No Jerks at Work

Most people don't set out to be jerks at work.

However, our workplaces can inadvertently turn us into them.

Take rudeness for example. Research by Christine Porath, researcher, speaker and professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, suggests that 98% of employees are on the receiving end of rudeness over the course of a year.

Rudeness is one of the main sources of people feeling disrespected at work or feeling they work in a disrespectful workplace.

Rudeness has a big impact on workplaces. It reduces performance, productivity, creativity, and collaboration. This happens whether we are on the receiving end of the interaction or just witnessing it. It makes us less likely to participate in discretionary efforts and less engaged.

And it spreads. We’re more likely to be rude to others (colleagues or people we're serving) after experiencing or witnessing rudeness.

Porath found that one of the main causes of rudeness was stress and overwhelm.

When a workplace culture dictates that people be constantly busy, and they become stressed and overwhelmed as a result, it can significantly impact how they treat each other.

To create jerk-free workplaces, and foster acts of kindness instead, there are many actions you can take as a leader. The list below includes eight ways to get started.

1. Reduce Workload: Have conversations with employees to assess tasks, projects, and assignments regularly to address overload that can stress people out and make it harder to be kind and considerate.
2. Build Work-Life Balance into the Culture: Encourage a healthy work-life balance to prevent burnout and create space for acts of kindness. Design policies, procedures, and practices to support it.
3. Lead by Example: Leaders should model kindness in their interactions and show that it's possible to balance tasks while still supporting colleagues. People look to their leaders to see how they should behave and act at work. This can include thanking people, smiling, listening more, sharing credit, and recognizing and appreciating people.
4. Recognize Efforts: Acknowledge and celebrate acts of kindness to reinforce their importance in the workplace culture.
5. Encourage Breaks: Allow employees to take breaks and engage in brief interactions, creating opportunities for organic acts of kindness. Build spaces specifically for employees to disengage from their work and de-stress.
6. Value Collaboration: Shift the focus from mere task completion to collaborative efforts, emphasizing the importance of supporting one another.
7. Encourage Connections: Give people opportunities to connect and get to know one another outside of their roles. This increases trust, understanding, and empathy.
8. Provide Support: Offer resources, training, or initiatives to help employees build their skills and thrive. When people feel confident and capable, they will feel less stress and overwhelm.

The great part of building a workplace that encourages and generates kindness instead of rudeness? Kindness spreads as well. When we experience or witness an act of kindness, we're more likely to be kind to others afterwards.

That's some good stuff.

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