The data reveals a leadership failure that employees see clearly. Two thirds of U.S. workers (66%) said their manager or supervisor could have done more to prevent incivility. 63% reported that their manager has ignored uncivil acts altogether. And 70% of workers said their manager cares more about business objectives than about how people are treated.
These numbers are not independent. They tell a single story. Managers are not equipped to address incivility. They are not trained for it. They are not measured on it. They are not rewarded for it. So they ignore it.
Why This Happens
Managers are promoted for technical performance. The best engineer becomes the engineering manager. The best salesperson becomes the sales director. The best analyst becomes the team lead. These promotions reward individual contribution. They do not assess the ability to lead people.
Once in management roles, new leaders receive minimal training on conflict resolution. They do not learn how to address disrespectful behavior. They do not learn how to have difficult conversations. They do not learn how to build psychological safety.
The result is predictable. Managers avoid conflict. They hope problems resolve themselves. They focus on metrics they understand. They prioritize business objectives because that is what they are measured on.
The 70% who say their manager cares more about business objectives are not imagining things. They are observing reality. Managers are evaluated on output, not team wellbeing. They are rewarded for hitting targets, not for creating healthy cultures. They are held accountable for results, not for how people are treated.
Why would managers prioritize incivility when their bonuses depend on quarterly numbers? Why would they invest time in conflict resolution when their promotions depend on project delivery? The incentives point in one direction. Managers follow.
Why This Will Continue Without Intervention
The systems that shape manager behavior remain unchanged. Performance reviews focus on what was achieved, not how. Promotion decisions reward individual contribution, not team development. Budget allocations prioritize technology and operations over people and culture.
Managers learn what matters by watching what is rewarded. When they see colleagues promoted despite treating people poorly, they learn that behavior does not matter. When they see high performers excused for incivility, they learn that results excuse everything.
The 66% who say their manager could have done more are not asking for perfection. They are asking for intervention. They are asking for leaders who see incivility and act. They are asking for managers who understand that how people are treated matters as much as what they produce.
But managers cannot act on what they cannot see. They cannot address what they do not understand. They cannot fix what they are not trained to recognize.
Incivility is often subtle. It is the meeting where someone is talked over repeatedly. It is the email that is never answered. It is the credit that is taken by someone else. It is the dismissive tone that leaves no paper trail.
Managers who are not looking for these patterns will not see them. Managers who are not trained to recognize them will not understand them. Managers who are not measured on addressing them will not prioritize them.
The Cost of Managerial Inaction
When managers ignore incivility, employees notice. They learn that speaking up is pointless. They learn that their experiences do not matter. They learn to endure rather than report.
The cost of this inaction is enormous. Employees who experience incivility lose 35 minutes of productivity per act. They disengage. They stop contributing ideas. They stop taking risks. They become the walking disengaged who show up, complete tasks, and wait for something better.
The SHRM data shows that 66% of workers believe their manager could have intervened. That is two thirds of the workforce seeing a problem that their leaders refuse to address. That is two thirds of the workforce feeling unsupported by the people who are supposed to support them.
The 63% who say their manager ignored uncivil acts altogether are not describing rare occurrences. They are describing patterns. They are describing what happens when managers are not equipped to lead.
How Moody At Work Resolves This Issue
Moody At Work gives managers the tools they lack. Through continuous engagement tracking, managers see team sentiment in real time. Anonymous feedback channels reveal what employees cannot say directly. Recognition programs reinforce respectful behavior. Data driven insights show managers exactly where intervention is needed.
Managers gain visibility into team dynamics without waiting for annual surveys. They see problems before they become crises. They understand their impact and can change it.
When managers understand their impact, they can change it. When organizations measure what matters, managers act on it. The 66% can become the minority. The 63% can become the exception. The 70% can become the past.
Moody At Work helps organizations close the gap between what managers know and what they do. The data is clear. The tools are available. The choice is yours.
Source: SHRM Q3 2025 Civility Index