Receiving respect from others is important to us because it helps us feel safe and to express ourselves without fear of judgement and possible lash-back. Reciprocally, it is important for us to respect others to make them feel safe as well. Besides the basic decency to make others feel safe, respecting people around us is also a good way to show others that we value them in our lives. Depending on the kind of environment we grew up in, being respected by the people important to us in our lives like our parents, uncles, aunts, cousins etc… teaches us how to be respectful toward others.
Respect entails accepting people for who they are, even when they may be different from us or even when we don’t necessarily agree with them. While understanding is one core aspect of respect and ideally understanding someone makes it much easier to respect them, you can still respect someone even if you don’t completely understand them.
Giving someone respect doesn’t need to be some big elaborate thing, respect in some cases can be simple conflict-free coexistence.
When we respect others, our relationships are bound to be filled with feelings of trust, wellbeing, and safety with room to grow.
Respect doesn’t always come naturally from within, and that’s okay as long as we take steps to learn it, learn the process of extending respect and gratitude to others, even if somewhat slowly.
Other than the overall contribution to a better society people being respectful to each other brings, being a respectful individual might prove to be beneficial for you personally as well, in the following ways :
1. Improves your image
The image people have of you in their minds improves a lot when you are respectful to them. Not just that, you are also more likely to be memorable if you are respectful. Heightened emotions are linked to stringer memory-formation, which means when you make people feel respected, have a pleasant presence, they are more likely to remember you. Being respectful ensures you are someone that people enjoy interacting with and this can work well for you in terms of networking and creating connections.
Being respectful in your workplace also improves your skillset in the minds of others, as when you are respectful you appear like you know what you’re doing. And as this impression of you spreads to other people, you may even make connections and acquaintances outside of those people you were initially respectful toward.
2. Respect induces Respect
What would be your reaction towards a person you have met who is being extremely respectful towards you? Most probably, your reaction would be to be respectful towards them as well, given that they haven’t really given you a reason to disrespect them. Similarly, when you meet someone and you treat them with respect and extend a warm demeanour, one that expresses that they can express themselves safely with you and you will not judge or react harshly, they are likely to do the same to you. It is like a social barter system, when we respect others, they respect you in return, it creates a two-way bridge of mutual respect, securing a strong bond. So, when you respect people and treat them the way you want to be treated, they will respond in kind, and reciprocate the same behaviour to you.
3. Helps climb the career ladder
The beam of respect gives you firm rungs on the career ladder to climb, a sort of stability that helps you be more confident in pushing forth your career goals. Figuring out the importance of and how to show respect to both your colleagues and your seniors in positions of authority can shift the trajectory of your career path. When you know how to express this respect properly, without descending to boot-licking, and learn to show others you respect and genuinely appreciate what they contribute to your workspace, it makes your path forward considerably easier. Respectfulness is also a trait that makes you a lot more professional and teaches you to be more observant about boundaries.
Being respectful also means you are pleasant to be around, and people have a positive perception of you, which means you will easily score recommendations, letters of support, and your colleagues and seniors will gladly put in a kind word about you to others.
Even career opportunities in general and mentoring offers can come in thanks to simply giving respect, as you come across as a person people would want to work with.
4. You are likely to get favours if you ask for them
Even the simplest acts of respect can gain you favour, for example, a kind hello to a waiter can save you from the disaster "special" of the day, they might even recommend you the genuinely good dishes because your respectfulness might have convinced them to be kind to you and improve your customer service while you dine.
Keep in mind, showing respect to others does not stop with people who can do something for you i.e your friends, mentors, and your boss. You should also show respect to service people who make all of it work and keep everything working in motion, instead of reserving it for the “higher-ups”. You may find yourself getting money-saving tips, discounts, and better service all around. But this should not be the driving force behind your kindness, your respect towards them should be because they deserve it.
Again, it doesn’t have to be something that makes you go out of your way. You probably see service people throughout your day, it wouldn’t hurt to show them a little respect by initiating casual conversation, or even a simple acknowledgement/appreciation of “this coffee is made perfectly” or “thank you for making my evening pleasant”. Making sure you're friendly to everyone also works out in your favour because everyone then becomes a friend to you.
5. Easier to make friends
Expanding on what was said before, friendship is a cherry-on-top of the benefit-cake of having respect for others. Early on in school, when you are still being taught lessons on how to respect others if you tried some of those rules as an experiment on your classmate you might have realised that they very quickly became your friend. Similarly, in high school, college and university you might have realised making friends generally stems from acts of respect and kindness. Even professors become friendly when you are respectful towards them, which we should be anyway given that they are a source of learning, knowledge and education. They are more likely to hear out your story and give you an extension on a deadline you may have missed due to some reasons.
In work life too, having people you can call a “friend” in an environment that can otherwise be very competitive doesn’t harm, does it?
Having respect for others' time and understanding the worth of their presence makes them feel appreciated in your company, making them more likely to be your friend. This results in having people who like spending time with you and look forward to seeing you around.
