Workplace incivility, psychological distress, and the protective effect of co-worker support

Abstract

Purpose Previous in-depth focus groups found that postal workers employed by a crown corporation in Canada identified a lack of respect in the workplace. A lack of respect or discourteous behavior might be better understood as a phenomenon of workplace incivility. The purpose of this paper is to report a larger cross-sectional survey to determine: the magnitude of workplace incivility among Canadian postal workers; any association between incivility and indicators of worker well-being; and, the potential buffering benefits of social support from co-workers. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaire packages were mailed to nearly 2,000 employees of Canada Post Corporation, asking for anonymous responses to questions about their job, demographics, satisfaction and commitment, treatment in the workplace, and well-being. Findings More than 82 percent of 950 respondents reported at least some workplace incivility. After controlling for demographic and work factors, incivility explained significant variation in worker burnout, anxiety, depression, and hostility (i.e. adjusted R2 values ranged from 5 to 46). In addition, the association between incivility and worker anxiety, depression, and hostility was reduced when workers reported greater social support from co-workers. Research limitations/implications Incivility is more than just a minor or infrequent source of psychological distress for people working in service. However, a positive outcome is that co-worker support helps reduce the adverse effects of rude and discourteous behavior. Originality/value To our knowledge, this was the first large-scale survey exploring workplace incivility in the public postal service. The data from a large sample of postal workers across Canada suggest that the treatment of employees is an ongoing problem at this organization. This research is relevant for understanding workplace interactions and health in the service sector in Canada, though the authors expect it is germane also to other occupations worldwide.

The Effect of Organizational Changes on the Psychosocial Work Environment: Changes in Psychological and Social Working Conditions Following Organizational Changes

“…The current results agree with prior studies reporting increased conflict, demoralization and reduced support following organizational change (Campbell and Pepper, 2007). Support and social climate have both been linked to employee health, productivity and (Magnusson Hanson et al, 2008;Ljungblad et al, 2014;Charoensukmongkol et al, 2016;Yang et al, 2016;Geldart et al, 2018) which makes focusing on the effects of change on the organization's social relations an important aspect to consider in order to secure a healthy and successful change process.…”

When Do Service Employees Suffer More from Job Insecurity? The Moderating Role of Coworker and Customer Incivility

“…Because we instructed respondents to provide retrospective ratings of uncivil behaviors they had experienced, they were likely to more easily recall uncivil behaviors instigated by coworkers who were more familiar to them than customers, which might have caused the effect of coworker incivility to be stronger than that of customer incivility. Scholars have reported that in service jobs involving frequent and close interactions with customers (e.g., post office workers), the deleterious effect of customer incivility was as strong as that of coworker incivility (see References [74,75]). Therefore, the relative importance of coworker and customer incivility needs to be disentangled in future investigations into the effects of different forms of incivility in different service contexts and jobs.…”

The relationship between workplace incivility and depersonalization towards co-workers: Roles of job-related anxiety, gender, and education

“…To the extent that employees believe their co-workers treat them with disrespect, their resulting concerns about their job situation (Schilpzand, Leavitt, & Lim, 2016; Sliter & Boyd, 2015) may lead them to dehumanize other organizational members and stop caring for their well-being. Previous research acknowledges that exposure to workplace incivility depletes employees' positive energy reservoirs (Abubakar, 2018; Geldart, Langlois, Shannon, Cortina, & Griffith, 2018; Lim, Cortina, & Magley, 2008), but it has not explicitly examined how such energy depletion, in the form of job-related anxiety, might drive employees to exhibit depersonalization towards co-workers (Maslach, 1982).…”