6-24 REVISED FINAL

How Home Depot Can Increase Productivity with a Civil Workplace

June 25, 2015

How Home Depot Can Increase Productivity with a Civil Workplace

Christian Bourdeau, CEO

Julia Tran, CFO and Director of Operations

Laura Maxim, President of Human Resources

Veronica Powell, Business Psychologist

Business As Usual

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555 Corporate Center Drive

Los Angeles, CA 92000

Phone: (310) 555-5400 | Fax: (310) 555-5411

Website: www.bau.com | Email: [email protected]

http://www.bau.com/

Biography

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Laura MaximAfter earning her Bachelor and Master degree of Science in Business Administration from Notre Dame, Laura continued on to earn her PhD from Stanford University. After succeeding during her internship at Boeing, Laura joined the company for ten years, where she learned the essential skills of working in Human Resources. She then moved to Business as Usual, where she has been working for eight years. Laura has dedicated her time towards hiring talented employees that contribute hard work and devotion to the company. In recent years, Laura has worked specifically towards strengthening interpersonal

Julia TranJulia Tran began her education at California State University of Long Beach where she earned her Bachelor and Master of Science degree in Business Administration with an emphasis on financial planning and management. She was recognized for the Business Administration Finance Advocate of the Year in 2013 for her endeavors as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch. However, Julia found her niche at Business As Usual and has been a consultant at the firm for ten years. Ms. Tran has earned an honorable reputation at the firm for her management style combining her financial skills with her expertise in business development. Julia is committed to inspiring and empowering businesses in their quest for a more civil and respectful work environment.

Christian BourdeauChristian earned a Masters of Business Administration and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Wharton School of Business. He earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Marketing with a minor in Economics from California State University, Long Beach. While working toward obtaining his MBA he worked at Apple as an intern in their management program. He met Steve Jobs who inspired him to change the world. The death of Steve Jobs spurred him to pursue a career in government. He navigated through the bureaucratic system to become the Governor of California. During his time in office he improved state business growth, decreased unemployment by 33%, and solved California’s drought issue by funding desalination programs. At the end of his term, he entered the private sector by starting a business consulting firm called Business As Usual (BAU), LLC. He used his connections from the government to lobby for business friendly laws. He has been CEO of Business As Usual for ten years and takes pride in his company’s proven ability to provide real solutions for a more respectful workplace.

Letter of Transmittal (Powell)

Phone: (310) 555-5400Email: [email protected]

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Laura MaximAfter earning her Bachelor and Master degree of Science in Business Administration from Notre Dame, Laura continued on to earn her PhD from Stanford University. After succeeding during her internship at Boeing, Laura joined the company for ten years, where she learned the essential skills of working in Human Resources. She then moved to Business as Usual, where she has been working for eight years. Laura has dedicated her time towards hiring talented employees that contribute hard work and devotion to the company. In recent years, Laura has worked specifically towards strengthening interpersonal

June 21, 2015

Tim CrowExecutive Vice President, Human ResourcesHome Depot New England Regional Office15 Dan Road Canton, MA 02021

Dear Mr. Crow:

We have received your information provided by Home Depot’s Human Resources Department concerning incivility in the workplace. Business As Usual has compiled the following report summarizing the causes, effects, and solutions to common workplace incivilities.

We will be collecting our data via secondary resources. Our secondary research will contain reviews and public surveys from businesses that have experienced similar inappropriate behavior from their employers or employees, and how it has affected their company. We will also research scholarly articles and trade journals from the California State University, Long Beach database that focus on the effects of incivility on the organization and its employees. Through our research we will provide a set of recommendations that will improve worker morale and productivity at Home Depot.

Every company should strive to create a positive environment where each employees can work to the best of their ability. Through our analysis we will assist Home Depot achieve its optimal work atmosphere.

We appreciate your choice in business consultants and we look forward to making a change at Home Depot.

Sincerely,

Julia TranDirector of Operations, Business As Usual

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Table of Contents (Maxim)Why is Workplace Incivility Not Often Heard of?Workplace Incivility: In the Targets’ Own Words

How Small Acts of Incivility Lead to Major Conflicts in the WorkplaceCombating Incivility One Step at a Time.........................................................................9

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Table of Figures (Maxim) The Incivility Spiral

Who/What Is To Blame for Workplace Incivility?

Detailed Incivility and Negative Affect Model

How a Civil and Respectful Work Environment Drives Growth

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Business As Usual, LLC 1

Introduction (Bourdeau)How can Home Depot improve worker productivity, recover from poor customer service reviews, and lower employment turnover? Home Depot employees have been complaining that uncivil behavior is inflicting unnecessarily high levels of stress and affecting their productivity at work. Home Depot’s Human Resource Department reported that the productivity per employee dramatically decreased, customer service suffered from countless poor customer reviews, and high rates of employment turnover.

