By Amanda S. Marcy, CPA, DBA

Assuming you work eight hours a day (I know – that’s funny for a lot of CPAs), we spend nearly one-third of our lives with people who aren’t family. You would think it would behoove us all to put our best foot forward to get along. We know that is not always the case and that incivility is not as rare as it should be.

Workplace incivility is defined as “the exchange of seemingly inconsequential inconsiderate words and deeds that violate conventional norms of workplace conduct.”¹ It often comprises relatively small acts by coworkers or supervisors that are perceived as demeaning, or which cause an individual to feel undervalued or unimportant. Uncivil acts are characteristically rude, discourteous, and display a lack of regard for others.² Christine Porath and Christine Pearson surveyed thousands of workers over a 14-year period and found that 98% of respondents had experienced uncivil behavior in the workplace.³ Similarly, I and my research partner R. Douglas Parker found in a survey of 190 finance and accounting professionals that, within the past year, 74% reported experiencing some form of incivility from a supervisor and 62% reported experiencing it from a coworker.⁴

Workplace Incivility

Workplace incivility encompasses a spectrum of uncivil acts. They can range from those that are more subtle and inconspicuous to those considered direct displays of workplace rudeness and inappropriateness. The list could be endless, but some of the more common uncivil acts include the following:

Costs of Incivility

Regardless of where on the spectrum they occur, unchecked uncivil acts can affect you and others in significantly negative ways and have major consequences for afflicted organizations. Research has shown that prolonged workplace incivility can lead to the following:

• Increased stress levels and decreased employee morale.
• Lost time and decreased employee work effort and productivity.
• Increased customer complaints and decreased customer satisfaction.
• Decreased job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and higher than normal employee turnover.
• Lack of employee confidence and respect for company leadership.
• Ineffective lines of communication and breakdown of company culture.

Keep It Civil

While organizations and their leadership have a responsibility to promote a positive and supportive work environment, you may still find yourself in a difficult workplace situation. If so, consider the following strategies when faced with workplace incivility:  

• Don’t Take It Personally: Even though a negative behavior is directed at you, understand that the individual’s actions may have nothing to do with you. Rather, it may be coming from stress, fatigue, fear, or something else happening in their personal life.
• Check Your Feelings: Rather than risk a hasty retaliation in an uncivil manner, take a step back and calm down before you address the individual. The break will give both parties the chance to de-escalate the situation.
• Choose Your Response: Read the situation. Is this something you should just brush off, or is it behavior requiring direct intervention? You may need to ask for clarification as there might be a misunderstanding, or you may need to make the individual aware of their actions as they might not realize that they are being uncivil. Effective communication is important.
• Set Boundaries: Recognize those you consider to be unsafe or inappropriate, and establish a safe and healthy boundary from them.
• Ask for Help: If uncivil acts persist, you may need to involve firm leadership or human resources to defuse the situation. Furthermore, fear of retaliation should not stop you from seeking assistance when needed.

¹ Christine Pearson and Christine Porath, The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility Is Damaging Your Business and What to Do About It (2009).
² Lynne M. Andersson and Christine M. Pearson, “Tit for Tat? The Spiraling Effect of Incivility in the Workplace, Academy of Management Review (Vol. 24, No. 3, 1999).
³ Christine Porath and Christine Pearson, “The Price of Incivility,” Harvard Business Review (January/February 2013).
⁴ R. Douglas Parker, DBA, and Amanda S. Marcy, CPA, DBA, “The Value of Civility,” Strategic Finance (March 1, 2023).

Amanda S. Marcy, CPA, DBA, is an assistant professor of accounting at the University of Scranton in Scranton, Pa. She can be reached at amanda.marcy@scranton.edu.

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Statements of fact and opinion are the authors’ responsibility alone and do not imply an opinion on the part of the PICPA's officers or members. The information contained herein does not constitute accounting, legal, or professional advice. For actionable advice, you must engage or consult with a qualified professional.