Do Your Employees Feel Respected?

当被问及最在乎什么，员工最常见的答案之一是：“得到上级的尊重”。但，管理层可能根本意识不到这个问题。同时，领导者对工作场合的尊重理解不够全面，因此，哪怕抱着良好目的，下力气来改善尊重状况，也远远不够。

When you ask workers what matters most to them, feeling respected by superiors often tops the list. Although employees who aren’t shown respect are acutely aware of its absence. And a bigger issue is that leaders have an incomplete understanding of what constitutes workplace respect—so even well-meaning efforts to provide a respectful workplace may fall short.

我的研究表明，员工在意两种截然不同的尊重。团队或组织中所有成员需要无差别获得“应得的尊重”，被接纳是他们共同的诉求。应得尊重的表现是：彬彬有礼以及承认团队中所有成员价值的良好氛围。缺乏应得尊重的环境里，通常会存在“泰罗式”（Tayloristic，是费雷德里克·泰罗在20世纪初创建的科学管理理论体系，主要内容包括管理的根本目的在于提高效率——译者注）的过分监督和过度管理，无礼行为以及滥用权力，并产生员工可相互替换的氛围。

My research indicates that employees value two distinct types of respect. Owed respect is accorded equally to all members of a work group or an organization; it meets the universal need to feel included. It’s signaled by civility and an atmosphere suggesting that every member of the group is inherently valuable. In environments with too little owed respect, we typically see Tayloristic overmonitoring and micromanagement, incivility and abuse of power, and a sense that employees are interchangeable. 

“赢得的尊重”认可表现出可贵品质或行为的员工，区分出表现可圈可点的员工，并肯定每位员工都有独特的长处和才干（在知识类工作环境中尤需如此）。赢得的尊重能满足优秀工作被认可的需求。窃取别人的胜利果实，或者忽视员工取得的成绩等现象，说明组织中缺乏赢得的尊重。

Earned respect recognizes individual employees who display valued qualities or behaviors. It distinguishes employees who have exceeded expectations and, particularly in knowledge work settings, affirms that each employee has unique strengths and talents. Earned respect meets the need to be valued for doing good work. Stealing credit for others’ success and failing to recognize employees’ achievements are signs that it is lacking.

营造尊重他人氛围的一个微妙挑战是——在应得的尊重和赢得的尊重之间找到平衡。正如亚利桑那州立大学的布莱克·阿什弗斯（Blake Ashforth）和我在合著论文中所述，两种尊重失衡会让员工感到挫败。

One of the subtler challenges in creating a respectful atmosphere is finding the right balance between the two types of respect. As Arizona State University’s Blake Ashforth and I wrote in a recent paper, an imbalance can create frustration for workers.

例如，当工作环境中应得的尊重远超过赢得的尊重，员工会发现所有人无论表现如何，待遇都相同，因此不再愿以个人成就为重。当需要实现集体目标时，这种比例或许正确，但也存在打击个人积极性和有损问责的风险。

For example, workplaces with lots of owed respect but little earned respect can make individual achievement a low priority for employees, because they perceive that everyone will be treated the same regardless of performance. That could be the right mix for settings in which goals need to be accomplished as a team, but it risks reducing motivation and accountability.

而与之相反，当工作环境中赢得的尊重远超过应得的尊重，易导致员工间过度竞争。在互动或合作不多的环境下，比如某些销售团队中，这种比例或许有些帮助，但也会阻碍员工分享关键成败经验，并助长恶性竞争和零和行为。一旦意识到个中微妙，领导者就能营造出适合现状的尊重环境——大多数情况下，两种尊重都需要达到相当高度。

By contrast, workplaces with low owed respect but high earned respect can encourage excessive competition among employees. That may serve a purpose in environments, such as some sales forces, where workers have little interdependence or reason to collaborate. But it could hinder people from sharing critical knowledge about their successes and failures, and it often promotes cutthroat, zero-sum behavior. When they understand these nuances, leaders can craft an environment that is right for their situation—in most cases, one with high levels of both kinds of respect.

因为人们的岗位往往对他们的身份认同和自我认知极为重要，职场中关于尊重的细节都是反映社会价值的重要信号。此外，员工加入企业，通常希望通过职业成长和完善自己，逐渐在企业中获得认同。在这一过程中，尊重构建了重要的反馈机制，起到了催化剂的作用。

Because people’s jobs are often central to who they are and how they perceive themselves, respectful cues in a professional setting are important signals of social worth. What’s more, employees often join organizations in the hope of developing their identities over time, by growing professionally and becoming better versions of themselves. Respect is an important feedback mechanism and catalyst for this growth. 

尊重他人的工作环境能为组织带来巨大好处。认为自己受到尊重的员工对自己的工作更满意，对公司更感激、更忠诚。他们还会更具复原力，与他人合作更多，业绩更好，更具创造性，而且更愿意接纳领导指示。

A respectful workplace brings enormous benefits to organizations. Employees who say they feel respected are more satisfied with their jobs and more grateful for—and loyal to—their companies. They are more resilient, cooperate more with others, perform better and more creatively, and are more likely to take direction from their leaders.

