Leadership Matters: Building morale by building respect
Why leading respectfully matters, plus six ways to build a culture of respect at your organization
Most people don’t think about respect very much unless there’s a lack of it. And then, that’s all they think about. It turns out that respect in work relationships is far more important than most of us imagine.
At the Center for Respectful Leadership, we define interpersonal respect as feeling and displaying genuine admiration and appreciation for someone based on their abilities, qualities, achievements and/or position—or simply because they’re another human being.
Why Respect Matters
Feeling respected matters much more to employees than once believed. Research shows that if employees feel respected, valued and trusted and are treated kindly, they’re much more likely to stay with your organization. They’ll be more likely to treat members with respect, put in extra hours and effort when the going gets tough, and remain upbeat and resilient in the face of challenges. As a bonus, they’ll usually be happier and more productive.
Sadly, it appears that disrespect and incivility are common and have significant negative impact in the workplace. This is strongly supported by expert analyses of tens of thousands of reports of disrespect posted on anonymous, online employer rating sites like Glassdoor and Comparably, workplace cultural surveys that have been made public and industry assessments.
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