Championing respect and civility in the workplace are paramount in forging an environment where team members can feel supported, comfortable and valued.
Not doing so can be consequential. Based on the research detailed in the 2013 Harvard Business Review article, “The Price of Incivility,” Christine Porath and Christine Pearson found that incivility in the workplace can hamper creativity, performance and quality of work, among other adverse impacts. Their research, for example, found that “48% intentionally decreased their work effort” when exposed to incivility in the workplace.
Alissa Stayn, VP of human resources at the online automotive marketplace CarGurus, said that cultivating those values in the workplace begins with leading by example.
“Company leaders have an opportunity to learn, listen and engage with their employees as a starting point to promoting respect and civility in the workplace,” she said.
It’s critical, though, to ensure that it is done inclusively and equitably to ensure that all employees feel safe, heard and empowered; otherwise, such efforts can come up short and exclude underrepresented voices. Providing the space to have empathetic and open dialogue are key, Stayn said, pointing to forums at CarGurus like executive-sponsored employee resource groups.
“All of our employee resource groups are sponsored by a member of our executive team, creating engaging and meaningful conversations and actions to further drive a culture of openness, safety and inclusion,” she said.
Additionally, Stayn said that tools like an annual engagement survey focusing on “employee voice, belonging, respect and more” are a useful way of gaining insight into the type of workplace that the Cambridge, Mass.-headquartered organization is fostering.
“As a data-driven company, collecting meaningful feedback and metrics is so important when it comes to understanding how we’re doing in this space and where we need to focus our efforts,” Stayn said.
Below, the leader shared more on what she keeps front and center in supporting those efforts.
What is the most important thing company leaders can do to promote and improve respect and civility in the workplace?
Company leaders have an opportunity to learn, listen and engage with their employees as a starting point to promoting respect and civility in the workplace. While I’m fairly new to CarGurus, I can tell that there is a level of pride the company has in the actions that we have taken and continue to take to drive a culture of inclusion.
These include, but certainly are not limited to: building and sharing meaningful internal and external messaging promoting our diverse culture and our strong stance against racism, hate, and violence; sourcing underrepresented candidates for all of our open roles and requiring two or more underrepresented candidates at late-stage interviews for manager roles; striving to have diverse interview panels; donating to organizations that promote equality and respect for all; building a robust DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging) on-demand internal learning platform; and hosting a quarterly speaker series and regular anti-racism book club. Importantly, these are all part of our ongoing strategic initiatives for our organization as we underscore the importance of respect and civility across the company.
Company leaders have an opportunity to learn, listen and engage with their employees as a starting point to promoting respect and civility in the workplace.”
Civility in the workplace is as much about creating a space where everyone can speak their truth as it is about respecting and honoring those truths. How have you created a culture where everyone — regardless of their background — feels empowered to voice an opinion and confident that their opinions will be heard, valued and respected?
This is a critical imperative for us, and we recognize that this work takes time, continuous attention and a true systems change approach. While we have made significant progress, we also recognize that we have more that we can do. All of our employee resource groups are sponsored by a member of our executive team, creating engaging and meaningful conversations and actions to further drive a culture of openness, safety and inclusion.
Our employees are a vital part of our journey in this regard. To date, we have created space for conversations on hard topics and invited all Gurus in to learn, share brave space norms and encourage active participation. We also have hosted employee feedback and ideation sessions on both our corporate and DEIB strategy, focusing on creating and nurturing inclusive processes across our culture and business.
How are you tracking, monitoring or measuring employee sentiment when it comes to things like feeling respected, feeling empowered to speak up, and feeling like their opinions are valued? How are you using this data to inform future HR initiatives?
We gather both quantitative and qualitative feedback through anonymous employee surveys like our annual engagement survey, which includes multiple questions that focus on employee voice, belonging, respect and more. I’m proud to share that our scores in these spaces have been largely positive, indicating that our investment in cultivating a workplace where we can all thrive is working. In addition to surveys, live feedback sessions and spaces often provide an opportunity to collect qualitative feedback about our employees’ experiences.
As a data-driven company, collecting meaningful feedback and metrics is so important when it comes to understanding how we’re doing in this space and where we need to focus our efforts. This includes celebrating what we’re doing well, investing resources where we know we can improve, and encouraging employees to play an active role in shaping our programs, community and culture by sharing their feedback.
