(WACO, Texas)— Christine Porath, Ph.D., delivered a TED Talk in Reno, Nevada January 2018 about the role of incivility within the workplace.

“It includes a lot of different behaviors from mocking or belittling someone, to teasing people in ways that sting, to telling offensive jokes, to texting in meetings,” Porath said.

In a study about how incivility in the workplace affects motivation, Porath found that 66% of employees cut back their efforts, 80% lost work time and 12% left their jobs.

“Not holding someone down isn’t the same as lifting them up,” Porath said. “Being truly civil means doing the small things like smiling and saying hello in the hallway, listening fully when someone is speaking to you.”

Porath also found a number one cause of incivility is the fear of appearing weak within leadership roles. So, Porath surveyed more than 20,000 employees internationally to discover what leadership quality is most valued by staff members.

“We found the answer was simple: Respect,” Porath said. “Being treated with respect was more important than recognition and appreciation, useful feedback, even opportunities for learning. Those that felt respected were healthier, more focused, more likely to stay with their organization, and far more engaged.”

With respect, Porath said, remaining civil is possible even during disagreements or negative feedback.

“I think attitude toward someone can sometimes be more effective than words,” Lauren Boyt, a Midland, Texas, sophomore, said. “So if someone knows your attitude toward them is respectful, they are more forgiving if you slip up and say something disrespectful.”

However, Porath said it depends on if someone feels disrespected because incivility is different for everyone.

“It’s important to consider people are from different places and time periods,” Taylor Brown, a China Spring, Texas, sophomore, said. “For example, my grandparents lived in a small town in Texas and owned a clothing store. When my mom was growing up and her age group was old enough to get jobs, my grandparents wouldn’t hire someone with earrings. Nowadays people wouldn’t not hire someone because they had earrings.”

Porath said decreasing incivility in the workplace will improve the success and morale of a business.

“We’ll get people to give more and function at their best if we’re civil,” Porath said. “What I know from my research is that when we have more civil environments, we’re more productive, creative, helpful, happy, and healthy. We can do better.”