The purpose of this study is to define incivility in the workplace and research the damaging effects and consequences of this behavior at Home Depot. This study will attempt to construct solutions for Home Depot to minimize incivility in the workplace and optimize productivity, communication, and employee-employer morale.

We will be collecting our data via secondary resources. Under the budgetary and time restrictions we will not be able to conduct our experiments on Home Depot, so we will not have any primary sources. The secondary research will contain reviews and public surveys from businesses that have experienced similar inappropriate behavior from their employers or employees, and how it has affected their company. We will also research scholarly articles and trade journals from the California State University, Long Beach database that focus on the effects of incivility on the company and its employees. Our favorite resource author is Dr. Porath. She has done many scholarly journals and experiments on the topic of workplace incivility. She wrote “Assessing and Attacking Workplace Incivility,” “On the Nature, Consequences and Remedies of Workplace Incivility,” and “The Price of Incivility.”

Over the course of the report you will hear the terms “target” and “instigator.” An instigator is a person who is inflicting uncivil behavior to the target. The target is the recipient of the rude actions. The instigators are generally people with power like employers, managers, and bosses, and targets are most often employees, lower-level staff, or even their fellow co-workers.In the report we will begin by defining incivility in the workplace and give explicit examples. Next we will show the causes of incivility through unethical leadership, competition, and the office environment. Third we will discuss the individual and organizational impact of incivility. Finally, we will show you how to combat incivility one step at a time.


Workplace Incivility (Bourdeau)What is Workplace Incivility?According to Reich (2014), “workplace incivility is low intensity deviant acts with ambiguous intent to harm the target (p. 203). Although this behavior can be “under the radar” and difficult to detect, according to Reich’s study, he estimated ninety-six percent of the workforce have dealt with incivility in the workplace.

Why is Workplace Incivility Not Often Heard of?Incivility in the workplace is often ambiguous. For example, a manager, or an instigator, might make a comment to his subordinate about the quality of his work, and the subordinate takes it personally. Now the subordinate, or the target of the uncivil comment, feels cautious about his work, and loses work time worrying about the incident. When the instigator is confronted he or she often pretends to be innocent, claiming that the injured party misunderstood, or is too sensitive. Most often there cases result in not being reported. Employees don’t report incivility in the workplace because they fear it will damage their careers. Frey (2015) said “in exit interviews, incivility may not be mentioned by departing employees because they don’t want to affect future references or may blame themselves for not being able to ‘take it’” (p. 5). As a result a great deal of incivility claims are swept under the rug.

Workplace Incivility: In the Targets’ Own WordsThe following examples are real cases of workplace incivility from point of view of both male and female targets (Pearson and Porath, 2000).

From a female target: During a presentation that I was making to all of the company’s international country managers and vice presidents, the division president stood up and shouted, “No one is interested in this stuff.” His comment made me so nervous and upset that I could barely go on. I had been with this company for many years; you would think he could have offered me a little respect for that alone.

From a female target: During a meeting with staff, my boss overrode my decision and would not allow me to speak about my concerns. He cut me off in the meeting. I thought that was very rude. It made me incredibly angry, nervous, and disappointed in his behavior. He asked me to write up the information that I felt he had disregarded so that we could discuss it. It was never discussed.

From a male target: I stayed in late at work to help my co-worker deal with a pressing problem. Eventually we resolved the problem, and he never even thanked me for my time or for my efforts. I could have been home having dinner with my family.

From a male target: During a review meeting, I was chastised by my boss in front of a group of people (including peers and subordinates) and told I was stupid and incompetent.


How Small Acts of Incivility Lead to Major Conflicts in the WorkplaceAlthough incivility is not reported often, it causes an unseen spiral of chaos in the workplace as shown in Figure 1:

Figure 1 – The Incivility Spiral (adapted from Anderson & Pearson, 1999)

Incivility can begin small, for example, not saying thanks to a fellow employee for taking time out of their day to help you. If those hurt feelings never resolve the incivility will spiral into something worse. The rudeness escalation begins with negative behavior including: rude comments, insensitive actions, unintentional slights, complaining, gossip/rumors, cultural bias, crude jokes, and profanity. Then the negative behavior leads to verbal aggression. After having rude comments are made to the target, the target may start cursing, shouting belittling comments, or humiliating the original instigator or even other targets. Next, verbal aggression can quickly lead to physical/sexual aggression including assault/battery, throwing objects, violent outbursts, inappropriate touching, and harassment. When it reaches this point, it is obvious that the organization is not providing a safe work environment for the employees. This is the point we hope never to reach. In the next sections we will discover the different causes of incivility, how it affects the organization as a whole, and how to combat it in a modern workplace.


