Employees worldwide rank respect as the most important leadership behaviour, yet employees are reporting more disrespectful and uncivil behaviour each year – these are the comments from Kristie Rogers, in her article ‘Do Your Employees Feel Respected’ in HBR Online (read it here). It appears that leaders are failing to understand what it is that employees need to feel respected, and their attempts to address it are falling way short.
The article examines two forms of workplace respect, Owed Respect and Earned Respect, which is very informative and contains great advice. But the real value in this article are the tips for closing the gap between toxic and respectful workplaces. The full article is deserving of being read, but the summary of those seven tips are:
- Establish a baseline of owed respect – every employee should feel that their dignity is recognised and respected.
- Know how to convey respect in your particular workplace – use active listening, and value diverse backgrounds and ideas. Other examples include leaders delegating tasks, remaining open to advice, and giving employees freedom to pursue creative ideas.
- Recognize that that respect has ripple effects – leadership behaviours are often mimicked throughout an organisation, and just as incivility can spiral, so too can respect.
- Customize the amount of earned respect you convey – praise from an immediate manager, attention from a leader, and opportunities to head a project can have more impact on motivation then do monetary incentives.
- Think of respect as infinite – it can be given to one employee without shortchanging others.
- See respect as a time saver, not a time water – neglecting respect can be far more costly than attending to it.
- Know when efforts to convey respect can backfire – employees see honestly as one of the most valuable expressions of respect, insincere compliments, however well-intentioned, are likely to be counterproductive.
Respect is something that the new generation of workers are particular about, so leaders that understand that and tune in will be the ones who lead most successfully. And Avondale Business School can help you be a successful leader, simply contact Warrick Long on 02 49802168 or [email protected]