Posted by Holly Carberry

The business cost of incivility

In many organisations, senior leaders have their hands full dealing with digital change, external risks, or shifting workforce expectations, but there’s a cultural issue that often goes unnoticed – everyday incivility. Often brushed off as minor rudeness or personality clashes, it quietly eats away at trust, wellbeing, and performance. For organisations wanting to retain talent, encourage innovation, keep their customers on-side and protect their brand, addressing incivility must be part of the strategy.

What is workplace incivility?

Workplace incivility involves low-level disrespectful behaviours that violate basic norms of politeness and regard. Examples include interrupting others, speaking over someone in meetings, excluding colleagues from conversations, dismissive body language (eye-rolling, sighs), gossiping, or making belittling remarks. Unlike overt bullying, incivility can be subtle, ambiguous, or episodic – but its effects accumulate over time, contributing to stress, disengagement, and a fragmented culture.

Although incivility is less overt than bullying, its impact is significant. Studies across sectors in the UK show that it undermines mental health, diminishes performance, and erodes the social fabric of organisations.

The scale of the problem: UK research highlights

Across All Sectors: CIPD Findings

CIPD’s Good Work Index (2024) reports that about 25 % of UK workers experienced conflict in their organisation during the past year, often tied to incivility. In many of those cases, only 36 % felt the issue was fully resolved.


Workers who experienced conflict were more likely to report lower job satisfaction, poorer mental health, and increased intentions to leave.

A prior evidence review (2022) suggests that triggers for incivility include weak leadership, high stress, low psychological safety, and cultural norms that tolerate disrespect. The review also notes that line managers are frequently part of both the problem and the solution.

Customer-Facing Roles

In a recent national survey (2025), 98% of frontline workers (in sectors like retail, hospitality, and transport) reported experiencing incivility from customers. Around 73% said it happened at least weekly. This “external incivility” contributes to burnout, absenteeism, and morale issues.

Financial Services

Data from the FCA indicates non-financial misconduct (including bullying and harassment) increased by 60% between 2021 and 2023. Looking ahead, from September 2026, around 37,000 financial firms will be required to track and report culture and behavioural issues at board level.

NHS and Healthcare

A study by the University of Surrey (2023) suggests nearly 50% of NHS staff experience unprofessional behaviour. The estimated cost of bullying and related incivility in the health sector is £2.8 billion per year. The authors argue for systemic, leadership-led culture change.

Remote & Hybrid Workplaces

While remote work may reduce some face-to-face conflicts, it introduces new forms of incivility: ignoring messages, abrupt emails, and talk-over in virtual meetings. A UK Capterra survey reported 31% fewer bullying incidents in hybrid settings, but rising concerns about tone, exclusion, and “productivity paranoia.”

Tech and IT

Surveys spanning 2005–2014 found that up to 75% of IT professionals had witnessed or experienced bullying. Factors included stress, unclear role boundaries, and hierarchies that allow disrespect to flourish.

The business case: why leaders must act

Far too often, incivility is treated as a minor HR issue or a “people problem.” But for senior decision-makers, the costs are strategic and real:

  • Productivity: Exposure to disrespect impairs cognitive focus and teamwork. One study suggests performance may drop by up to 61% after brief exposure to rude behaviour.
  • Innovation: When people feel unsafe or undervalued, they stop taking risks, withholding ideas, and default to conformity.
  • Retention: Employees exposed to incivility are more likely to take leave, disengage, or resign.
  • Reputation: Culture is now part of an organisation’s brand. Regulators, clients, and recruits scrutinise how people are treated.
  • Costs: A commonly cited figure estimates workplace conflict in the UK costs £28.5 billion per year (per Acas, 2021).

What causes incivility?

Incivility in the workplace can be caused by all sorts of reasons, but common sources are:

  • Leader behaviour: A tone set from the top – disrespect, micromanagement, or amplifying blame – normalises incivility.
  • Cultural ambiguity: When values and norms are vague or inconsistent, people fall back on power dynamics and defensiveness.
  • Work pressure: Overload and burnout make emotional reactivity more likely.
  • Exclusion: Those in minority groups, or those who find it difficult to speak up, can often bear the brunt of microaggressions and subtle exclusion, compounding inequality.

Five strategic interventions for leaders

  1. Model civility from the top
    Leaders must act in ways that reinforce respect, conflict resolution, and openness to dissent. Behaviour at the top sets the limit for what is tolerated.
  2. Invest in manager training
    Equip line managers to spot early warning signs, lead with empathy, intervene, and mediate in fair, effective ways.
  3. Build psychological safety
    Create an environment where employees can voice concerns, admit mistakes, and challenge norms without fear of reprisal. Use pulse surveys, skip-level check-ins, and exit feedback to monitor trust.
  4. Clarify behavioural expectations
    Move beyond policies to co-creating norms with teams. Make civility measurable in performance reviews, and publicly celebrate respectful behaviour.
  5. Track and report
    Use confidential reporting tools and dashboards. Bring incident data—and responses—to board level. Transparency helps hold everyone accountable.

Incivility spreads – but so does respect

A single rude comment may trigger ripples across teams, eroding trust and morale. But the reverse holds true. When leaders commit to consistent respect, curiosity, and accountability, they help build a culture that supports performance, resilience and loyalty.

CEOs and senior leaders should ask:

  • What patterns of behaviour are we tolerating?
  • Which subtle acts of disrespect are going unnoticed?
  • How can we reinforce what we stand for, not just what we say?

Civility training for business that sticks 

I’ve partnered with Chris Turner, founder of Civility Saves Lives, to develop a programme for businesses on civility in the workplace – Civility Builds Excellence. There’s a free introductory course on my online learning platform, Evolve Online Learning, which will give you an idea of what we cover in the training. We also have a longer Civility Builds Excellence course available on Evolve Online Learning. For those who are ready for real organisational change and would like to make civility a focus in their organisation, we offer in-person training and coaching. To find out more about our in-person training or if you’ve got any questions, please get in touch.