According to Brooks (2000), workplace incivility translates to operational expenses for a business organization. The phenomenon goes through an entire downturn process that can be ugly for the company. There are victims of workplace incivility who suffer from stress, paranoia, anxiety, embarrassment, and fatigue. These may cause sleeplessness that, in turn, translates to tardiness, absenteeism, even sickness. Some victims suffer from anger and depression that, in turn, may translate to mental, psychological, and emotional imbalances resulting in anger and violence. Organizational processes are hindered and hampered, resulting in poor human resources production and company performance.
There are casualties in this regard, as employees simply opt to resign from their jobs and transfer to another company. There are instances when some victims of workplace incivility just choose not to report their victimization and also merely opt to quit their jobs and transfer to other companies. This phenomenon of employee turnover is an unnecessarily evil which the company bears the brunt of, ultimately. Disorder at the workplace occurs when these factors exist. Work is disrupted, to say the least.
There are many instances when incivility in the workplace transforms into some form of violence. Atkinson (2000) enumerates some measures by which to address incivility in the workplace. These strategies are meant to avert the possibility of it happening, mitigate the results if it has, indeed, been happening, and drawing a pro-active stance against it. Employees, as well as their business organization, should accept the fact that the workplace is not a totally safe environment. Hazards can happen during the performance of occupations. These hazards can, oftentimes, be behavioral and attitudinal. The business organization, if it wants to be progressive and pro-active, should have a firm anti-workplace violence policy in place. This policy should be non-negotiable. The foundation for such a policy should be the basic recognition of human rights.
Via Workplace Bullying Institute/Workers Health & Safety Centre
