Jerry notices the oil is low in his forklift but continues to drive it until it overheats and can’t be used. After enduring 11 months of repeated insults and mistreatment from her supervisor, Maria quits her job. An office clerk slams her keyboard and then shouts profanity whenever her computer freezes up. Rudeness, hostility, aggression, and other forms of workplace negativity have become all too common in today’s organizations. In a survey of U.S. employees, 10 percent said they witnessed rudeness daily within their workplaces, and 20 percent said that they personally were direct targets of incivility at work at least once a week. In a survey of Canadian workers, 25 percent reported seeing incivility daily, and 50 percent said they were the direct targets at least once per week.66 And it’s been estimated that negativity costs the U.S. economy some $300 billion a year.67 As if these statistics aren’t enough to get your attention, here’s another one: One in three people may be looking to leave an organization because of a coworker they can’t stand.68 What can managers do to manage negative behavior in the workplace?

The main thing is to recognize that it’s there. Pretending that negative behavior doesn’t exist or ignoring such misbehaviors will only confuse employees about what is expected and acceptable behavior. Although researchers continue to debate about the preventive or responsive actions to negative behaviors, in reality, both are needed.69 Preventing negative behaviors by carefully screening potential employees for certain personality traits and responding immediately and decisively to unacceptable negative behaviors can go a long way toward managing negative workplace behaviors. But it’s also important to pay attention to employee attitudes since negativity will show up there as well. As we said earlier, when employees are dissatisfied with their jobs, they will respond somehow.