Research Shows It’s Time to Take Action on Civility

Incivility levels in the U.S. are high enough that workplaces should take action to bring them under control, according to SHRM’s Q1 2024 Civility Index score. On average, U.S. workers scored 42.3 out of 100 on the Civility Index when asked about the incivility they experienced or witnessed over the past month across all contexts. This equates to U.S. workers experiencing or witnessing an average of over 171 million acts or instances of incivility in their everyday lives over the past month.

This level of incivility isn’t just a societal problem. A score of 42.3 places U.S. civility levels in the third of SHRM’s five civility zones, a status associated with significantly worse work-related outcomes than Zone 1. Zone 3 is consistent with workers being less likely to feel included in their workplace, more likely to describe their organization’s culture as poor, and more likely to say they are likely to leave their jobs in the next 12 months, among other effects. Unless HR departments take action, incivility will continue to weigh on the U.S. workforce.

View SHRM’s full Civility Index graphic and learn more about civility in the workplace.