These are the things that respect means to us, it is important that there is respect between employees and management because management expect a good days work, and employees expect to be paid regularly and on time as per the psychological contract.
The psychological contract is in reality how a days work is perceived by both employer and employee, it may be more influential than the formal contract that is written down on a piece of paper, it effectively is what is expected of an employee on a day to day basis. It is not an enforced contract however if you give the right attitude and show this in your work you will be shown more appreciation by your employer.
In any job there will be rules and codes that must be adhered to and dressing appropriately at work using the dress code shows respect, a good attitude and presentation of yourself.
Communicating respect doesn’t just mean how you speak to someone, it is also shown in your body language towards that person.
The saying ‘ Show some respect’ means that respect is definitely something you demonstrate, the best way to do this is through your actions as they also say ‘actions speak louder than words’, the key to showing respect to a colleague is to give them your undivided attention, whether you’re a fantastic multi-tasker or not, looking your colleague directly in the eye and nodding on the odd occasion, it shows that you are fully listening to what they are saying and even if you completely disagree with it avoid rolling your eyes and sighs of boredom as this is shown as lack of respect and maturity.
A few more things to remember:
Never put anyone down for making a mistake-it just belittles them
Do not criticize but be honest-honesty really is the best policy
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion do not judge someone if their opinion is different to yours.
At work everyone has different roles within the company, some of which will be at different levels and have different abilities. No matter what your job title is you should always treat every member of your team as equally as you would anyone else. No matter what colour, race, sexuality or whatever background you come from everyone has the right to be treated equally and with respect at work or anywhere else.
All employees of a business have certain basic statutory rights that they legally must be given, these include the right to the national minimum wage, paid holidays and various options of support for childcare and maternity/paternity leave. These rights make sure everyone is treated fairly, at least on a basic level and even though it is enforced it shows respect from an employer to its employee.
You should show respect to all members of the team within the working environment (even Harry!). We (being the Apprentices) would expect Jennifer to listen to us in the same way that she would listen to the management team (Jenni, Catherine and Charlotte), this is a sign of respect to all employees regardless of status. There are various ways in which you can show disrespect for your colleagues: these include, not cleaning up after yourself in the kitchen, ignoring someone, taking the last of something without replacing it (e.g. toilet rolls in the ladies toilets), complaining about someone behind their back and having loud telephone conversations in the office environment.
Bullying isn’t against the law, but harassment is and covers against the following (point to slide, no need to read out). If you’re feeling bullied or harassed speak with your manager immediately!
Obviously it is always important to clean up after yourself, for health and safety reasons and it is always nicer to work in a clean environment.
As some of us know it is not fair to go to the bathroom to find that there is no toilet paper to use.
It’s important to let managers know if you are going to be late or not in at all because they might worry about you and for all they know something awful could have happened as per our company handbook you should ensure you let someone know if you are not going to make it into work half an hour before your start time.
This means that every manager or superiors door will always be open to any colleague, this is to encourage more communication, feedback and discussion about any matter of importance to a colleague, personal or work related.