Respect is perceived to the value attached in dignifying oneself and others (Business Lobby Team par.1). In our daily lives, we have to deal with other people at one time or another. Respect comes into perspective when we have to relate with our peers and colleagues. Respect also involves giving dignity to oneself as well as other people’s privacy, views, philosophies, abilities, beliefs and personality differences.
This paper outlines the importance of respect at the workplace and how an employee can earn respect in a diverse working environment. Besides, it discusses how an individual can show respect to colleagues and other employees at workplace.
Why is respect important?
People respect themselves when they feel that they are equally respected by others. When we are respected by other people unconditionally, there is a higher likelihood to be positively influenced by those who respect us.
Workplace relationships play a major role in ensuring that organizational goals are met. For an organization to work towards certain goals, relationship between managers and other employees as well as the relationship among other colleagues is of great importance. Relationship in various work places is enhanced by several aspects. These aspects include mutual respect, integrity and honesty (Mayhew par. 2).
The resultant effect of effective workplace relationship is cooperating towards a common goal. This is an important aspect that enhances profitability in any organization. Mutual respect initiates collaborative teamwork which in turn helps to push the organization policies towards the set goals (Mayhew par. 3).
Mutual respect among colleagues in an organization enhances productive working relationship. People become more open to each other and thus communication between employees is improved both vertically and horizontally. This move promotes a work environment that is flexible and results in improved productivity (Webster par. 3).
Mutual respect is a key aspect that enhances knowledge transfer between workers in an organization. When employees respect each other, they develop mutual trust and allow information to flow. It also enhances work relationships and at the same time helps employees to work as a cohesive team.
It becomes easy to solve problems when knowledge is effectively transferred from one person to another. Respect comes out as a prerequisite in actualization of the above mentioned components of knowledge transfer particularly in cases where ideas have to be created and shared among employees. In a workplace environment, the attitude of the group towards knowledge transfer should entail respect among each other.
In terms of sharing knowledge, it is worth to mention that positive sharing can only occur where members have respect for each other. In other words, a good workplace relationship is required for effective sharing of knowledge and skills. People will pay attention to information being passed on by persons they respect. In addition, willingness to contribute towards knowledge and information sharing occurs when people show mutual respect within small or large teams (Levine par.5).
An organization where everybody is respected enjoys significant benefits in its operations. In order to achieve a collaborative workforce, employers are expected to undertake extensive training of employees. This practice promotes mutual respect in an organization. It also helps to align the goals of employees to an organization.
Respect makes it easy to identify employees based on the position they hold. In addition, it increases their commitment in maintaining high quality work. Mutual respect helps to recognize the talent of employees and the contributions they make in the organization. The overall goal of respect is to increase a firm’s profitability. This can be realized if there is workplace respect. In the event that high performance is needed, diversity should be integrated in the goals of an organization.
In other words, a diverse workplace is highly likely to produce the much needed work balance and productivity. Instead, mutual respect in an organization should be based on the ability of an individual to respect the skills of other people. In addition, it is imperative to mention that mutual respect is an integral parameter that can only be experienced in a diverse work environment. Moreover, respect helps in breed profitability in an organization.
In addition, respect helps to foster cooperation, collaboration and synergy. All these ingredients are highly beneficial especially in establishing workforce that can ascertain the significance of performance, productivity and quality of goods and services. Respect at the workplace also facilitates the transfer of knowledge between different people in an organization.
In most cases, employees who accord respect to their fellow workers finds it easy to respect other members of the management team with high levels of knowledge and skills. As a result, it becomes less cumbersome for employees to get additional skills from their superiors. It is worthy to note that the workplace training can easily achieve the expected outcomes if the trainees are willing to respect the expertise of the mentor or trainer.
Finally, respect helps to reduce or eliminate possible conflicts at the workplace. Incidences of the workplace conflict are likely to increase if employees fail to respect one another. This is because employees who lack respect are likely to involve themselves in behaviors that portray lack of respect to both the person and to the contribution made by other employees in an organization.
Having conflicts at the workplace is likely to cause negative impact on an organization for instance by reducing employee morale, job satisfaction and productivity (Norville 112).
How to gain respect in a diverse workplace
Workplace diversity is based on principals that call for equal opportunities in employment. Diversity at the workplace is caused by inherent differences like ethnicity, age, gender, cultural background, physical ability and sexual orientation. Managing diversity and gaining respect in a diverse workplace involves the ability to recognize individual differences in a given organization.