Causes of Incivility (Powell)The reasons behind workplace incivility are varied. It can include being overworked; misunderstanding the context of the situation, especially in global circumstances; and having a “me first” attitude in the workplace that encourages employee competition. According to Pearson, all of these factors can lead to instances of incivility, but in most cases the underlying factor is a power. During these exchanges, the instigator is often the targets supervisor. Pearson (2006) also states that, “occasionally, employees treat lower-level workers as if they were invisible” (p. 10). Clearly there is a something lacking in the current working environment for many workers.

Figure 2 – Who/What Is To Blame for Workplace Incivility?

Unethical LeadershipEmployees often look to their supervisors when deciding what behavior is acceptable in the office. As seen in Figure 2, leaders are a deciding factor in whether or not employees experience or contribute to workplace incivility. Studies have shown that leaders that punish incivility in the office are less likely to experience further instances in the future (Pattie, p. 597). The opposite is also true. Workers that observe that incivilities go unpunished are more likely to commit the same incivilities, since they assume they will also escape punishment. This is called vicarious learning, and it reinforces the idea that little, or even large, incivilities are acceptable in the office.

Are unethical leaders fully to blame for workplace incivilities or are they simply another factor that perpetuates the acceptance of that behavior? Studies that use group participation show that in offices with ethical leaders there are less occurrences of workplace incivility. However, when using individual participation, there was a varied response to ethical leaders. Participants who had a follower personality were more likely to change their behavior to mimic their leaders (Pattie, p. 598). Employees that are followers will either decrease incivility in the workplace if their supervisor does not consider it acceptable behavior or increase it if they see their supervisor


being uncivil. Regardless it is clear that “given the important role leaders play in shaping employees’ workplace attitudes and behavior, it appears imperative that leaders demonstrate, uphold, and reinforce interpersonal and organizational norms regarding appropriate workplace conduct to reduce the spread of workplace incivility” (Pattie, p. 596).

CompetitionIn many offices competition can lead workers to do things they might not have done otherwise. One form of incivility, where an employee takes credit for another’s work, becomes especially common when competition is high. This is strengthened by the attitude of many workers that their own future at the company is more important than being in a nice working environment. Once again the actions of the supervisor are important factors in how employees act. If the supervisor encourages competition between employees, the employees are more likely to practice incivility in order to advance themselves. Increased employee competition increases the feelings of superiority that lead to incivilities such as feeling annoyed when a coworker asks for help.

Stress is a factor that creates a cycle of workplace incivility. Employees or their supervisors become stressed for a variety of reasons, and then begin to forgo common workplace courtesies (Indvik, p. 460). Once these courtesies are gone, incivility becomes commonplace in the office. The incivility leads to higher stress levels for the employees, and the cycle starts again. Supervisors that relieve stress through incivility will likely have employees that do the same. Stress is not resolved by these actions; it is intensified and passed on to the next person. The cycle is hard to stop and can make little incivilities increase until they become larger actions.

The Office EnvironmentAnother common factor in workplace incivility is the casual attitude in many offices. Because the environment is open and friendly employees feel that they can say whatever they want. An employee makes a remark he or she feels is not inappropriate for the situation, but other employees are offended (Pearson, p. 9). If the offended employee complains, the joke teller may feel that he or she is being unfairly persecuted. This can lead to awkward encounters or even open hostility between the two involved. Often casual offices do not have the necessary channels in place to deal with these situations, and both parties are left with unresolved anger over the case. If the incivilities are not worked out, then more incivilities will occur in the future.

There is also an overwhelming idea in the workplace that due to these other factors, there is simply no time to act civilly to everyone else in the office. Employees are simply too busy to even bother thinking about how their actions will be taken by other workers. The “me” attitude also contributes to this environment (Pearson, p. 7). Employees feel that their time is too important to consider if their actions are civil or not. It also increases instances where supervisors will not give employees the time needed for help of feedback because they believe their time is too valuable. If every employee or supervisor assumes that their own time is more important than others around them then the occurrences of incivility will increase. Working out the consequences of incivilities becomes a burden to workers who exhibit a “me” attitude in the workplace.


In any office interaction it is important to think through the possible ramifications of your actions or words. In cases where you are working internationally, it becomes even more important. Differences in culture can make a joke or action unacceptable. In America, certain actions are acceptable, such as telling jokes to seem friendlier. In other countries, those actions would not be considered civil or professional. In some offices being competitive is encouraged, and an employee may try to look better at the cost of a co-worker. While it may be acceptable there, it can be offensive in different offices.

These types of situations can also occur when a new employee comes to the office. The employee does not yet know the accepted norms for that office. This can lead to incivilities in two different ways. First, the employee may think that the office is more casual and accepting than it really is. He or she may tell a joke thinking that it will be funny to the other workers when they actually find it offensive. Second, the employee may not feel comfortable with the level of casualness in the office and may be offended by the actions of another employee. In either situation, the employees involved are not as comfortable with common incivilities as they first appear, and this can lead to issues in the future.

