There's a Respect Shortage in our Workplaces

Do leaders in your organization treat others - bosses, peers, team members, customers, etc. - with respect in every interaction?

The research says that's unlikely.

Christine Porath?found that 98% of the employees she’s interviewed over the past twenty years have experienced workplace incivility or rudeness.

A 2023?Workhuman survey?discovered that employees feel their organization values them only somewhat (46.4 percent) or not at all (10.7 percent).

2024 research by Gallup found that only 37% of US employees strongly agree that they are treated with respect at work.

In 30 years of culture consulting with organizations large and small, we've found that a respectful environment generates higher confidence, proactive problem-solving, better performance, better team cooperation, longer tenure, and stronger well-being.

Despite those benefits, we're experiencing a severe shortage of respect in our workplaces today.

Employees of every generation desire and deserve workplaces where they are respected and validated for their aligned ideas, efforts, and contributions every day.

How can senior leaders build and sustain a work culture grounded in respect? By defining what respectful treatment means and then aligning all plans, decisions, actions, and people to that standard.

Our clients have formalized observable, tangible, and measurable behaviors that set the respect standard in their workplace. Examples include:

• I communicate directly with the people involved at every opportunity.
• I seek out and genuinely listen to others' opinions and concerns.
• I come prepared and actively participate in every interaction.

Once valued behaviors like these are formalized, leaders must champion them by modeling, coaching, and reinforcing others' demonstration of them.

Critically, organizations must then measure how well formal leaders demonstrate their organization's valued behaviors through custom surveys administered twice each year.

"Be respectful" is an aspirational statement - but it's not observable or measurable. Can employees rate their bosses on the degree to which those leaders "communicate directly with the people involved at every opportunity"? They can.

Don't leave the quality of your work culture to chance. Make respect a foundational principle by defining it, modeling it, and measuring it. Your team members will tell you when you've got it right.