Photo credit: SEMCOG
Detroit Free Press
Oct. 12, 2024
Carol Cain
Influenced by increasingly fiery rhetoric and actions on the 2024 campaign trail, American workplaces are also becoming tinderboxes of growing incivility, with more polarizing behavior and reports of problems skyrocketing.
“This increase is largely due to a very polarizing election year,” said Jim Link, chief human resource officer at the Society for Human Resource Management. The association is made up of human resource professionals, with over 340,000 members, and has worked with Michigan State University and the Michigan State Police.
SHRM’s latest Civility Index, which was released Aug. 7 and surveyed 1,611 U.S.-based workers in March 2024, found American workers encountered more uncivil acts each day than they did three months ago, with more than 201 million acts of incivility per day in August, up from 171 million in May.
The index gauges how often people say they have experienced or witnessed uncivil behavior, both in their workplaces and in their everyday lives.
This matters for all kinds of reasons, not the least of which is lost productivity, sagging morale, absenteeism as U.S. organizations collectively lose more than $1.2 billion per day due to this type of behavior. It can cause employees to miss work, leave the company and creates turmoil in the office, Link said the research found. The lingering toll on employees caught in the fray also is critically important.
“If your team is struggling with these issues, it may be time to address a civility problem,” he said.
The issue of incivility in politics isn’t new but certainly has grown more pronounced. I recall interviewing the late Congressman John Dingell and U.S. Sen. Carl Levin together on the Grand Hotel porch on Mackinac Island during the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Policy Conference in 2014, as the two were preparing to retire. We talked about things they had spent their lives on, like making sure Michigan’s economic future was sound, its talent needs met and protecting our natural resources and waterways. Both lamented then the changing nature of politics as incivility was on the rise, with no signs of letting up.
The Detroit Regional Chamber has been working to foster more civility in the workplace through awareness and educational programs it has held for members, including how to celebrate differences of opinions, politics and more, without it causing conflict.
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“Commit to having conversations that matter,” Sandy K. Baruah, president and chief executive officer of the Detroit Regional Chamber, has told me about combating problems at work. “When a safe place is created in the workplace, it is important to use that trust to bridge divides. Be willing to speak up as a champion for inclusion and equity. These conversations matter to the Detroit Regional Chamber and they matter to the community.”
The Michigan Chamber of Commerce, led by Jim Holcomb, president and chief executive officer, has been working with companies and organizations alike to raise awareness about civility.
“Some companies have shared that workplace productivity and culture have been negatively impacted when relationships are strained because of the lack of civility,” Holcomb said. “Everyone doesn’t have to agree but everyone should be treated with courtesy and respect.”
The Michigan chamber went a step further this year when it brought the National Civics Bee to Michigan to encourage young people to learn more about politics and issues like the importance of civility.
“This initiative is one essential way to spark civic interest and knowledge and help combat the political division or apathy that’s too prevalent these days,” Holcomb said.
“Civility really is the cornerstone of good public policy,” Holcomb said. “Too many Michiganders don’t feel comfortable engaging anymore and this polarizing climate is pushing away so many who can contribute to conversations and solutions in a meaningful way.”
SEMCOG is another engaged in fostering civility as it recently partnered with the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition, the Civility Project, Oakland University’s Center for Civic Engagement and Huntington Bank at an event held May 6 in Detroit, revolving around civility.
Leaders from the organizations see the broader implications for our region from having a more civil environment.
“Regional collaboration is central to MAC’s foundation,” said Amy Malmer, vice president of the Metropolitian Affairs Coalition. “(We) bring together business, labor, government and education based on the recognition that civil discourse leads to positive relationships. In turn, positive relationships result in trust, which is the foundation for collaboration.”
Malmer added, “The resulting opportunities to collaborate are key to accomplishing important and broadly supported projects/public policies that will ensure our region continues to be desirable to those who live here and becomes more desirable to those looking for a place to live, work or raise a family.”