Sejal Thakkar

Are you working to change the culture of your company?  First, you need to build a solid foundation. It is important to assess the workplace environment as heavy demands and pressures placed on managers and employees to meet goals and deadlines can lead to dismissive, demeaning, and disrespectful conduct.  Policies or training alone won’t change behavior. Aligning goals with clearly stated workplace values is vital to fostering a healthy work environment.

Does the new focus on civility suggest the need for updated, preventative training? A solid foundation begins by combining knowledge, training and clear expectations about unacceptable conduct and its consequences.  It’s easy to underestimate the importance of providing training to all employees, at every level of the organization. Yet, the cost of taking preventative measures to avoid potential exposure for claims is minimal, compared to the costs you could face in defending a claim of harassment or discrimination.

Civility in the workplace enables employees to feel safe expressing their  ideas and fosters organizational cohesion. If bullying or harassment does occur, the consequences for such inappropriate conduct needs to be firm, fair and consistently applied, regardless of the offending person’s role in the company.  A solid foundation requires  consistent, effective, and ongoing training to all employees, that promotes a respectful workplace, in which everyone feels valued, is treated with civility, without the fear of reprisal by management.