Are You Respected at Work?

10 Ways to Grow Respect

Has bad behavior become normalized within your work culture?

Respect in the workplace fosters collaboration, innovation, creativity, learning, communication and ongoing knowledge sharing. Employees who feel respected are more engaged, committed, loyal and motivated to contribute.

The Workplace Equity & Civility Initiative asks for a commitment from employers and employees to make workplaces more civil. A WE&CI is a significant step in rejecting the alarming and growing trend of normalizing bad behavior. And a WE&CI provides a more positive path to claim “we will try to do better and hold ourselves accountable” for our collective efforts to make our workplaces better and more collaborative.

The WE&CI is simple. It’s a pledge to do one’s best as an employer and employee – to commit to better behavior in the workplace by adopting and enforcing certain policies that will likely result in a more equitable workplace.

What can you do?

If you have not developed an internal WE&CI, you can do so formally. To create your own and help spread civility and equity, here are 10 tenets to borrow:

  • Greet and acknowledge each other.
  • Say please and thank you.
  • Treat everyone with equality and with respect – no exceptions.
  • Acknowledge the impact of your behavior.
  • Welcome feedback from others.
  • Be approachable.
  • Be clear, honest and kind.
  • Acknowledge the contribution of others.
  • Be on time and respect each other’s time.
  • Never turn a blind eye to incivility.

Are these or similar principles in place and practiced where you work? If not, what if you initiate a WE&CI and help spread equity and civility in your circle of influence? Let’s all do our part to increase kindness and professionalism at work.