I’ve talked a lot about bullying in the workplace, and yesterday wrote about some employees who are allowed to be consistently abrasive.
In a piece called The Last Word: Social Disgraces, that he wrote for Workforce Management, Ronald J. Alsop says that there is a less damaging, more subtle form of rudeness that is pervading the workforce. He says,
How many times have people disregarded your e-mail or replied in a condescending or hostile manner? Do you seethe when colleagues repeatedly check texts and e-mails or, worse, play games on their mobile devices during meetings? Such rudeness is typically attributed to our time-pressured, technology-driven world. But isn’t that just an excuse for bad manners?
I think he has a point. While it’s true that many of us are overworked and strapped for time, must courtesy be a casualty?
He goes on to say,
When I wrote my book The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaking Up the Workplace, virtually every manager and college professor I interviewed related anecdotes about young people who sent curt, sometimes disrespectful texts and e-mails and often failed to show up on time for work or school.
So is the root cause of workplace rudeness people being stressed for time or is it a product of a younger generation? Take our poll below and tell us what you think.