Some actions that were acceptable in an employee’s previous office at one time are not acceptable in his or her new office, and this can also create problems. Perhaps the new office does not encourage competition or is less causal than the previous office. If the employee came from an office that had a “me” attitude, he or she may feel that it is not worth his or her time to get to know or understand the new environment. Perhaps the opposite is true, and the employee’s previous office did not encourage competition and the new one does. In either case, the employee may become the instigator or target of unwarranted incivilities.

Individual and Organizational Impact of Incivility (Maxim)

The different forms of aggression and incivility in the workplace create a hostile work environment and lead to several different consequences. Incivility is damaging in two different ways: individually and organizationally. Individually, employees experience differences in their relationships with other employees, those at home, and customers. The organization as a whole suffers from the loss of trust from these customers, loss of productivity, high turnover, and the exit of employees from the company.

Individual Stress and Relationship HarmWorkplace incivility affects employees on an individual level in a variety of ways. Estes and Wang (2008) states that due to the seriousness of the situation, many employees suffer from psychological distress, which leads to depression, insomnia, and many forms of anxiety. As a result of the psychological stress that occurs, employees react in several different ways. Many hold in all of their anger in order to keep up with their professional reputation, only to go home and take it out on their friends and family (Pearson and Porath, 2005). On the other hand, those who let their stress affect their performance on the job see their relationships with other


employees greatly suffer. Estes and Wang (2008) reported that along with the anxiety that comes with uncivil behavior, employees also experience guilt, shame, and low self-esteem, along with several other emotions. Eventually, these employees shut themselves off from the social environment of the organization. These workers begin to lack cooperation skills while working with teams and ultimately lose their commitment to the organization. Pearson and Porath (2005) states that even other group members begin to lose motivation and lack cooperation towards the group after witnessing uncivil behavior between team members.

RetaliationMany times, employees feel as though they have been harassed to the point of enacting retaliation. Doshy and Wang (2014) state that incivility can spiral out of control and turn into a company-wide problem as people experience it and others witness it. They continue on to say that, “As the spiral continues, one or both parties are likely to reach a tipping point due to anger, loss of face, or insult, which could trigger intentional intense behaviors such as violence or aggression,”. Those who experience incivility (“second spirals”) and those who initially enact it are likely to keep the fight going as each party retaliates against each other, to the point where the situation is substantially intensified. Even worse, those who witness this behavior going on between fellow employees either come to one’s defense, or engage in their own uncivil acts towards others. Doshy and Wang (2014) also report that through retaliation, incivility becomes a “vicious cycle” and eventually a company-wide virus that can severely impact the heart of the organization.

Customer Relationships SufferCustomer relationships are often harmed from workplace incivility between the employees of the organization. This takes quite a toll on the organization, as forming and maintaining customer relationships is vital to the organization's life and success. Customer relationships are affected by witnessing the incivility, and by becoming the target of those who have fallen victim to it. Pearson and Porath (2013) reported that in a poll administered to 800 employees working in several different industries, twenty-five percent of those who were treated uncivilly at work “admitted to taking their frustrations out on customers.” Customers who witness the incivility between two employees while working out business deals further lose trust in the organization due to the lack of consideration and professionalism shown by the workers. Others become the victims of incivility by being treated in an uncivil manner by an employee who has recently experienced such behavior, as well. These employees take their stress and hard feelings out on the customer, who not only loses trust in the company, but also forms further feelings about aggression and hostility towards the organization. Pearson and Porath also mentioned in their article that, “People are less likely to buy from a company with an employee they perceive as rude, even if the rudeness isn’t directed at them” (p. 117). Allowing the customer to witness such acts of unprofessionalism severely affects the organization’s reputation.

Loss of ProductivityFigure 3 shows some of the many responses that occur from workplace incivility that greatly affect the organization as a whole (Kabat, 2012). Not only does incivility in the workplace affect many relationships of the employee, it vastly reduces productivity, as well. This loss occurs for a variety of reasons. Many of the victims who experience incivility begin to focus more on the issue at hand and less on the actual job. The lack of care and concentration affects the time and


efficiency that is put into a project, as well as the creativity and care that is shown in the employee's' work. In the same 800-member poll, as previously mentioned from Pearson and Porath (2013), research has shown that instead of spending time worrying about their actual job performance, eighty percent of the employees lost work time worrying about the incident and sixty-three percent lost time trying to avoid the offender and incident. As for the efficiency and effectivity of their work, forty-eight percent of employees reported that they intentionally decreased their work effort and thirty-eight percent said that they intentionally decreased the quality of work.

Figure 3 – Detailed Incivility and Negative Affect Model

The Financial BurdenMoving forward, incivility also takes quite the financial toll on organizations. Cortina (2008) states that due to the wrongful behavior in the workplace, the organization must take on the financial task of paying for “…employee distraction and discontentment, job accidents, substance abuse, sick leave, work team conflict” and “productivity decline…” (p. 57). Turnover due to uncivil behavior increases company costs in training new employees. Absenteeism increases time spent on a project, which causes the company to lose money if deadlines are not met satisfactorily. Finally, the organization has to pay to take care of the uncivil behavior that is present. This may take great amounts of money in order to have the problem researched, the environment observed, and the problem fixed.

