a result.

But really, we have to tell people to make eye contact and smile if they are within 10 feet of someone and say hello if they’re within five feet?!  No wonder incivility is on the rise!

What to do about it?  Diane Berenbaum, contributing editor of Human Resources IQ has four suggestions:

1. Increase Awareness.  Educate employees about the cost and impact of uncivil behavior.
2. Create Workplace Standards and Value Civility.
3. Provide Internal Training and Coaching.
4. Encourage Open Communication and Feedback.

According to P.M. Forni, the co-founder of the Johns Hopkins Civility Project and author of Choosing Civility, “Encouraging civility in the workplace is becoming one of the fundamental corporate goals in our diverse, hurried, stressed and litigation-prone society.”

If civility isn’t one of your corporate goals, should it be?