Civility Training for Managers Starts with a ‘Neighborhood Mentality’
Incivility is on the rise, with U.S. workers reporting a 10.4% increase in daily acts of incivility in their everyday lives since the first quarter of this year, according to new SHRM research. Political disagreements, along with ones about hot-button social issues and the direction of the country, are polarizing workers.
But there’s some good news: HR professionals can help set the tone for their organization by training managers in how to foster civility among their team members, even as they model courteous, respectful behavior to the organization at large.
Understanding what civility looks like for a manager’s team members “and being able to bring that together harmoniously with your team takes a specific skill,” said Josh Smith, head of Americas HR and global head of talent at Sedgwick, a global claims administrator based in Chicago. Smith’s background includes training development for managers.
Managers play “a paramount role” as stewards of organizational culture, he said, noting that civility starts with “creating a neighborhood mentality.”
This way of thinking “brings [civility] to a new level” by shifting your mindset around how you work with and treat others, Smith said. “If [managers] think of it that way, they can create an environment where civility thrives.”
领英推荐
In a March episode of SHRM’s People + Strategy podcast, Julie Lodge-Jarrett, chief people and purpose officer at Pittsburgh-based Dick’s Sporting Goods, said, “It’s our responsibility in HR to create the conditions by which you can have messy but healthy debates and discussions. And you can do that in a civil way, even if you’re not aligned and on the same page.”
‘A Culture of Backlash’
The basics of civility start with pausing and acknowledging we live in a fast-moving world where a lot of communication is not conducted in person, said Jennifer Schielke, CEO of Summit Group Solutions, an IT staffing and recruitment firm in Bellevue, Wash.
“We’re in a culture of backlash right now,” she said. “There are a lot of dialogues that start and stop and continue to go on unresolved. We’re so used to a pattern of unresolved conflict … [of] you can say anything you want and not be accountable for it.”