Why it pays to be nice: the impact of civil and uncivil behaviours on job satisfaction, engagement, psychological strain, and job turnover

The Queensland Health Systems review conducted in 2005 (Forster, 2005) included several recommendations concerning the elimination of bullying and workplace aggression. Our aim in this paper is to identify antecedents and consequences of negative behaviours in a large health organisation. We were also interested in behaviours that fall at the opposite end of the spectrum, that is, behaviours that show respect for fellow workers. A total of 8,364 QLD Health workers completed an organisational climate survey containing scales measuring stressors, organisational and peer support, respect, harmful behaviours, leadership, job satisfaction, psychological strain, and turnover intentions. Analysis of correlations among these variables showed that harmful behaviours had negative organisational consequences and that measures of respect in the workplace had equally strong positive effects on all outcome measures. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that measures of harmful behaviours explain additional variance in job satisfaction, psychological strain, and turnover intentions when other stressors have already been considered. Simultaneous regression analysis confirmed that measures of both civil and uncivil behaviours make independent contributions to variance in these measures. Organisational initiatives targetting the elimination of negative behaviours should therefore also be accompanied by initiatives that aim to develop a culture where workers feel valued and respected