Alabama's Morning News with JT
Maya Ratcliff tells us that workplace incivility is on the rise
5280 Exterior's James Hardy sighting is a low-maintenance sighting made primarily of cement that resists flame spread and repels wood-borne insects and woodpeckers. Through the month of July, you'll receive free, rigid foam installation with the purchase of whole-house sighting. That's installing additional insulation behind your sighting, or free, but only for the month of July. Call today for more details or visit 5280exterior's.com. 5280exterior's.com, a James Hardy preferred contractor, 5280 Exterior's, the altitude of quality. And there's a lot of things going on in this world, but we can't forget what's going on in your world right around your workplace. Did you know that Shaimi, Ignoring Gossip and Gaslighting, and other things in stability in your, or in civility in your workplace, they are on the rise. And joining me now to talk about this is workplace expert Maya Ratcliffe. Maya, why is this happening? That is a great question. I think people are getting a little too comfortable in the workplace, acting out. You know, when people behave poorly, it creates the other people's lives to be miserable in the workplace. It creativity suffers, performance deteriorates, et cetera. It's just a sad state. Well, did this happen after COVID? Because of course, during COVID, everyone went home. So there was no workplace. Your living room was your workplace. But now everyone returned, and they're all crammed into their office again, and they're probably getting on each other's nerves. Maybe that's the issue that people are now back in close quarters and they're getting mad. You know, that could be a part of it. I think this has been going on for many years, but because it is becoming more prevalent, people are really starting to pay attention. You know, there was a study by Harvard Business Review, and it states that 48% of the people pulled intentionally decrease their work efforts because of the way that they're treated at work. You know, it starts at the top with leadership, and if leadership is not engaging with the employees properly, we're going to see things suffer. And this is deeper than just Jim putting Dwight Stapler and Jell-O. This is things like things people that are doing to each other on social media and having ramifications in their personal lives outside the office. Absolutely, you know, with the way social media is today, people are taking videos of their co-workers secretly and then posting that on their private accounts, making fun of the way they dress, making fun of the way that they eat. It's just really a sad state. Now, because social media is so prevalent, this is obviously becoming more and more of an issue compared to 10 years ago, and it's just a sad thing to see in our workplace. Now, Maya, is there also a little bit of an issue of people with thin skin? Because like some of the things I'm looking at the article here that they're quoting and talking about eye rolling, aggressive eye rolling, it says. And you know, for me, so many roles are eyes. You know, I can, I can move on with my life. I don't have to, you know, go and find a corner to cry in over somebody rolling their eyes. But if somebody does something like I don't know, you know, goes to my boss and says, let me tell you the secret recording I have, you know, that's, that's a different thing. I agree with you completely. I think people are overly sensitive in the workplace, and it could be because they've got a stressed out home life, you know, everybody's got issues that we don't know about. And at a leadership level, there are ways to reach out to our employees to make sure that they're okay and counsel them through some of the simpler things that happen in the workplace. Eye rolling, I don't think that's a big deal. But posting nasty videos of a co-worker on socials, that's kind of a bad thing. Well, and in some workplaces, it's a different dynamic because there are some where everyone is pulling together all for the same team to accomplish something. There's others where you are sitting right next to a co-worker who also is the person you're in competition with because if you don't get the account, they get the account and then they get the commission. Absolutely, camaraderie in the workplace, you know, it's a must. You've got to be each other's cheerleader. You can't be each other's competition. We all have to work towards the same goal. You know, somebody had just recently told me that witnessing a single unpleasant interaction can lead to customers generalizing about the employees, the organization, even the brands. So when one person behaves badly in the front of house, let's say it's a coffee shop, customers are less likely to come back. We all have to remember that our livelihood depends on our behaviors oftentimes. So be on your best behavior at the workplace, please. Let's start this Monday off, right? Maya Ratcliffe, thank you so much for joining us this today on Alabama's Morning News. Have a great day. 5280 Exterior's James Hardy sighting is a low maintenance sighting made primarily of cement that resists flame spread and repels wood-borne insects and woodpeckers. Through the month of July, you'll receive free, rigid foam installation with the purchase of whole house sighting. That's installing additional insulation behind your sighting for free, but only for the month of July. Call today for more details or visit 5280exteriors.com, 5280exteriors.com, a James Hardy preferred contractor, 5280 Exterior's, the altitude of quality. [BLANK_AUDIO]