This help employee to realize their full potential and also enables the organization to realize the set goals and objectives. Respect in a diverse workplace can also be realized with the help of managers especially when they are able to establish and maintain appropriate work environments.
In this case, the similarities and variation of the employees should be valued in order to enable them make maximum use of their potential in order to benefit the organization. This helps an organization to achieve the set goals and objectives (Esty, Richard and Marcie 96).
Respect in a diverse workplace can also be realized by recognizing the contribution made by employees from different backgrounds. This is from the fact that employees can bring in fresh perceptions and ideas that facilitate product development. The ability of an organization to manage diversity successfully helps to nurture innovation and creativity which improves the competitive power of the organization.
In addition, having respect in a diverse workplace helps an organization to build strong relationships with different people. It also becomes quite easy for an organization to make improvement on its services and other programs that enhance the contribution made by employees. An inclusive and supportive workplace environment can be created when employees in an organization work as a team.
Besides, a cohesive workforce will demonstrate the much needed respect towards clients. Increased productivity and greater levels of creativity can also be achieved if respect is maintained in a diverse workplace. Therefore, effective implementation of diversity strategies in the workplace helps to improve employee retention, reduces expenditure and enhances productivity (Esty, Richard and Marcie 99).
Workplace diversity is a term that is used to mean differences in physical characteristics as well as variations in working styles. It also encompasses differences in one’s philosophy as compared to philosophies held by other colleagues. The Workplace diversity includes cultural diversity.
The latter is defined as human differences that play an important part in the culture of an organization (Mayhew par.2). Respect in workplace is also two pronged. This implies that for one to earn respect in the workplace there is a need to show respect for themselves and others as well.
In order to maintain self respect, it is important to refrain from engaging in direct confrontations whenever there are personal differences. Therefore, peaceful problem solving skills would be the best way to deal with situations that trigger anger and hatred.
As mentioned earlier, different people have various personalities, abilities, and beliefs that make them unique. In order to earn respect from these people, there is a need to respect them in spite of their diverse attributes. The greatest challenge arises in terms of the approach to use in order to take care of each person’s views irrespective of their emotional, economic, and social aspects in life.
Balovich (par.1) indicates that for an individual to show respect to others, it is necessary to recognize that they are worthy to be accorded that respect. In addition, in order to take care of the diversity of other people at work, one must refrain from making sentiments and utterances that may depict a negative image of themselves towards others. Similarly, they should refrain from commenting negatively against other people’s attributes.
The question on how leaders should show respect to their juniors and vice versa will also arise. For team leaders to earn respect from their juniors, it is important for them to keep away from making negative or demeaning comments against their juniors. If team leaders feel that their juniors have done less satisfactory job, they need to guide them learn how to achieve better results.
On the other hand, individuals at the workplace should not allow to be demeaned when their work is relatively satisfactory. In the case of employer’s attitude towards workers, there are instances when the employee is criticized and silently agrees to the comments of the team managers just because of their status. This phenomenon may leads to lack of respect to the top level of management (Balovich par.2).
Mayhew (par. 3) observe that employers should organize training on the subject of respect at the workplace in order to achieve a collaborative team of workers. The training should target the need of promoting respect among all employees irrespective of diversity of personal attributes and status.
If employees in an organization are focused towards a common goal, mutual respect will be developed regardless of their statuses, position and the roles they play in achieving the organization’s goals. As a result, their differences in terms of philosophical views at work do not matter so long as they deliver their duties as expected.
Organizational culture plays a major role in ensuring that employees respect and get respected by others. Business Lobby Team (par. 5) provides indicators that show that the workplace environment upholds the aspect of respect in the workplace diversity.
These indicators include giving credit facilities to employees when they make positive achievement or when an individual or a team meets an objective. Recognizing people’s hard work usually enhances a positive relationship between managers and colleagues. As a result, it helps in forging a common goal.
Another indicator is when employees are accountable for their actions and do not blame others. Hence, an individual earns respect by avoiding confrontation with other colleagues that may have been caused by either commission or omission. Respect at the workplace is also demonstrated when employees work towards a common goal and avoid being distracted by their differences.
Employees who respect an organization’s structure encourage mutual respect among themselves. In this regard, employees should not use the organization structure as a weapon against others. Other indicators that show that people in an organization uphold mutual respect is when they talk positively about their work, colleagues and have a positive focus for the organization rather than expressing distrust (Mayhew par. 4).
How to show respect
There are different ways of showing respect at the workplace. On of the simplest way to show respect at the workplace is by being courteous, empathetic, kind and polite. Managers can show respect to employees by encouraging them to share their opinions and ideas. In some cases, employees may be shy to communicate their opinions and ideas.
