What the Workplace Needs Now – Respect
by Santo D. Marabella, The Practical Prof®
This column was first published in the Reading Eagle on June 14, 2026.
Third in our series “What the Workplace Needs Now” is Respect. We describe what respect at work looks like, the cost of disrespect and ways to cultivate respect in the workplace.
Trigger Warning: This column contains pro diversity, equity and inclusion concepts and strategies and may not be comfortable for readers who are threatened by challenges to their unearned dominance in the world of work!
Now that you know what’s ahead, let’s dig in.
What respect looks like
It looks like friendly, easy communication in a work environment where others are included, heard and appreciated for what they bring to the workplace — skills, personality, knowledge and experience. Respect acknowledges and honors boundaries, limitations and preferences — professional and personal.
In a workplace where respect flourishes, the research demonstrates its value. Here’s what the research says about the benefits of respect:
- “fostering civility (respect) in the workplace yields high value in organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and mental health, while significantly reducing intention to quit, burnout, and absenteeism” (Frontiers in Psychology, 2023)
- “respectful communication is more crucial for retention than traditional ‘fun’ perks” (University of Missouri and Kansas State University, 2021)
- “employees with a strong sense of belonging (rooted in respect) are 22 times more likely to be fully engaged and three times more likely to stay with their organization” (Perceptyx, 2025)
It’s fairly easy to respect someone you agree with or relate to because of similarities in personality, style or backgrounds. Their opinion reinforces what we already believe. Not so easy when there is no like-mindedness or when we disagree; or, if the person is different in any of the ways so frequently identified by landmark civil rights laws and practices. You know, differences like color, religion, ethnicity, orientation, and gender identity.
Costs of disrespect
In a 2025 Gallop study that touted the connection between employee engagement and feeling respected, they also found that “only 37% of U.S. employees strongly agreed they were treated with respect, signaling a critical need for improvement.”
The costs of disrespect are simply stated — money lost.And, since that seems to be the primary driver of many of the most visible corporations in the U.S. over quality, service and excellence, it should probably grab the attention of even the most mercenary corporate entities.
And how much money?About $2 billion a day in lost productivity — specifically from absenteeism, low morale and lost output — reports FORTUNE.A Society for Human Resources Management Civility Index research found that “U.S. workers collectively experience 208 million ‘acts of incivility’ each day, a figure that rose sharply around the 2024 election season and remains near record highs.” Sound familiar? You may recall on several occasions where I stated that the impact of external (outside companies) leader behavior, particularly as we have seen from political leaders, extends to the internal behaviors of leaders and employees in the workplace.
Cultivating respect in the workplace
Despite many reasons for concern, I am optimistic. I believe the “sleepy” workplace of disrespect barely sports a pulse. It’s no match for the newer generation of leaders and managers. I’ve been teaching them for 30+ years, and they’re gladly abiding by the DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) that “woke” folks have branded disrespectful workplaces and their practices.
The Center for Creative Leadership believes that a “culture of respect is a continuing process of paying attention to people.” Here are some ways to cultivate a respectful workplace, and you don’t have to lead the organization to create respect:
- Know your biases about people; not to beat yourself over, but to manage them transparently
- Assess ideas and the people who pitch them objectively, open-mindedly and nonjudgmentally
- Be authentically interested in and appreciative of others’ perspectives, knowledge, skills, and abilities; seek them out, not just tolerate them
- Include others in decision-making, creating, developing and evaluating
- Demonstrate transparency in communications; not spilling corporate secrets, just making sure everyone knows what everyone should know
- Call out disrespectful behavior; directly (if in a position to do so) or indirectly to your manager/supervisor
- Express empathy; it’s not enough to feel it, we must show it; despite what pseudo thoughtleaders claim, empathy is not the “fundamental weakness of Western civilization,” but avarice might be.
- I know today’s lesson may have irritated some readers who disagree with me. That’s okay — I respect you!
Next Column: What the Workplace Needs Now — Sharing!
Dr. Santo D. Marabella, The Practical Prof, who has been writing Office Hours columns since 2012, is a professor emeritus of management at Moravian University and hosts the podcast “Lessons with The Practical Prof.” His latest book, “The Lessons of Caring” is written to inspire and support caregivers (available in paperback and eBook). Website: ThePracticalProf.com; Facebook: ThePracticalProf; Instagram: @ThePracticalProf
SOURCES & FURTHER READING:
The Power of Respect. (Jan 20, 2025). The Center for Creative Leadership
https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/the-power-of-respect/
Respect in the workplace: Tips for leaders and employees.
Nick Lichtenberg. 2025. Business loses $2 billion a day from office rudeness, study says. Is your workplace ‘civil?’ Fortune.
https://fortune.com/2025/08/31/lack-civility-rudeness-workplace-culture-lost-productivity-shrm/
Xue Peng. Advancing Workplace Civility: a systematic review and meta-analysis of definitions, measurements, and associated factors. 2023. Frontiers in Psychology.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10666190/#sec29
Ryan Pendell. 2025. Respect at Work Returns to a Record Low. Gallop
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/655040/respect-work-returns-record-low.aspx
Eric Stann. 2021. Study: Young workers now value respect over ‘fun’ perks in the workplace. University of Missouri.