Leaving the OrganizationFinally, the last outcome that occurs due to workplace incivility is that the employee actually departs from the organization. According Pearson and Porath (2005), one in every eight victims of incivility left the job in order to elude the situation. Those who exit the organization do so after much consideration, and after coming to terms with the fact that nothing will get better at work. While many feel that the uncivil behavior is ongoing and that there is nothing being done to stop it, some eventually feel unsafe in working in such a hostile environment. This harms the


organization as a whole. Any future deadlines and projects that the employees who departed may have had now need to be finished by their coworkers. Because of this, organizations will then have to either pay overtime to another employee in order to have the work completed on time, or spend the money paying to train a new employee to replace the one who exited the company (turnover expense).

Combating Incivility (Tran)Combating Incivility One Step at a TimeAs you can see, lack of incivility in the workplace takes a toll on an organization’s productivity and profits. To understand how to deal with incivility, HR professionals must be able to identify the incidents associated with incivility and make them manageable. The assumption that management only needs the confidence and professional skills to combat incivility among the workplace has been misunderstood. In a Canadian HR Reporter article, its data points out an eighty-one percent majority wished that management was more conscious of how incivility impacts business (Bar-David, 2011). The issue needs to be properly diagnosed in order to acquire the appropriate resources to solve the problem. The concern that these resources will cost the company money is inevitable; however, costs associated with the impacts of incivility are far more costly than the resources needed to minimize them.

Intervention: Starting From the TopLeaders are the organization’s model to civility within a company, what you give is what you receive in return. One of the major obstacles of a civil business organization is that the leading or top managers may be the cause of lack of civility. When a business’s leaders are unaware of their own behavior, or condones disrespectful behavior, it impedes the process and efforts of resolving incivility. Canadian HR reports, “When a workplace tolerates that kind of rudeness, it kind of lowers the bar, and all of a sudden, what is a little bit of rudeness becomes commonplace and then you start getting with the anger and the resentment” (Bar-David, 2011). A respectful work environment begins with an organization’s leaders. If they set the expectations high and are reinforced, employees are more likely to follow and engage in these expectations. In the journal, Manners Maketh Management, US professors Dr. Christine Pearson and Christine Porath make it plain and simple, “If leaders are able to get away with incivility, everyone will have a go [at it]” (Pearson and Porath, 2015). Managers should have mandatory training so that when incivility does occur they know what to look for. Managers need to understand that bad manners can be contagious and the symptoms can have serious effects on a person’s morale; to avoid employees following suit, managers must make use of their power to promote positive conditions in the workplace.

See It, Call It, Act On ItAnother obstacle making incivility so difficult to combat is its multidimensional aspect. For instance, there are no set regulations on what human personalities and behaviors are acceptable and unacceptable. In order to do this, management must rethink their firm’s code of conduct. Incivility is ambiguous and hard to pinpoint, therefore a comprehensive strategy to take on this issue requires management to update its code of conduct to reflect its expectations of every


person in the workplace. Another tactic to combat would require leaders to call on uncivil behaviors; there is no better way to dissolve an issue than to immediately address the action when often people are unconscious of their uncivil behaviors. This brings up another dimension of incivility, where does one draw the line from personality and behavior? A person’s personality cannot be controlled; however it does not mean that a business is not reserved the right and responsibility to require their employees to be civil. Just because you are an aggressive or sarcastic person does not mean it is acceptable to express that behavior at the workplace. A resourceful way to tackle this grey area would be establishing how to best address the situation and implement action by ensuring there is a fair and unbiased ground for hearing and resolving complaints.

Best Solution: Avoid At All Costs People may suggest that the quickest solution to deal with incivility would be to terminate the offenders, however, that does not stop the issue reoccurring from other employees. If a business values civility and respect its employees, their employees will feel more obligated to follow suit for the security of their job. As illustrated in Figure 4, engaging in civility and respect will drive employees to form high performing worker relationships which leads to growth within the business. To avoid uncivil behavior companies should not hesitate to emphasize their high expectations of employees and the company’s values during their hiring process. A popular and effective hiring method requires a personality test given to potential hires to see how they would react and resolve situations in the workplace. Microsoft for example had a competitive corporate culture but realized customer service was just as important as creating a good software product. The corporation began hiring people on the basis of their corporate values as much as their competencies: listening to others, never demeaning or threatening towards colleagues, and maintaining objectivity in conflicts (Pearson and Porath, 2015). Most importantly, employees and employers need to keep in mind how they communicate to one another. Avoid words that may promote conflict and talk to people instead of talking about people. Some may argue that having manners is common sense and depends on the measure of sensitivity a person has or grew up with. However, manners should always be widely shared in everyday public situations not just the business environment in order to make life more tolerable.

