Ginny Baldridgeunderstanding the five types of business meals. At the end of the
program, you will confidently perform as a gracious guest or host.
WRIGHT
Sounds great. I’ve heard you mention incivility damaging our
business; can one do anything about it?
BALDRIDGE
Incivility or rudeness is something that a lot of business owners just
don’t pay attention to; however, influencing others to do their best, to
care for themselves, and inspire others to do the same is my true
passion. So whether you have seen it, been a victim of it or need to
manage it, rudeness in the workplace has reached a crisis. In many
workplaces today, you’ll spot employees speaking to subordinates in a
condescending t one, ignoring their e-mail or phone messages, c laiming
excessive credit for their team’s accomplishment, browsing on their cell
phones or texting during meetings, or damaging another ’s reputation
with malicious gossip.
The problem of incivility in the workplace has b een compounded by
an increasing tolerance of nasty behavior as a culture, David. There are
so many popular reality television shows today that exhibit very
aggressive and rude behavior and the public just seems to be obsessed
by these shows; I really don’t u nderstand the appeal myself.
According to the authors of The Cost of Bad Behavior, Pearson
and Porath argue that petty incidences of workplace rudeness exact a
staggering economic toll that managers are foolish t o ignore. With
more than 9,000 research participants, fi ndings show that a stunning
96 percent of employees in the United Stat es have experienced
incivility at work, but only 9 percent have reported it to human
resources. This disparity may explain why managers underestimate the
costs of incivility. Pearson and Porath also found that 12 percent of
employees left their jobs because they were treated uncivilly.
BALDRIDGE
Have you ever walked into an establishment and overhead
colleagues in a heated dispute?