This study falls a bit short. Where does the rudeness come from? They've already identified that rudeness leads to lower engagement and more burn out. But does lower engagement or more burn out lead to mode rudeness? What happens if the leaders themselves know the environment they're creating leads to these things?

Context is key. I've seen fake, high-pressure environments created by management too often. It isn't a life-or-death situation, it's your shitty incentive structure.

I refuse to believe most people are intrinsically rude (in a workplace setting). Because almost nobody is rude directly after you hire them (if they are, your hiring process sucks). No, it's more likely the environment or team is dysfunctional and rudeness is a manifestation/poor coping mechanism.

In that way, it's unsurprising management is unable to gauge the performance of individuals accurately, rude or not. It could even be a root cause.