Figure 4 – How a Civil and Respectful Work Environment Drives Growth


Conclusions (All)Workplace incivility is defined as rude behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the target. Incivility is ambiguous due to workers not reporting rude behavior because they fear it will damage their careers. In exit interviews, incivility may not be mentioned by departing employees because they don't want to affect future references or may blame themselves for not being able to “take it.” Although incivility is not often reported, it causes an unseen incivility cycle of uncivil behavior, perception of unfairness and negative feelings, and desire for revenge.

Workplace incivility is caused by a variety of factors, but it is most often perpetrated by a worker’s superior. Once an employee has experienced incivility at the hands of their boss, they will be more likely to continue the cycle with their coworkers. When incivility goes unpunished, it can escalate into more extreme examples of office hostility. It is important for workplace leaders to recognize and punish workplace incivility at its first occurrence.

Incivility in the workplace affects both the individual and the organization as a whole. Individual victims experience extreme stress in their lives which affects their personal relationships and the way they act and perform at work. This ultimately affects the organization, as productivity drops. The organization also suffers financially, as they have to pay money in order to fix incivility in the workplace and hire/train new employees to replace those who were affected. Finally, when customer relationships are harmed by the incivility that occurs within a company, a loss of profit occurs due to less business.

After careful assessment of the internal issues at Home Depot Corporation concerning incivility and rudeness in the workplace, the consultants at Business As Usual came to four main conclusions:

1. There are an increasing amount of complaints about uncivil behaviors within the Home Depot Corporation.

2. Incivility has a negative effect on the company’s employee productivity and employee turnover.

3. The typical Home Depot employee reports a greater awareness of other people’s behaviors than his or her own. For instance, a quarter of Home Depot’s managers who admitted to displaying poor mannerisms said there were uncivil because their own bosses were rude.

4. To combat incivility in the workplace, the Home Depot must focus on the individual and organizational issues as a whole.


Recommendations (Tran)Game Plan for the Home Depot CorporationTo resolve future complaints and high employee rate turnover occurring at Home Depot Corporation, the organization must implement new policies. Below are several points the consultants at Business As Usual recommend the corporation should follow to maintain a civil work environment:

Bosses and managers must model civil behavior by emphasizing the importance of treating people well and conforming to Home Depot’s value of “Doing the Right Thing.”

Enforce their code of conduct towards improving employee-employer relationships to dissolve the incivility reports by the Human Resources Department.

Avoid bringing incivility into the workplace to begin with by prioritizing civility as a key requirement for all interview applicants.

Hold mandatory compliance and ethics training of all incoming and current Home Depot employees on how to handle stressful situations and mediate problems in an unbiased manner.

Offer employee incentives to reward civil behaviors and those with high performance reviews such as promotions, raises, and benefits.

In addition, Business As Usual consultants believe in order to achieve a more courteous and civil work environment, organizations must set expectations and clearly define how they want their business to operate and what behaviors are expected of their employees. Civility may not come easily to every individual, but implementing these values little-by-little will produce a more safe and respectful environment at Home Depot.


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Powell, & Tate (2011). Who/What is to Blame for Workplace Incivility?: Among Those who Report the Workplace is Becoming More Uncivil. KRC Research. Retrieved from http://www.webershandwick.com/uploads/news/files/Civility_in_America_2011.pdf

Reich, T., & Hershcovis, S. (2014). Observing Workplace Incivility. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(1), 201-215.

Wang, S. (2005, Winter). So Uncivilized. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 3, 9-10.

http://www.webershandwick.com/uploads/news/files/Civility_in_America_2011.pdf


Author Page (Powell) Christian Bourdeau: What is Workplace Incivility, Introduction, Formatter 2, Leader Julia Tran: Combating Incivility, Recommendations Laura Maxim: Individual and Organizational Impact of Incivility, Table of Contents and

Figure, Formatter 1 Veronica Powell: Letter of Transmittal, Causes of Incivility, Author Page All Members: Conclusions

Team Portfolio

Table of Contents

555 Corporate Center Drive

Los Angeles, CA 92000

Phone: (310) 555-5400 | Fax: (310) 555-5411

Website: www.bau.com | Email: [email protected]

http://www.bau.com/


Diversity ChecklistTeam Name: Business As Usual

Name Gender Major Other

Christian Bourdeau Male Marketing Red

Julia Tran Female Finance Red

Laura Maxim Female Human Resource Management Blue

Veronica Powell Female International Business Blue


Meeting Attendance Log


Meeting Minutes: June 4, 2015


Meeting Date: 6/4/15 Start and Stop Time: 12:15-12:50 Location: CBA LabMembers Present: Veronica, Julia, Christian, Laura

Meeting Leader: Christian Bourdeau Minutes Complete by: Laura Maxim

Items Discussed: All team performance contract items Team name

Actions Taken: Team performance contract completed Team name chosen

Problems Encountered: Had difficulty picking team names

with all of the different ideas that were suggested.

