Respect is an essential component of a healthy company culture. Ensuring employees feel heard and that their thoughts and opinions matter helps to build a stable workforce that enables continued growth. Respect comes in many forms and can be communicated in a variety of ways. Learning the following techniques and considerations can help your team build trust, avoid incidents of disrespect and enable everyone to work as a cohesive unit.

“Respect means that you accept somebody for who they are, even when they're different from you or you don't agree with them. Respect in your relationships builds feelings of trust, safety, and wellbeing. Respect doesn't have to come naturally – it is something you learn.”

"Respect is a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements."

"Respect is due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights, or traditions of others."

Knowing what respect is and having respect for someone is meaningless unless you show it.  Here are several ways to show your friends and colleagues you respect them:

• Listen to what everyone has to say
• Pay attention to nonverbal communication
• Practice transparency
• Recognize the strengths and accomplishments of others
• Value the time and workloads of others
• Delegate meaningful work
• Practice common courtesy and politeness
• Prevent bias (even implicit bias)
• Include everyone in meetings, discussions and celebrations
• Consider how others view you and your actions
• Help your peers
• Listen, really listen without interrupting
• Make eye contact (not piercing eye contact… make sure it’s comfortable for the other person)
• Validate what was said by repeating back in your own words
• Focus on what is being said: Don’t think of what you will say next
• If you need to take notes, ask for permission (if I want to take notes to remember what you said, would that make you feel respected?)
• Find an item that you agree with and tell them you agree with them
• When you don’t agree, ask questions to help clarify or validate your intuition
• Show interest in what is being said (nod, make eye contact, smile, ask questions)
• Present your point of view as “another way of looking at things”
• Ask their opinion

Here at Winn we pride ourselves on a dynamic company culture based on the Fish Philosophy. The four practices of the The FISH! Philosophy include:

• Be There - Be emotionally present for people. It’s a powerful message of respect that improves communication and strengthens relationships.
• Play - Tap into your natural way of being creative, enthusiastic and having fun. Play is the spirit that drives the curious mind, as in “Let’s play with that idea!” You can bring this mindset to everything you do.
• Make Their Day - Find simple ways to serve or delight people in a meaningful, memorable way. It’s about contributing to someone else’s life—not because you want something, but because that’s the person you want to be.
• Choose Your Attitude - Take responsibility for how you respond to what life throws at you. Your choice affects others. Ask yourself: “Is my attitude helping my team or my customers? Is it helping me to be the person I want to be?”

Instilling these principles within your team from the moment they become a member of your organization can make a world of difference in employee morale and productivity. Here at Winn we show a video that outlines the story behind the philosophy and discuss it with each new training class and regularly preach them throughout our company meetings and email communication.

These are just some of the basic ways you can show respect to your team members and encourage mutual respect among all members of your organization. These tips aren’t just for the office, they are important social skills to learn to manager people’s perception of your character. Respect should be given, not earned, and everyone deserves it.