Bad behavior at work can have very real consequences. People who experience workplace rudeness, for example, report lower engagement, suffer more mental and physical health problems, and are more likely to burn out and quit their jobs. And nearly all of us are affected by rudeness and other types of workplace misbehavior, like interrupting and exclusion: Estimates suggest 98% of employees are on the receiving end over the course of a year.
Why People Get Away with Being Rude at Work
People who experience workplace rudeness report lower engagement, suffer more mental and physical health problems, and are more likely to burn out and quit their jobs. But while some research has indicated leaders take reports of bad behavior seriously, get the facts, and punish offenders, a new series of studies paints a much bleaker picture. First, researchers show that victims of rudeness were largely perceived by their manager as perpetrators of rude behavior. And the employees who were reported as being rude to others weren’t seen that way by their manager under two conditions: when they had a tight relationship with the boss or were high performers. Second, victims of rudeness were perceived as performing considerably worse by research participants than employees who hadn’t been mistreated, regardless of the employees’ actual performance. To address this, leaders must become more aware of their biases and how to prevent them from affecting their decision making.