“It’s the person, not the position that people admire. And it’s behaviour, not title that impresses them to act” (Flagg, 2010). Well said, yet not widely followed. Why is this?
What does respect mean to you? Is it deserved or is it earned? Is it mandatory or is it only optional? The answer to that is actually quite complex when you ask some companies. While most companies are now valuing the quality of the workplace standards of living much higher than past centuries have considered it, some companies are still a bit weary as to what the true meaning of respect really is for them.
Author Donna Flagg posted about a personal experience; when she asked her manager about the minimal progress their company was making, her manager “would complain that their staffers just didn’t give them the respect they ‘deserved’” (Flagg, 2010). In this case, it is safe to imply that to this manager, he/she believes that respect should be mutual. If employees are disrespectful then the manager will be disrespectful, no question to it. It is exactly through this experience that Donna Flagg proposed 3 alternative solutions in order to better the workplace with respect. The first, consistency: trust is a key factor in employer
-employee relationships thus, being two-faced is not a good way to maintain a mutual feeling of trustworthiness and a long-lasting bond. Second, fairness also plays a huge role. Having a favorite employee automatically means you’re disregarding the other workers who could be just as hard-working. It is important to treat everyone with respect. And thirdly, Flagg proposes freedom. A workplace is not a workplace unless it has mutual agreements through trust and respect. Being a controlled manager is a good thing, yet that does not mean the same thing as being a control-freak manager.
Through these three recommendations, it seems as though Flagg’s position on respect is that it must be earned. She claims that “it does not automatically come with the job” (Flagg, 2016). Doesn’t it? I must disagree with Flagg in that I believe respect is deserved. Every employee deserves respect. After all, they made it this far coming into the company, showing that the majority of them have a sense of spirit for working within that workplace, so why don’t they deserve a little credit? In order to maintain or even further the motivating atmosphere in an environment, respect must be present, otherwise your employers will pack up their bags and leave. Personally, I believe that it is absolutely crucial for the employer to show respect at all costs; respect drives a person to do better and respect also strengthens (or even creates) relationships. This important virtue can be a tool used to determine whether a workplace will continue to flourish or perhaps quickly fall.
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