Managers should assist such employees to express their ideas by promising high levels of confidentiality and commenting on their ideas with sincerity. In addition, managers can also show respect to employees by being ready to listen to their complaints. Managers should avoid interrupting employees when they are making complaints or suggestions.
Respect in the workplace can also be realized when every member in an organization is ready to use good ideas from other workers to help improve performance. Using ideas from other people is a form of expressing respect to people who create good ideas. It is necessary for employees to inform the managers whenever they use ideas from their co-workers. This helps the management to acknowledge the contribution made by employees.
Members in an organization can also show respect for one another by avoiding insults or despising their co-workers. Employees should also avoid criticizing, judging and patronizing their fellow employees or managers. Avoiding such actions is an acceptable way of showing respect at the workplace.
As mentioned earlier, for individuals to demonstrate respect to others, they must first respect themselves. In order to show respect to others especially at workplace, one important aspect is to recognize achievements, contributions and abilities of other colleagues without considering their personal or cultural attributes.
Quite often, when individuals’ capabilities are assessed, their diversity should not be put into consideration. It is therefore important for people to recognize and appreciate other people’s abilities and skills without considering their race, gender or color (Business Lobby Team par. 4)
Keeping promises is an important and sure way to show respect. Although it is closely related to being honest, keeping promises may include being reliable and punctual. When people depend on the reliability of others at workplace, it means that there is adequate respect among all of them.
On the other hand, being reliable may be interpreted to mean respect for work and roles. In workplaces, the management team always gauges employees’ commitment to work by the respect they have accorded themselves particularly regarding knowledge on their areas of jurisdiction as well as their reliability.
Keeping the word of mouth goes hand in hand with being a hardworking person. Everybody who is worthy being respected respects a hard-worker. In this regard, meeting deadlines for duties assigned, going an extra mile to achieve the set goals and also engaging in learning of various aspects are some of the attributes that demonstrate that a person is hard-working.
Being kind and a source of inspiration to people enhances respect between people. When people share challenges and problems, they do this with the hope of finding a listening ear. Being there to listen to fellow’s problems reassures them and in turn respect is given back. This can be shown through empathizing with people facing different challenges, helping them out, assisting them solve problems (Business Lobby Team par. 4).
Quite often, we express our emotions through the word of mouth. It is necessary to consider what we say in the presence of others will result to lacking respect to oneself or lacking respect to them. It is therefore important to express oneself through talking with humility and gentleness.
Besides, it is important to communicate clearly and straightforward in order to show respect to others. This goes hand in hand with being honest and always telling the truth. Sometimes speaking about issues that one has little information on may make other people disrespect them.
Appearance and personal grooming are important tool that can show respect. First time appearance is enough to show whether you respect others, authorities and even one self. In workplaces it is important to adhere to codes of dressing and general conduct for one to be regarded as respectful.
Taking care of ones appearance does not necessarily mean wearing official outfits but means being presentable to fellow workers and also to seniors. Good appearance is necessary to every person if they mean to show respect and should be upheld regardless of the roles one has in the workplace or status. Respect ought not to depend on wage or age bracket.
Respecting managers/managers respecting employees
Morris (par. 2) illustrates that a successful manager ought to earn respect from the team he/she leads. On the other hand for managers to earn respect from their juniors they must show respect back. Some of the things that managers can do to earn respect include inspiring people by encouraging humor in the workplace. Also, managers should allow all employees to have equal opportunities to excel and gain experience. This can be achieved through enforcement of guidelines that should apply equally to employees without favoritism.
When a good example is set by team members and leaders, the managers will earn respect from their subordinates. This may include getting involved in production directly, willingness to go an extra mile in achieving goals and encouraging workers to perform their duties (Monica par.3)
In addition, managers can earn respect from their juniors due to their ability to solve problems. Managers should iron out conflicts arising in the workplace as first as possible and though the use of conflict resolution measures that maintain respect for other employees. Morris (par. 4) indicates that employees accord more respect to managers who are able to resolve conflicts promptly and fairly.
Managers can also earn respect from employees if they share information with them especially when dealing with a difficult issue. On this case employees are able to share their views and at the same time understand manager’s line of thinking.
Listening to employees’ views will always make them feel valued, dignified and respected. In this was managers can learn important aspects in the workplace that may be important to them to help them in solving problems or strategic planning (Heathfield par.5).
Other modes that managers can use to show respect to their employees include establishing trust, collaboration, kindness and giving feedback to concerns raised by employees. On the other hand, employees ought to show their managers the same amount of respect. When employees adhere to their respective duties as stipulated in an organization, managers will equally feel respected.