反之，缺乏尊重会导致实实在在的损失。研究显示：遭到不敬对待的员工中，80%的人花费大量的工作时间反复思索这种不良行为，48%的人故意减少付出的努力。此外，不敬对待还会在同事间蔓延，甚至影响到顾客身上。

Conversely, a lack of respect can inflict real damage. Research supports this assertion, finding that 80% of employees treated uncivilly spend significant work time ruminating on the bad behavior, and 48% deliberately reduce their effort. In addition, disrespectful treatment often spreads among coworkers and is taken out on customers.

缩小差距

Closing the Gap

一些清洁工人从未得到其他工作人员认可，这让他们觉得被视若无睹，或者他们不属于医院工作体系的一部分，只是顺道的访客。另一些人则表示，医生的简单问候或为他们扶一下门，都能让他们精神振奋，增加自信。

Some cleaners were never acknowledged by other staff members, making them feel invisible or as though they were looking in on hospital operations from the outside. Others reported a boost in energy and worth from a doctor’s simply greeting them or holding a door.

即使在声名远扬的公司，应得的尊重也是头等大事。一位苹果销售助理在2011年一篇博客描述了他对CEO的第一印象:“蒂姆·库克从不会觉得任何问题愚蠢。当他回答我时，他对我说话的态度，好像我是苹果最重要的人。不夸张地说，他对我说话的样子，好像我是乔布斯本人。比如他的样子、语气、长时间的停顿... ...从那天起，我开始觉得自己不再是一个可替换的零件。我是苹果中数以万计不可或缺的部分之一。”花点时间考虑一下你的职业地位是否阻碍你觉察尊重上的差距，并注意到哪怕领导者一句简单的认可或表扬，都往往足以使员工感到自己受到重视。

Even in prestigious companies, issues of owed respect are top of mind. An Apple sales associate described his first impression of the company’s CEO in a 2011 blog: “For Tim Cook there are no dumb questions. When he answered me he spoke to me as if I were the most important person at Apple. Indeed, he addressed me as if I were Steve Jobs himself. His look, his tone, the long pause…that’s the day I began to feel like more than just a replaceable part. I was one of the tens of thousands of integral parts of Apple.” Take a moment to consider whether your professional status is keeping you from perceiving a gap in respect, and note that simple acknowledgment or praise from a leader is often enough to make an employee feel valued.

管理者应注意传达尊重的标准。不同部门中，这些标准可能会有所不同。也许在你以前的工作场所，人们通过与同事在清晨寒暄以示尊重；但在新环境里你会发现在开始工作的关键时刻这样做，会令人分心，而非尊重。或者在以前的环境中，在排演客户汇报时提出表扬和批评意见都表示尊重，但现在的同事会觉得这是种冒犯。

Pay attention to norms about how to convey respect; they may vary, even from one department to another. Perhaps people in your previous workplace signaled owed respect by exchanging morning pleasantries with colleagues, but those in your new workplace would find that a rude distraction during the critical start to the workday. Or maybe in your prior environment providing both praise and critical feedback during practice sessions for client presentations was considered an expression of earned respect, but your current colleagues would see that as offensive.

03. 认识到尊重具有连锁反应

03. Recognize that respect has ripple effects.

05. 认识到尊重是无限的

05. Think of respect as infinite.

组织的所有成员都有权获得应得的尊重，符合或超过业绩标准的员工有资格获得赢得的尊重。员工在组织结构图上的位置不能决定他／她值得多少尊重。门卫和 CEO获得同等的应得尊重，赢得的尊重则应达到或超过某人具体职责的标准。

All members of an organization are entitled to the former, and all employees who meet or surpass performance standards deserve the latter. And an employee’s place on the org chart makes him or her no more or less deserving of respect. Owed respect should be accorded to janitor and CEO alike, and earned respect should be based on meeting or exceeding standards specific to one’s role.

06. 认识到尊重能节约时间而非浪费时间

06. See respect as a time saver, not a time waster.​

波莱斯表示，忽视尊重所要付出的代价，比重视尊重大得多。据她估计，《财富》1000强公司的领导和高管年均花在处理不敬行为后果上的时间长达七周。与这七周相比，认可员工表现、问候他人或帮人扶门所花的时间微不足道。

Porath shows that neglecting respect can be far more costly than attending to it: Dealing with the aftermath of disrespectful behavior, she estimates, consumes seven weeks a year for leaders and executives in Fortune 1000 firms. The time and effort needed to recognize performance, greet others, or hold a door pale in comparison.

最后，要避免让不够格的人获得赢得的尊重，没人会对此产生共鸣。有员工这样说：“你并不想要空洞的恭维.....而是货真价实的赞美。”因为员工把诚实视为最有价值的尊重表达方式之一，所以无论初衷多么好，不真诚的赞美都会适得其反。

Finally, you should guard against earned respect that is not actually deserved; it won’t resonate. One Televerde employee put it this way: “It’s not like you want constant empty compliments….I’m looking to give you a valuable job.” Because employees see honesty as one of the most valuable expressions of respect, insincere compliments, however well-intentioned, are likely to be counterproductive.

为合适的工作找到合适的人并协调日常工作是经理的庄严职责。然而正如我的研究所表明，责任并未到此结束：管理者也必须建立充满尊重的工作场所，让员工以及他们的公司成为最好的自己。

Finding the right people for the right jobs and coordinating day-to-day operations are a manager’s solemn duty. As my research shows, however, the responsibilities don’t end there: Managers must also build a workplace of respect that allows employees—and, as a result, their companies—to become the best possible versions of themselves.