Wow, So "Respect" Is A "Perk" Nowadays?
I think I’ve used this graphic before when writing about something else, but I’m too lazy to go find that post. Years ago, when I used to sit in a dingy cubicle off downtown Fort Worth and do nothing all day under the guise of being a “marketing manager,” I sometimes blogged 5–6x/day, and one of those posts was about the startling lack of respect in the workplace. On that link, you’ll see some asinine manager say in a quote that she’s “so slammed” and “doesn’t have the time to respect her employees.” Uh, what? Respect is something you schedule? I thought it was something that happened organically based on interactions and competence. No? Hmmm. I feel like my narratives have been warped.
I’ve written about respect at work a few other times, including the little ditty of “the future of work is all about respect,” and this post doesn’t have a ton to add. I’d just say that over the last few years, as I’ve struggled periodically with my own 1099 career and advancement opportunities, I can tell you that it often feels the bar around respect is so low that people have come to see being respected as a perk of some kind — when, in reality, being respected should be a natural part of the human condition, insofar as you’ve earned it. If you come into the office and sleep under your desk all day, no, I don’t think that has earned you any respect. But if you try hard and follow process and are a relatively nice person to be around, then yes, I feel like you earn respect in that way. It may not ever equate to a bigger paycheck — you may have to go elsewhere for that, sadly and logically (that’s how companies work) — but it should at least equate to respect in the moment.
As work increasingly becomes “shockingly inhumane,” tho, we reach a place where respect is so distant for so many workers that, when it becomes present, it’s 18x more important than other work factors. That’s sad. And it’s not really that humane.
领英推荐
You don’t need to schedule respect in Outlook. If someone is trying their best and showing up for you, you can respect them (in life as well as at work). You don’t have to 4x their salary overnight or be their best friend. Just show them some respect. It makes the process of “means to end” — which is really what work is — so much more palatable and efficient over time.
Takes?
Full-Stack Software Engineer skilled in Python, PHP, and C#. Creative storyteller with expertise in graphic design and instructional design.
8 个月As someone has seen employees yelled at, and who was in fact yelled at by a CEO in one of my first years of tech work because I didn't have any company provided tools to test a specific feature, respect is kind of a big deal. I would avoid even applying to several of the places I've previously worked due to a lack of respect for the workers there. I would go and work with five of my managers again and that's about it since 2001.