6. People are less likely to question your success
When you are respectful, people attach a number of other positive traits to your image in their head. Some of them being hardworking, polite, professional, responsible etc… which makes them less wary of your success. Also, as established above, respectful people tend to have many friends, which means a lot of people supporting them. This becomes a greater number of people to vouch for your success via hard work and professionalism, should anyone question it. Networking leads to a lot of connections, and connections can make the difference between success and failure too, on whether you are employed or jobless, and in terms of personal life being supported or being alone. Put simply, being respectful leads to knowing and inviting more quality people around you, and lays the foundation for a better life.
These are the benefits of being respectful towards everyone in general, adopting a respectful attitude in your everyday life. But there are some benefits to your professional life as well when you are respectful:
1. Job satisfaction has a positively proportional relationship with respect.
Employees have been found to be more engaged and productive in respectful workplaces. Conversely, in workplaces that are perceived to be more “hostile” i.e with little to no respect, employees reported more conflicts/confrontations and misunderstandings leading to and lower attendance rate and productivity.
Respectful behaviours between colleagues can uplift the collective morale of the office and even brighten up individual employees’ otherwise uneventful day. Especially when seniors encourage a culture of mutual respect, can instil confidence in employees and offer them much-needed encouragement.
Findings from a survey conducted in 2014, “respectful treatment of employees of different strata of the company” was rated as “very important” by 72% of employees who participated in the survey, proving it to be the top determining factor of overall employee job satisfaction.
Businesses and organisations that performed better in reported measures and showed increased productivity and improved job satisfaction were found to have developed efficient communication channels that emphasised respect for each employee’s work as well as their ideas and opinions.
2. Employee engagement increases in a respectful workplace.
Businesses always aim to reach complete employee engagement i.e the genuine emotional and mental investment an employee puts in a company, but a recent American study of employees revealed that only 30% were engaged with their work beyond a means of income or an obligation. Other than some basic strategies for inspiring disengaged employees and engage them with the goals of the organisation that the HR department employees, one of the simpler strategies is to encourage mutual respect between team members, as well as a top-down approach to set an example of mutual respect from seniors to juniors.
Respect is a compelling force in the workspace. In a survey of employees, a study found that respect was the number one aspect, the core factor, that would improve employee engagement and commitment to the organisation.
Employees from a number of other studies reported that a degree of respect from their seniors/managers/leaders had a significantly greater positive impact on engagement, ranking above even useful feedback, recognition and acknowledgement, sharing the company vision, or even shockingly - opportunities for personal and career development.
When employees find themselves receiving respect from colleagues and other team members, their stress levels reduce and they are more equipped to apply themselves diligently to their work, hence improved productivity as well as better quality of output. This is also true when employees feel assured that their seniors and leaders respect them and their work.
A workplace environment where an employee feels the freedom to make mistakes (rather not afraid of making mistakes to the point it impedes their ability to work properly) on a particular project, or the management taking an extra step to make a remote coworker feel more included, or removing restrictive rules and complications related to company policies, anything that indicates a sense of trust in employees works as showing respect for the employee and increases engagement.
3. Respect perpetuates a fair work environment
When coworkers are shown a precedent of respect towards one another in the workplace, a sense of fairness is embodied and incidents of hazing, harassment, and horseplay go down when employees realise such acts are gravely discouraged.
When superiors respect their employees, it leaves no room for harassment, favouritism, or bullying because employees model their workplace behaviour (to some extent) after their superiors. In respectful environments, team bonding and strengthening and establishment to mutual respect can be understood as the foundation of meeting a benchmark of quality work.
4. Respect reduces stress
When employees of a company are respected, feel valued as an employee, and aren’t afraid of drastic repercussions at mistakes or are free of the fear of being stepped on or stepped over.
They don’t experience stress experienced by employees who don’t receive the same treatment and respect from their organisations. Respect is liberating in some ways — they have the freedom to perform without worrying about being the subject of gossip amongst seniors and ridicule from co-workers.
A respected employee also feels free to embrace themselves and to live the professional life and work within their own boundaries and expectations without the stress of feeling the need to please their colleagues and validation from other peripheral individuals. They feel no pressure to be parading as someone they are not comfortable being.
5. Respect opens channels for knowledge exchange.
When a group of employees are respected, and feel safe in the work environment, as opposed to one that encourages toxic competition between the group, will feel secure in sharing new ideas and knowledge with each other and work towards a common goal that benefits the company. More knowledge and expertise is exchanged and shared as mutual respect between them grows.
In such a frictionless channel of information, individual growth, as well as increased team productivity thrives.
6. Respect improves the general vibe of the workplace
As we have seen respect increases employee engagement, improves knowledge sharing, creates a just environment, and reduces stress, then it is safe to assume it checks all the boxes that improve the company’s general vibe.
When there is respect in the workplace, the workplace becomes something you look forward to, not dread. Mutual respect eliminates jealousy and increases joy, discourages backstabbing and encourages pats on the back, replaces harassment with high fives.
The workplace transforms into a fun playground that bring ideas to life. An ideal where managers and supervisors don’t micromanage, instead encourage people they respect. Employees stop dodging assignments because they have faith in their supervisors as a result of mutual respect.
You may also be interested in:
Sorry. Due to our site's regulations and policies, your message has not been posted. Our moderating team has been notified about your message. If the message is found to be genuine and still did not get posted, you may not post the message again as it will automatically get posted for you within 24hrs time (excluding weekends).
- The Indiaparenting Team