Plans Made: Weekly meeting schedules were made Research to be done over the weeken

Next Meeting: Date: 6/9/15 Time: 12:45 Location: CBA Lab


Meeting Minutes: June 9, 2015Meeting Date: 06/09/15 Start and Stop Time: 12:17PM- 12:52PM Location: CBA LabMembers Present: Veronica, Julia, Christian, Laura

Meeting Leader: Veronica Powell Minutes Completed by: Julia Tran

Items Discussed: Possible topics for our body paragraphs:

o What is Incivility and how does it happen? o How does it affect employees and the work environment? o The different causes of incivility. o Employee/Employer morale: how do their behaviors contribute to the issue?o Fourth body paragraph: How to combat incivility based off our researched

resources

Actions Taken: Filled out the Team Logistics / Work Plan on Excel spreadsheet Found four separate topics and assigned to each team member Christian is responsible for the definition of incivility and how it happens Veronica is responsible for the different causes and contributions of incivility Laura is responsible for how it affects the organization Julia is responsible for ways to combat incivility

Problems Encountered: Finding topics that do not overlap with each other

Plans Made: Have at least three resources for their subject due 6/11 Proofreading #1 6/18 Proofreading #2 6/20 Proofreading #3 6/22 A completed draft of each team member’s paper due 6/16

Next Meeting: Date: 6/16/15 Time: 12:45 pm Location: CBA LAB


Meeting Minutes: June 16, 2015Meeting Date: 6/16/2015 Start and Stop Time: 12:00-12:43 p.m. Location CBA 217Members Present: Julia, Christian, Laura, Veronica

Meeting leader: Laura Maxim Minutes Completed by: Julia Tran

Items Discussed: Team Logistics, who is responsible for Cover Letter, Table of Contents, Introduction Looked at examples of past reports figure out the format of body paragraphs decide on our mandatory fun day, 6/18 Creating subheadings for each topic discussed Christian is a government official Laura is from HR Veronica is a psychologist Julia is a business major

Problems Encountered: Discovering APA formatting

Plans Made: Citations must be completed in APA Inputting graphics in our body paragraphs and include citations Work Schedule F.7 and Logistics is completed Print hard copy on Tuesday 6/21 PowerPoint must be completed by 6/21 Veronica is responsible for transmittal Mandatory Fun Day Tuesday 6/21 Dress up for photo Thursday 6/18

Next meeting: 6/18 Time: 10:00 AM CBA Building


Meeting Minutes: June 18, 2015Meeting Date: 6/18/2015 Start and Stop Time: 10 a.m. -11:45 p.m.Location: CBA LabMembers Present: Laura Maxim, Christian Bourdeau, Julia Tran, Veronica Powell

Members Absent with Reason (if known): none

Meeting Leader: Julia Tran Minutes Complete by: Veronica Powell

Items Discussed:

Steps to complete the paper What items are still needed When do they need to be finished Who is doing what section

Actions Taken: Pictures taken for bio page Bio’s written and uploaded Work plan final check and upload Table of contents created references added to paper Letter of Transmittal written Logistics worksheet finished and uploaded

Problems Encountered: Editing / formatting issues on google docs- must move final paper to word before printing

to ensure correct formatting

Plans Made: all parts of report need to be completed before Tuesday 6/23 split up final parts split up to be completed

Next Meeting: Date: 6/26 Time: 12:00 Location: CBA Computer Lab


Meeting Minutes: June 23, 2015Meeting Date 06/23/2015 Start and Stop Time: 12:30 p.m.

Location: CBA LAB

Members Present: Laura Maxim, Christian Bourdeau, Veronica Powell, Julia Tran

Members Absent with Reason (if known): None

Items Discussed: What should we discuss for our presentation (56 minute time frame each)? Inputting an opening video for the presentation (clip from The Office) Who is responsible for the introduction and closing statement of presentation? Transitioning to each team member between slides

Actions Taken: Last proofreading for final report Printed hard copy of Team Log and Final Report Christian is responsible introduction of company and discussing paragraph one Laura is responsible for how it affects the organization Veronica is responsible for different causes and contributions Julia is responsible for solutions and recommendations for the company

Problems Encountered: Formatting the final report Going over time frame for our presentation

Next Meeting: Presentation Date 6/25 Time: 9 a.m.


Logistics What is your team name?

Business As Usual

What is the origin and/or meaning of the name?

The dictionary definition of “Business As Usual” is a situation returning to its usual state after an unusual or surprising event.

What is your team (consulting firm) logo?

What is the origin/significance of the logo? In what way(s) does the logo represent your firm?

The significance of our firm’s logo represents a professional figure built on a strong foundation.

