The perfect culture at your workplace, it all begins with respect!

A typical HR problem that I keep reading or hearing about in different forums is about lack of respect at work places. Being in HR myself and being extremely passionate about driving the right culture, I thought I must express some of my simple views on this entire subject of ‘Respect at work places’. Today’s millennial looks for a fast paced growth in career. The environment that we work in, expects us to speak up, be visible, assertive, go the extra mile and beat the competition in pursuit of greater things or success. While these qualities take precedence, respect and humility at times take a back step, due to which, in most organizations it slowly leads to unnecessary blame games, closed mindsets, unwanted arrogance and fatal internal wars. Thus, affecting the culture and the growth of the company. So why is respect at workplace so important? Mutual respect builds higher and better performances, a positive work environment where everyone enjoys working together and great team spirit. This can only come through actions & behaviors of mutual respect for people and the company’s values. Here are some simple and effective steps to foster respectful interactions at your workplace: 1. ACCEPT – Accept people are different, forget about being perfect and enjoy the difference. 2. LISTEN – Be a patient listener. It is very important to listen to others’ viewpoints; however strong your point of view may be. 3. SPEAK CAREFULLY – Be careful of the words you choose to speak and the body language you express, when you speak. It will help if you use magical words like “You are right.”, “Thankyou”, “Please” and “Sorry” more often. We have to be careful not to hurt anyone’s feelings or integrity. 4. SEEK – Seek honest feedback for continuous improvement- While we should constantly retrospect into our actions, it won’t do any harm to get a third perspective. Ask “How am I doing?” to your peers, colleagues, friends, managers and yes, do include your family too for this question. 5. LEARN – Nobody is ever perfect. We should learn from our mistakes and be willing to receive advice, corrections, and take contributions. Maybe someone’s idea is better than yours. Work together to implement the better idea and learn from that too. 6. SHARE – Share credit for your success with others. Remember sole contributors don’t go a long way. It should all be about “WE” & not “I” or “ME”. 7. SMILE – Keep smiling. A smile is infectious. It spreads positivity and cheer and works like magic to create a happy workplace. 8. MODESTY – Remember that intelligence is in modesty and not in arrogance. Simple advice if thought through and implemented by every individual in a company, will not only help individuals to grow professionally and personally, but will lead to a great company with a great culture.

Author: Sujatha Bhambure, HR – Business Partner