In addition, employees should show respect to their managers by positively inspiring other employees through the promotion of good working relationship. Other aspects that show respect to managers is to accept positive criticism aimed at improving working relationships between them and their fellow subordinates and management as a whole.
In addition, sharing important information that is crucial in the running of the organization demonstrates respect towards work and top level management. This kind of communication can be enhanced by creating communication channels that promote sharing of knowledge and information.
The reason why employers hire employees is to perform specific functions in an organization. These functions are usually linked to the operations of the organization. These operations are expected to help the company to provide value-added services or products to customers.
The employees are compensated for the work done through remuneration. This can either in the form of a salary, retirement benefits, health benefits or a bonus. In order to achieve this, the employees should be willing to respect their managers. Similarly, managers should also respect the employees since workplace respect provides mutual benefit to the parties involved (Taiwo 107).
Employees can express their respect to the managers by observing the following. Firstly, employees should always act in a professional manner. Employees should understand the main reason why they were selected for a given position in an organization. The managers and other superiors expect the employee to be aware of his tasks and perform them well for the good of the organization.
Employees can also express their level of professionalism by ensuring that they dress appropriately, reporting for work early and completing the assigned tasks on time. Secondly, employees can express their respect to their managers by showing their desire to raise their performance level.
Employees can improve on their performance by operating consistently. This means that employees should not be reminded of their duties by the managers. Being a performance employee was requires them to act like initiators and problem solvers. To achieve this, employees should be able to come up with ideas that aid in providing solutions to some of the problems or challenges that might be affecting the organization (Taiwo 109).
On the other hand, employers can show their respect to employees by acknowledging the opinions from the employees. This should be done even under circumstances where the ideas from the employees are not feasible. Managers should be willing to communicate the level of the contribution made by employees, and if possible they should appreciate the job done by employees using reliable methods. Managers should understand that praising employees can provide significant benefit to the company.
Another way of showing respect to employees requires the managers to respect the subordinates and the peers. Managers should also ensure that every person in an organization is treated with respect, irrespective of the position he or she holds. A respectful workplace is likely to raise the morale of employees and consequently realize an increase in productivity. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the managers to ensure that the concerns of the employees are addressed appropriately (Taiwo 109).
Respect between colleagues
Every person in an organization has a valuable role to accomplish. Hence, it would be difficult to accomplish organizational goals without the input of all employees. If a person views others and treat them with respect irrespective of the roles they play in an organization, objectives will be met quite easily.
For colleagues to have mutual respect, they have to accommodate their colleague’s different views to work and avoid condemning them for what they are or for their belief systems. In order to promote respect at workplace, each person must cultivate a culture that upholds the much needed respect (Heathfield par 3).
Several aspects of organizational culture are important in promoting respect among employees. These include a culture of accommodating everybody irrespective of their differences, defining personal rights, responsibilities and the authorities in the organization, defining an appropriate code of conduct in an organization, promoting accountability, encouraging discussions and team work development as well as enhancing formal communication channels and forums such as meetings, use of emails and newsletters (Business Lobby Team par.5).
In view of the above methods of promoting respect among colleagues at workplace, there are some aspects are within the confines of the management while others are initiatives that employees develop on a regular basis. For instance, the management in consultation with the employees should come up with codes of conduct, detailed roles of each employee and accountability measures. This forms part of an organization’s culture where every employee is aware of the accepted norms.
The management should devise avenues where individuals can raise their concerns. Therefore, each employee should be given due attention and also be able to give the same attention to other colleagues.
When the term disrespect at the workplace is mentioned, an individual is compelled to think about serious acts of violation such as racial discrimination and sexual harassment among others. It is important for working teams to understand that there are other behavioral patterns among employees that have a great impact at the workplace relationships, productivity and general wellbeing.
Negative behavioral patterns such as gossiping, rumor mongering, talking to each other at loud and irritating voices as well as withholding vital information tend to promote a disrespectful workplace (Byres par. 4).
There are a number of things which can be done to earn respect between colleagues. These include the following. First of all, it is necessary to develop acceptable work ethic. This requires the employee to report on time, doing the expected thing and being ready to help others whenever they need any help.
Employees should also be excited and appreciate the job. To achieve this, employees should avoid making complains about work problems and work towards finding solutions that can provide mutual benefit. Respect between colleagues can also be realized by being honest and trustworthy and avoiding any discussions that relate to the personal life of other people. Following all the rules and regulations and acting professionally at the workplace also helps to earn respect between colleagues (Taiwo 111).
