Twelve Days of Respect

Ask anyone in your workplace what treatment they most want to experience at work and they will likely top their list with the desire to be valued and treated with respect.

When employees feel valued and respected in the workplace, productivity and employee engagement soars because employees have higher self-esteem around the work that they do.

Now, the interesting thing about respect is that you can’t control when or how others demonstrate respect.  You can only control whether or not you exercise it on a regular basis.  And, when you demonstrate respect you encourage it in others.

So, instead of the Twelve Days of Christmas, we are offering you the Twelve Days of Respect to cultivate respect in your workplace.

1. When you see it, say it. When you observe or experience respectful behaviors, verbalize your appreciation. Call out the specific behaviors that make a difference for you and your team.
2. Show a “can do” attitude. No matter what the situation, take the initiative and the lead, when appropriate.  Your attitude will affect others around you.
3. Be a good listener.  Everyone loves to be around a good listener. Listen to what others have to say. It shows that you care, and that you respect them and their opinions.
4. Respect other’s time. Recognize that everyone is busy, everyone has challenges, and everyone feels pressure.  When you respect other people’s time as much as our own, you earn respect.
5. Encourage fun and laughter. Laugh at yourself or about experiences that you have shared with your team. Laughter elicits good feelings, lightens the load, and bonds the team together.
6. Pay it forward. Be the first to demonstrate respect whether someone has earned it from you or not.  Respectful behaviors given often produce respectful behaviors in return.
7. Empathize. Ask questions out of curiosity to better understand someone else’s situation. Everyone benefits from stepping back and taking the time to walk in another person’s shoes.
8. Be considerate. Good manners make others feel comfortable and are a source of personal power and strength. Be polite. Say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. When you show consideration to others, you make them feel valued.
9. Be on time for meetings. Arrive to meetings a few minutes prior to its start time to send the message that you think the gathering is important. The individual leading the meeting will appreciate your promptness.
10. Speak up when you see behaviors of disrespect. Speak up about observations and experiences of disrespect.  Share the impact that the behavior has on you and your team.  Request the behaviors that you would like to experience and/or observe.  This may take courage and practice, yet speaking up about disrespectful behaviors in a respectful way will earn you respect.
11. Walk the talk of respect. Pay particular attention to the things that you criticize and take an inward look at your own behavior. Demonstrate the behaviors that you desire and admire in others.
12. Honor diversity. Focus on the good traits in everyone. Every personality, including your own, has its positive traits and its negative traits.

Happy Holidays!  Georgine