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Creating a culture of respect has become a priority for leaders seeking to create productive and harmonious work environments in today’s business world. The need for increased civility in the workplace is more pressing than ever, as a hostile, unsupportive atmosphere can quickly lead to poor teamwork, lower morale, reduced productivity and higher turnover rates.
Below, Forbes Coaches Council members share actionable insights on how to address the critical need for more civil, collaborative and trusting work environments across all industries. From implementing inclusive policies to fostering open communication and modeling respectful behavior, these strategies can empower leaders to transform their workplaces into spaces where civility thrives and employees flourish.
1. Hold Employees Accountable For Conduct
One specific thing leaders can do is learn how to hold their employees accountable for not only acceptable performance, but also acceptable (civil) conduct. If performance isn’t up to par, that needs to be managed. The same holds for conduct: Leaders need to manage abrasive (uncivil) conduct by stating limits and enacting consequences for such behavior. By serving as guardians of both the mission of their organizations and the employees who work to fulfill it, leaders create psychological safety. - Laura Crawshaw, Ph.D., BCC, The Boss Whispering Institute
2. Ensure All Team Members Feel Heard
The leaders must embody the tone, collaboration and mutual respect that they hope to create. Often overlooked is the need to ensure that all team members feel heard. One of the top three complaints that I hear from team members is that their leaders don’t do enough to ensure that they feel included and acknowledged. If not corrected, this often leads to the team member silently quitting. - Meridith Alexander, G.R.I.T. Mindset Academy
3. Establish A Culture Of Trust And Engagement
Establishing a culture of trust and engagement through the development of psychological safety is critical to decreasing incivility in a team environment. The challenge is that most people see psychological safety as a way that they talk to their team, and that is only half of the equation. The other, more critical, half is following through on your words by managing emotions as challenges arise. - Rachael Bosch, Fringe Professional Development
4. Shape Culture
Tell stories of company success. Highlight moments of learning and growth. Acknowledge failure. Spend time with your team looking at case studies of unhealthy culture. Work with the team to identify what led to unhealthy cultures. Ask for feedback on how to prevent the same from happening in the local workplace. Be willing to adapt and grow continually. - Billy Williams, Archegos
5. Model Empathy And Connection
Leaders can increase empathy and connection by modeling and mentoring these capacities in their teams. Small actions can have a large impact. Many haven’t met new teammates in person. Take five minutes during a meeting to find commonalities—and make it fun: favorite pet, movie and so on. And practice authentic listening. Being truly heard is rare. Don’t multitask; ask questions, lean in and leave silence. - Alanna Fincke, meQuilibrium
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6. Set The Tone And Communicate
Increasing civility in the workplace comes down to two things: 1. leading by example, and 2. understanding through communication. People do what people see—just ask any parent. As a leader, you are the one who sets the tone. Spend time talking to others, learning about them and their perspectives. We don’t see the world as it is; we see it as we are. - Lorna Weston-Smyth, LWS Coaching and Training
7. Hold A ‘Simple Rules’ Workshop
To address the need for increased workplace civility, leaders can hold a “Simple Rules” workshop that is about crafting a set of guiding rules for civility at work. These rules are a handful of easily grasped and memorable guidelines, designed to be clear, broadly applicable and sufficiently specific. Some examples are to respect first, no interruptions, acknowledge and apologize, and offer help. - Alexandra Salamis, Integral Leadership Design
8. Create An Honest Dialogue
I believe it is top-down. Culture and employee engagement are set by the CEO and reinforced by the executive team. As a leadership team, an honest dialogue is needed and potentially changes how colleagues interact. Then, establish ground rules to bring to the larger organization. Here are some simple examples: No anger in emails. Take difficult conversations face-to-face. Lead with action. - Pamela Schilling, Archer Career
9. Conduct An Evaluation
Leaders can lead by example and involve the team in setting standards. Conduct an evaluation. Where are we successful in embodying respectful and courteous behavior? Where are we not? What does success look like? What are our standards? If standards aren’t met, how do we hold each other accountable in a productive way? Assume positive intent, and listen to others’ perspectives and experiences. - Kimberly Svoboda, Aspiration Catalyst®
10. Affirm Daily Instances Of Civility
Acknowledge and affirm instances of civility as they appear in the team’s daily work life. This creates a living definition to embody and examples the team can adopt. Each of us brings our expression of civility to the group—how can we create a space we enjoy? How do we create a beneficial shared social construct? Affirmation is a good place to start. - Carry Metkowski, Carry Metkowski
11. Establish Strong Rules Of Engagement
Civility starts with leaders who walk the talk. Civility comes down to one word, “respect,” which is culturally variable depending on high-distance or low-distance power cultures. It is about leaders establishing strong rules of engagement and norms for a team that create psychological safety. Whether respect is given or earned remains the question—leaders lead by example by giving respect. - Sahar Andrade, MB.BCh, Sahar Consulting, LLC
12. Lead By Example
Leaders need to lead by example. Neuroscience shows that people mimic leaders, especially in times of uncertainty. We need to bring love into the workplace by showing and caring about our colleagues, understanding their challenges and continuing to challenge and push them to go to greater heights. You can be a strong leader and care. It’s what you do for your children, why not your staff? - Michelle Anne, MichelleAnne.com
13. Embody Respect, Understanding And Kindness
Leaders can model civility themselves, leading by example and embodying respect, understanding and kindness, thereby setting a precedent for the entire workplace. This is how you build a great company culture! - Pascal Bachmann, Strategy Achievers LLC
14. Instill The Skill Of Perspective-Taking
Build the skill of perspective-taking, inviting people to compassionately put themselves in the shoes of others. The question is, “How can you be honest while still being respectful, and in a way that doesn’t cause the other to be reactive?” Lack of civility requires dehumanizing others. Compassionate perspective-taking re-humanizes them. - Dr. Joel M. Rothaizer, MCC, ABPP, Clear Impact Consulting Group
15. Show Respect For Others First
You get what you tolerate. And if you want people to show respect, you must first show respect for them. This is the foundation of leading a robust and productive culture. Respect means expecting from people what they are fully capable of. A workplace that develops people’s potential and gives them opportunities to contribute and gain satisfaction from their work will also foster shared respect. - Philip Liebman, ALPS Leadership
16. ‘Live’ Cultural Values And Behavioral Expectations
Civility in the workplace starts with all levels of leadership “living” the agreed-upon cultural values and behavioral expectations. It’s essential to incorporate the principles of psychological safety, along with clear accountability, and create open communication channels for continuous improvement. To quote Brené Brown: “Clear is kind.” - Delia Hayden, QC (Quiet Confidence) Coach & Leadership LLC
17. Respect Each Other’s Differences
Leaders must establish a culture of psychological safety by respecting each other’s differences and allowing everyone to feel safe being their authentic selves. If a team member doesn’t model this behavior, they aren’t a good fit for your culture. It’s integral for leaders to model this behavior as well. It takes a long time to build psychological safety, but it can be destroyed within minutes. - Aaron Levy, Raise The Bar
18. Treat People As You Wish To Be Treated
Ultimately, people mirror the behaviors of their leaders. If you are all about “go get it, everyone for themselves, on the fittest service,” then that is what you will hear from your people. Your organizational culture should support civility, but culture is not what you write down—it is what you do. Every culture and religion has the answer: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” - Mark Savinson, Strategy to Revenue
