Employees who Expect to be Disrespected
By: Gerald Finch
Tags: Productivity, Engagement, Respect, Leadership, Management

Employees who Expect to be Disrespected

Pixabay

One of the first things managers and supervisors need to do is accept that some employees expect to be respected and others expect to be disrespected! What factors influence the impact of respect and disrespect? They appear to fall into these categories:

Educational level and job position

Employees in lower-level jobs and those with lower education appear to expect to be disrespected much more than the more educated workers. And the converse seems to be true. Higher educated employees anticipate being respected much more than their lower-educated colleagues. Similarly, employees in lower positions (basic services employees) expect to be disrespected more than employees in higher-level positions.

Should managers try to raise expectations of being respected with the lower-educated and lower-position employees? Yes and no. If managers are successful in doing this, they may create a double-edged sword. If they increase expectations of respect but do not provide it, the impact of disrespect could be even more severe.

So how do organizations suffer from the disengagement of lower-level workers? When lower-level employees are disrespected, they report the highest decrease in effort, commitment, enthusiasm, energy, and work during discretionary time than any other job category! How could this be if they expect to be disrespected? Is it because actual disrespect confirms their expectations resulting in these negative disengagement behaviors? Or is it caused by managers who observe these negative employee behaviors and respond with increased disrespect instead of respect?

In comparison, managers, professionals, and highly educated employees report the sharpest decrease in engagement by leaving the organization or wanting to leave. Perhaps this is because they have more job opportunities than the lower-level employees. Or is it because they are more hopeful of finding employment with increased respect.

Age

Younger employees expect more respect. Older employees have less expectations of being respected. It appears that more senior employees believe that disrespect is just part of the job. Disrespect is routine and must be accepted if they want to work. So, younger employees’ engagement is much more negatively affected than is the engagement of older employees.

We have discussed the importance of respecting employees, but we have not defined what respectful behavior is.

Pixabay — -The 3 pillars of respect

What is respectful behavior toward employees? There are three categories of respectful behavior:

· Informational respect. Managers must adequately explain the rationale for decisions and provide information in a timely and truthful way.

· Procedural respect. Managers and organizations must treat fairly and provide transparency in their decision-making processes. An example would be fair or unfair employee evaluation systems and the presence or absence of employee participation in decisions.

· Interpersonal respect. Managers must treat people with respect, dignity, and sensitivity.

Conclusion

All employees will reduce their engagement when they are disrespected. This disengagement and reduced productivity occur through decreases in effort, commitment, enthusiasm, energy, work during their discretionary time, and employee turnover. But, younger, well-educated, and higher-position employees expect to be respected more than their other coworkers and merit special managerial attention.

Written by

Gerald L. Finch, PhD

Fostering organizational respect through research and training. Professor of Management and Psychology at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Co-director of The Respect Project — Latin America, and an advisor to The Center for Respectful Leadership. gfinch@usfq.edu.ec or geraldfinch5@gmail.com.