Respect is one of the most important features in the workplace because it creates a positive work culture for you and the team to accomplish goals together. A respectful attitude should be the norm in any workplace, regardless of personal feelings. Examples of respect in the workplace include giving coworkers at every level your attention, listening to their opinions, and conversing with kindness.

What is respect in the workplace?
Respect is the feeling of regarding someone well for their qualities or traits, but respect can also be the action of treating people with appreciation and dignity. A respectful attitude should be standard in the workplace regardless of personal feelings. Both employers and employees need to show respect to each other and their peers. As an employee, you can respect your coworkers and your managers by giving them the attention they need, listening to their opinions and leading with kindness. You may find certain attributes and abilities you admire in your teammates and demonstrate your respect based on that. Team members won’t necessarily like or admire the personalities of their supervisors or coworkers, but they still need to act respectfully on the job to achieve their goals and be professional.

Importance of respect at work

Once you understand why respect is important, it starts to take on a greater meaning. You can start to understand why your coworkers react in certain situations and take steps to create a more positive work environment with everyone involved. When people feel respected, they give respect to others. Some benefits of respect in the workplace include:

Respect reduces stress
Stress reduction is particularly important for the health of employees in the workplace. Unstressed, respected employees feel more comfortable sharing ideas and working with their peers to accomplish their goals. Increased respect and reduced stress has a mental as well as a physical impact on the health of workers.

Respect increases productivity & collaboration
Respect can provide more opportunities for employees. When you respect your coworkers, you turn to them for help and get their ideas on various problems and issues. This leads to more creative solutions and increased collaboration, so work gets done faster and more efficiently. A project becomes an opportunity to learn from each other where both parties grow their skills. Soon, there could be cross-training and information training across all areas of your company as your staff collaborates.

Respect improves employee satisfaction
Collaboration and productivity together create a positive workplace with satisfied employees. Employees can be happy with the work they do and leave at the end of the day feeling proud of what they have accomplished. This sense of satisfaction has the power to benefit employers in the long run. Satisfied employees typically want to stay at companies that value them and look for ways to advance or grow their careers. Satisfied employees are more likely to apply for internal promotions and lead their teams with the same respect and care that they have come to value. Lower turnover rates lead to less money and time spent on training and onboarding.

Respect creates a fair environment
One of the most important things an employer can offer is a chance for employees to show their skills and knowledge regardless of their background. Respect prevents people from playing favourites, and everyone has a chance to contribute. A fair chance is powerful because it allows different types of employees to participate. Each employee has just as much of a voice as their counterparts and everyone’s ideas are valued regardless of where they come from. In the right setting, employees can bloom when they are given a chance to contribute fairly.