Respect in the work place training
Respect at the workplace is an attribute that can be acquired over time. Sometimes it does not come out naturally. This is because some aspects at the workplace are closely related to code of conduct and sometimes ties with an organization’s culture. An employee is considered to be respectful when he or she observes positive workplace ethics that largely promote favorable working relationships.
There are some cases when employees might feel harassed at places of work. Harassment at the workplace can be in the form of discrimination in terms of the amount of training which employees are accorded. Therefore, it is important for an organization to organize training sessions that are fairly distributed among various levels of workers at workplace.
This can be done regularly through scheduled training for all employees or through trainings organized for specific teams. In addition, training sessions focusing on teams’ interaction forums like team building can be used as avenues for training.
It is important for employees to understand that the most serious negative actions like gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and racial discrimination often result into a less dignified place of work.
Other minor acts such as gossiping, rudeness towards fellow workers, ignoring or withdrawing important information also contribute to a disrespected workplace. In addition, employees should learn the importance of respecting themselves at place of work. This kind of respect should also be extended to the organization and its management as a whole (Heathfield par. 5).
Some of the acts of disrespect toward fellow employees at the workplace may amount to criminal acts that can be grossly prosecuted. Employees should also be well equipped with information on what may amount to crime against fellow workers. These acts should be dealt with by the legal system of an organization. However, the management should introduce and implement disciplinary measures against employees who show acts of disrespect that are considered to have enough substance to warrant such actions.
Training on respect in the workplace acts as a way of demonstrating the desired qualities of a given organization. Training also helps to realize good relationships between different members of an organization.
Respect is also critical especially when there is a need to ascertain productivity and overall values of an organization. Workplace training also helps employees to be equipped with practical skills that help employees to identify violations and unproductive behaviors that hinder employees from completing their tasks.
Conclusion
Respect is a prerequisite in effective relationships at workplaces. It is important for an organization to incorporate respect within its cultural practices such that old and new employees are incorporated in the adopted culture. As discussed in the essay, respect at various places of work can only flourish when both sides maintain a dignified and respectful relationship.
Hence, an individual has to show respect to others so that the same amount of respect can be given back. In addition, before employees can be able to show respect to others, they have to exercise respect among themselves. Respect also contributes towards the productivity of workers. The wellbeing and performance of an organization can also be replicated by the same effect.
Therefore, it implies that there is a significant relationship between the extent to which organizations uphold the value of respect and in relation to performance. Although there is need to conduct training sessions that can enhance and assist in building respect at workplace, there is minimum financial investment for a company to uphold a culture of respect yet it pays a part in contributing to overall performance.
Managers play a significant role in ensuring that the culture of respect prevails at workplace. It is easy for respect to be promoted when managers first demonstrate respect towards their juniors. In addition, communication structure in a company affects how employees uphold the value of respect. When communication structure allows managers to pass information to their juniors and vise versa, employees are able to maintain the value of respect towards fellow employees and also to their managers more conveniently.
Training is important in enhancing the culture of respect in an organization. The management should engage in forums aimed at promoting respect among employees. Some of these activities include team based groups activities such as team building days, appreciation parties as well as extracurricular activities like games and competitions.
These are forums that improve the workplace relations since people are able to interact and share their views freely irrespective of their job status, race, physical characteristics and so on. Therefore, the latter are important tools that are crucial in promoting a respected workplace atmosphere.
Revision and opinion about respect in the workplace
The importance of mutual respect among employees and managers cannot be overemphasized. Respect is contagious and yields good working relationships. Mutual respect is a source of motivation and leads to positive productivity. Besides, daily challenges and lack of morale may make employees engage in acts that demonstrate lack of respect to management or fellow employees.
Although respect emanates from an individual, there are factors that may cause an employee to act in a disrespected manner. These factors may include the level of job satisfaction, employees’, and level of motivation.
According to my view, respect is a reward of a favorable working condition and sometimes triggered by aspects such as remuneration as well as fringe benefits and bonuses adopted by an organization. In addition, respect does not have monetary value or any direct influence on the budget. However, it has enormous contribution to the workplace relationships and leadership development.
Respect quotes
Some valuable quotes on respect include “respect others to be respected, respect is the foundation stone of organizational effectiveness because it encourages us to recognize the skills and experience of every individual” (Learn Quote: Promoting respect in the workplace par. 2).
Works Cited
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Webster, Amanda. Motivational strategies that affect productivity in the workplace. 2012. Web.