Can I get a little civility for my business please!

In East Brunswick, a new consulting business seeks to educate companies about the bottom line benefits of civility at work.

By Lauren Otis, Business Editor
   Is there room in the world of business for a little civility?
   That is the question Lawrence Zisman is asking.
   Mr. Zisman, 66, a retired marketing consultant, has founded The Civility Company, a for-profit enterprise which seeks to counsel businesses on the bottom line benefits of a pleasant work environment and management that doesn’t rely on ruthless, divisive oversight techniques.
   The Civility Company has been in business for less than a year, and Mr. Zisman has yet to sign up his first client, but he is not deterred, saying he is in it for the long haul.
   ”We are so committed to the idea, that we feel it will bring in clients,” Mr. Zisman said recently, at his curio-strewn home office in the Twin Rivers development in East Windsor.
   Mr. Zisman said the signs of a decline in civility across American society are everywhere: from children who these days don’t take summer jobs as teenagers and don’t learn a basic work ethic; to increased partisanship and rancor in the political arena; to movies and other media which bombard young and old alike with images of violence and death.
   ”The decline of Western civilization started in the 1970s when call waiting first started,” with the ability to put someone on the phone on hold, Mr. Zisman said with only a touch of irony in his voice. Cell phones have only exacerbated the problem, he added, noting a big question for society is “Can human relations, civility keep up with technology?”
   ”I hate to use the word epidemic, but it is a big problem,” he said of the general decline of civility. But, aware that his pronouncements may be taken as just the opining of a curmudgeon, Mr. Zisman is quick to tie the increased lack of civility to poor business results, particularly in the customer service realm.
   When a customer takes back a purchased item, the first thing store representatives say is “‘do you have a receipt?’ instead of ‘I’m so sorry you had a bad experience,’” Mr. Zisman said. At grocery stores today customers who ask where an item is are pointed to a numbered aisle, whereas Mr. Zisman remembers in the past he would be walked to the item by a store employee.
   Such things may seem insignificant but they build up and affect a company’s reputation and financial performance, Mr. Zisman said. He said he considered an increase in frivolous lawsuits — often a significant business expense — to be directly tied to decreasing civility in society.
   From a workplace standpoint, employees stay longer, have less absenteeism, and generally work harder in a friendly workplace, as opposed to one that is overseen by distant and fear-inducing managers, he said.
   ”So for businesses it is very important to improve the civility,” Mr. Zisman said.
   The Civility Company will work with small companies up to large corporations with multiple locations, creating presentations and consulting on their individual needs and the benefits from creating a more civil business, Mr. Zisman said.
   Even so, Mr. Zisman said his consultancy has a mission to go “beyond just the bottom line,” for businesses, aligning himself with “the idea of a corporate mission beyond the bottom line, which has become very important these days.”
   Often the solution is a basic one, he said, such as a company working to improve its employees basic skills, such as math or writing, “which relates to the effort, the determination to ‘get it right.’” And, “open communication is an important component of civility,” both in communications among employees, between employees and management and between employees and customers, he added.
   Mr. Zisman acknowledged that for any startup business, particularly one seeking to inject a new concept into business discourse, the beginning can be slow. “You are selling a concept and you have to show the benefits from it,” he said.
   But he is anything but deterred.
   ”We would like to make a profit, but it is not about making a new kind of fudge, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but we have an objective to create a better and happier environment for everyone, and I don’t think I’m tilting at windmills,” Mr. Zisman said.