Newswise — It’s no secret that incivility, ranging from rude and disrespectful behavior to hostility, can be disruptive in the workplace, leading to varying degrees of dissatisfaction and lower productivity among workers.
The consequences of incivility in the work environment have been well documented by researchers, yet incivility exists.
That’s what the Veteran’s Health Administration, the second largest federal employer in the country, found in a 2001 survey of employees who had left the VHA. A major reason was a perceived lack of respect and fairness. Even more alarming was another internal study that revealed 67 percent of respondents were exposed to verbal abuse, almost twice as high as in the U.S. Postal Service using the same survey instrument.
“The results of these surveys showed that incivility was a serious issue that needed to be addressed,” said Katerine Osatuke, Supervisory Health Scientist/ Research Director at the Department of Veterans Affairs in the Veterans Health Administration National Center for Organization Development in Cincinnati. That is when the VHA made a commitment to change the culture at its facilities around the country.
“Employee perceptions of civility are an important part of the organizational climate, especially in healthcare where employees are delivering services to patients,” Osatuke said.
So senior leaders and organization development professionals within the VA created a nationwide intervention program designed to enhance the quality of employees’ work environment. The program is called CREW-Civility, Respect and Engagement in the Workforce.
Osatuke will be among several researchers talking about CREW and workplace perceptions of civility during the 26th Annual Conference of The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology April 14-16 at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago.
“Civility and incivility are specific to the local culture and may be different from workplace to workplace. What may be considered rude, discourteous or uncivil behavior in one place may be normal in another,” she said.
The norms are set by individual workplaces whose employees agree among themselves to define the culture of norms and the boundaries of civility. But how do you get workplaces to establish those boundaries? That’s the goal of CREW.
It all starts with what Osatuke calls a “business case,” presenting to workgroups why a program about workplace civility is important to employees and to the organization. Of specific interest to organization leaders, the business case draws connections between civility and costs, patient and employee satisfaction and safety and performance outcomes.
“It’s all voluntary and our experience has been that most employees sign up for the programs, which last about six months on average,” she said. “The work groups are provided materials, based upon valid and reliable research on civility, as well as assistance from the National Center for Organization Development to establish these interventions,” she added.
A pre-intervention survey about employees’ perceptions of their workplace environment provides a starting point to begin the CREW intervention, whose primary thrust is to support work units as they identify their strengths and areas for improvement with regard to civility.
“All interventions are designed to respond to local needs and local culture-based definitions of civility,” said Osatuke. CREW is not a one-size-fits-all program, but rather it is a customized and flexible approach, where each site chooses its own areas of focus related to civility, she added.
In the past six years more than 1,400 VHA workgroups have gone through the program.
CREW is a documented success and the results have been encouraging. Post-intervention surveys show increased awareness by employees of the importance of civility in the workplace and a greater understanding of how civility benefits the VHA mission of providing excellent health services to the nation’s veterans.“The CREW program was found to create in employees increased recognition of the connection between civility of workplace interactions and success in outcomes of specific work-related tasks,” Osatuke said.
The attitude changes regarding civility are not short-lived. Assessments of the CREW program indicate the changes are taking root with employees and are being sustained.
Osatuke said the CREW intervention initiative has been replicated in other workplace resulting in improved collegiality within workgroups including other parts of the VA such as the Veterans Benefit Administration and National Cemetery Administration. CREW has also been successfully implemented in some elements of Canada’s health system. “CREW can be adapted to most workplaces,” she said.
She is quick to point out that CREW does not try to teach people what not to say or do, but rather the focus is on positive ways for people to show respect and work with each other. Those changes lead to greater productivity and collegiality. “Teaching individuals and organizations how to be civil helps inform them about what they can and should do instead of what should not be done,” Osatuke said.
Note:Some of the world’s top I-O psychologists and specialists in personnel selection will be in Chicago April 14-16 for the annual conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Nearly 4,000 I-O psychologists will be the Chicago Hilton for the three day conference which will feature more than 600 presentations on the latest trends and studies on a variety of workplace issues.Reporters interested in more information about the conference, can contact Clif Boutelle or Stephany Schings Below at the SIOP Administrative Offices at 419-353-0032 or go to www.siop.org/programsearch/default.aspx?conid=5 to view a searchable program.
The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) is an international group of more than 7,800 industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologists whose members study and apply scientific principles concerning workplace productivity, motivation, leadership and engagement. SIOP’s mission is to enhance human well-being and performance in organizational and work settings by promoting the science, practice and teaching of I-O psychology. For more information about SIOP, including a Media Resources service that lists nearly 2,000 experts in more than 100 topic areas, visit www.siop.org.
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