Word Of the Week #573: Respect
July 31, 2015 by Susan Clarke
Respect – to show consideration for; treat courteously or kindly.
Do you work for a company that treats you with respect? Do you respect the people that you work for? How about your co-workers?
WOW #570 featured Mian Ridge’s article from the Financial Times of London about Michael Lee Stallard’s book titled, “When workers thrive, companies do too.” He wrote that “humans have six needs at work” and I felt those would be good to address individually over the next several WOW’s.
There are so many different kinds of respect that it would be impossible to list them all so I picked a couple that were work related. And as Stallard says below “they also apply to your relationships at home and in the community.”
“The first need is respect. We need to be around people who are courteous and considerate. People who are routinely patronizing, condescending or passive aggressive, drain the life out of us and keep us from thriving.”
This article, “The Importance of Respect in the Workplace” written by Tricia L. Branchaud, clearly reinforces Stallard’s points on thriving.
“It is nice, but not essential that all co-workers like each other. It is crucial however, that people treat each other with respect.
Why is respect in the workplace vital? Well, if common sense alone doesn’t convince you, or remembering work settings where you have seen respect flourishing or where it is lacking, I invite you to Google search the topic. Respectful behaviors in the workplace affect employee loyalty and morale, team work and team cohesiveness, employees’ attitudes towards work, employee turnover, leadership effectiveness, and even potential risk of liability to the employer.”
Stallard has a serious of posts titled, “100 Ways to Connect.” He writes, “It highlights language, attitudes and behaviors that help you connect with others. Although the language, attitudes and behaviors focus on application in the workplace, you will see that they also apply to your relationships at home and in the community.
#35 Respect Other People’s Time – When you interrupt someone while he/she is otherwise engaged, show that you respect his/her time by saying “Sorry to interrupt you. Is this a good time to talk?”
Another way to respect other people’s time is not to linger. If the other person is not very responsive, it may be a sign that he/she is busy and is eager to get back to work. Be sensitive to the other person’s responsiveness or lack thereof as a cue. Many people will not explicitly tell you they are busy because they don’t want to hurt your feelings.”
This week’s focus is on respect. How high or low is your employee turnover? Could morale be better? Does everyone work well as a team and support each other? Is everyone treated with courtesy and kindness?
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