Take the opportunity to stand out from the crowd
According to a new study from Weber Shandwick, Powell Tate and KRC Research, incivility is America has reached “crisis proportions.” A full 43% of respondents EXPECTED to experienced incivility within the next 24 hours, and the average number of times those surveyed reported encountering incivility in a week was over 17, or 2+ incidents per day.
Civility and crisis management
What does this mean in terms of crisis management? Well, in a world where incivility is expected, you have an opportunity to stand out merely by taking a proactive stance towards being polite and helpful. In other words, just ensuring that employees are doing things like using appropriate language and (a major challenge for any employer!) keeping their cell phones tucked away while working with customers is removing a great deal of risk from your organization. At the same time, you have to be prepared to handle interactions with people who may be coming directly from an uncivil experience or even those who take an aggressive stance initially because they expect an uncivil encounter.
Don’t forget about internal civility issues as well. The study reports that 26% of Americans report that they’ve quit a job because it was an uncivil workplace, meaning you could lose valuable talent and incur the extra costs that come with replacing it, simply because you let people act like jerks and get away with it.
What would your mother think?
The fast pace of business today, and yes, the anonymity and instant communication provided by the ‘net, make it easy to forget to mind our P’s and Q’s. How about this easy rule – if your mother would be appalled at the service she’s getting, or the treatment she’s received, then it’s time to make a change.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/