Mission Statement

“Providing real solutions for a more respectful workplace”

Vision Statement

“Creating a more respectful and passionate culture”

Key Roles:

Identifying incivility and its effects on the work environment Combating workplace incivility Strategies to help solve Home Depot’s incivility problem


Which team members will fill each of these roles?

Christian is responsible for the definition of incivility and how it happens Veronica is responsible for the different causes and contributions of incivility Laura is responsible for how it affects the organization Julia is responsible for ways to combat incivility

What is the general topic your team has selected?

Our team selected incivility in the workplace as our topic.

What sorts of business/workplace problems might a company have regarding/due to this topic?

Rudeness, aggression, asking for advice and not taking it, inconsideration, interrupting others, speaking with a condescending tone, not listening, and giving public reprimands.

Name a couple of organization(s) that might have this problem?

Some organizations that might have incivility in the workplace problems are Cisco, Chrysler, Home Depot, and Microsoft

Select one organization that is going to be seeking a consulting firm to help them solve a specific business problem regarding your topic area.

The Home Depot Corporation will be seeking our firm’s help solving its incivility in the workplace issues.

Write a clear and concise descriptive problem statement that includes the specific business problem needing to be solved (related to your topic) and the specific organization that is seeking help with the problem.

The Home Depot Corporation is experiencing reoccurring intolerable behavior within the corporate office as well as in its retail branches. The corporation’s Human Resources Department has frequently been received numerous complaints from employees about management’s uncivil behavior in the workplace. A majority of the workers mentioned that these demeanors are affecting their productivity and increasing their levels of stress. What actions can Home Depot take to minimize and regulate incivility within the workplace?


Work PlanStatement of the Problem Home Depot employees are complaining that uncivil behavior is inflicting unnecessarily high levels of stress and affecting their productivity at work. Home Depot’s Human Resource Department reported that the productivity per employee dramatically decreased, customer service suffered from countless poor customer reviews, and record high employment turnover.

Purpose and Scope of WorkThe purpose of this study is to define incivility in a workplace and research the damaging effects and consequences of uncivil behavior of Home Depot’s workers. This study will attempt to construct solutions for Home Depot to minimize incivility in the workplace and optimize productivity, communication, and employee-employer morale.

Sources and Methods of Data CollectionsOur data collection will consist of only secondary resources due to budgetary restraints. The secondary research will contain reviews and public surveys from businesses that have experienced similar inappropriate behavior from their employers or employees, and how it has affected their company. We will also research scholarly articles and trade journals that focus on the effects of incivility on the company and its employees.

Preliminary Outline The preliminary outline for this study is as follows:

I. What is incivility in the workplace?A. What is the definition of incivility?B. Why is workplace incivility often not heard of?C. What are examples of incivility in the workplace?D. How do small acts of incivility lead to major conflicts in the workplace?

II. What are the causes of incivility in the workplace?A. How does unethical leadership affect the workplace?B. How does competition in the workplace cause incivility?C. How does the office environment affect incivility in the workplace?

III. How does incivility affect the workplace?A. How does incivility affect employees?B. How does incivility affect employers?C. How does incivility affect the organization?

IV. What strategies can the corporation act on to minimize incivility in the workplace?A. What will it cost the company and will the resource costs outweigh the

benefits? B. How should the company deal with the person who does not treat others

civilly? C. How will we most effectively implement and regulate these strategies?


Task Assignments and Schedule Each phase of this study will be completed by the following dates:

Primary Research: Christian, Veronica, Laura, Julia June 11, 2015 Explanation of incivility and how it occurs: Christian Bourdeau June 16, 2015 Analysis and influences of incivility to the workplace: Veronica Powell June 16, 2015 Analysis of the effects of incivility to the organization: Laura Maxim June 16, 2015 Solutions and implementations to the issue of incivility: Julia Tran June 16, 2015 Final Report: Christian, Veronica, Laura, Julia June 23,2015


Performance ContractTeam Name: Business As Usual

Team Members: Signature: Date: 6/4/15

Veronica Powell

Julia Tran

Christian Bourdeau

Laura Maxim

1. Explain your task purpose (what your team wants to research and write about). Our team is researching workplace incivility: how it happens, its effect on workplace

productivity and employee morale.

2. Describe the behavior that is expected of team members (examples: class attendance, attendance at meetings, preparation for meetings, completion of assigned tasks, etc.) Actively participate in meetings, complete assignments with effort and quality, attend

mandatory group meetings, check in progress of work completed every week.

3. List the consequences of non-performance (for behavior expected but not achieved). First offense: Warning Second offense: Intervention Third offense: Fired

4. How will non-performance be monitored? List specific dates when a formal check-in will occur. Every Tuesday meeting after class and a formal check in to go over the work that was

completed over the weekend. On Thursday meetings go over what needs to be done next.

5. Describe your team goal. To effectively portray our project to our peers in a professional manner.

Instructor Signature:

Documents

6-24 REVISED FINAL