How Respect Wins Over Fear in Teams
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| Figure 1: Employees hiding at workplace |
Take a moment to think about your relationship with your parents. Since when we were infants, we pay special attention to instructions of our parents both voluntarily and involuntarily unlike we do for other people in our lives. Did we do that out of fear for them or respect for them? Now, think about the relationship you had with your schoolteachers. Was it fear or respect?
Oftentimes, you may realise that it was
indeed fear that made us pay special attention to our parents and teachers when
we were young and made us complete tasks and change behaviours. However, as we
grow up, the fear simply loses its place and gets replaced by respect. As an
adult, it is seldom that fear works at all. Imagine how much nicer most parts
of the world that are considered hostile today would be if people actually
feared the authorities, punishments for breaking rules, karma, or simply
about doing the bad thing.
On the contrary, if you have ever visited countries like Sweden where citizens have very high respect towards each other, systems, and processes, you will find it more attractive as a place to live and start to be more respectful yourself automatically as well (ACMC, 2023). So, in hindsight, respect is somewhat contagious in a good way compared to fear and could be helpful in working with each other in a group.
While this is the case, there are many
organisations that still think fear is needed to get things done. The author has observed that fear-infused organisational cultures often follow carrots-and-sticks approach to maintain
performance and productivity. However, this approach cannot engage employees in
the long term and quickly tunes out the teams. These cultures often have
hierarchical management that pays less attention to the voices of the employees.
Employees often come to work expecting to perform the minimal required to earn
the previously agreed upon remuneration. There is high conflict and often burnout among team members mostly due to the conflicts being left unaddressed. Creativity
is also often absent in these organisations
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| Figure 2: Respect, Trust, and Job Satisfaction Cycle (Bilginoğlu, et al., 2019) |
Creating respect among employees and
especially between employees and leaders is not easy. While fear is easy to
create via methods like punishments, there is no specific way to create
respect. Respect is earned and generated through the day-to-day interactions. Trust
also plays an important role in respect-driven cultures
While respect has many places of origins, in
organisations and professional environments, the author has seen that respect is often earned by strong
domain expertise and ethical behaviour. However, how these characteristics are
expressed in day-to-day interactions matter the most. For example, if someone
has a strong domain expertise but always look down on others or not emotionally
intelligent, there is a high possibility that such interactions earn no respect.
However, the emotional intelligence alone may not be sufficient to earn the
respect either. The author has also witnessed that employees often mimic leadership’s behaviour. If the leadership
is hostile, it is seldom that employees are any different. Leaders need to be
emotionally intelligent and need to invest in building a culture that listens to
employees and builds trust within the organisation.
Our goal as Human Resource Management (HRM) practitioners is to build psychologically safe workplaces that operate at peak productivity. Fear has no place in such environments. In our regular temperature checks, we need to measure the levels of respect and trust within the teams to be aware about the organisation’s health. We need to educate leaders and low-level managers about the importance of respect and trust and empower them to embed those values into their teams. This way, it is possible to form better teams and organisations to achieve great results.
References
ACMC, E. S. C., 2023. Most
Respected Countries In The World 2023: Top 11 Most Reputable. [Online]
Available at: https://bscholarly.com/most-respected-countries-in-the-world/
[Accessed 31 July 2023].
Babbar, S.,
2019. How to overcome fear of rejection at work. [Art] (INTHEBLACK
Digital Magazine).
Bilginoğlu,
E., Yozgat, U. & Artan, İ. E., 2019. Respect and Trust in Organizations:
A Research About Their Effect on Job Satisfaction. OPUS International
Journal of Society Researches, Volume 12, pp. 527-543.
Tom
Flick Communications, 2023. Fear vs. Respect: Why Leading Through Fear is
Never the Answer. [Online]
Available at: https://tomflick.com/2015/12/02/fear-vs-respect-why-leading-through-fear-is-never-the-answer/
[Accessed 31 July 2023].
Interesting, hope the working environment will be popular in Asian countries
ReplyDeleteRespect, I feel, is a sustainable strategy in contemporary businesses such that employees are motivated and will go above and beyond the aim but fear of the management only shakes of performing job for compensation.
ReplyDeleteare you agree with me ?
Yes, Mohamed, agreed. With fear, employees will resort to just doing the tasks required to keep their job and to keep their managers happy. The only motivation will be to keep the job and a lot of value will be lost due to lack of idea generation and skill advancement.
DeleteGaining respect within an organization group is more effective and easier than fear. In order to apply the law to a fault, must to identify fault and the person or persons who committed the fault must be identified. Offenses go undetected and resort to tricks to escape minor penalties and loopholes in the law. But the opposite happens in the bond of respect. Then the employees will always serve honestly and enthusiastically. Make it easier to reach every goal by keeping the respect in a group.
ReplyDeleteGaining respect within an organization group is more effective and easier than fear. In order to apply the law to a fault, must be identify fault and the person or persons who committed the fault must be identified. Offenses go undetected and resort to tricks to escape minor penalties and loopholes in the law. But the opposite happens in the bond of respect. Then the employees will always serve honestly and enthusiastically. Make it easier to reach every goal by keeping the respect in a group.
ReplyDeletethis is a good article which is useful. Respect cannot be earned forcefully but it depends on attitude and behavior. Fair decision making and committed working toward achieving organization goal is another path to gain respect.
ReplyDeleteRespect builds trust among team members and between employees and leaders. When employees feel respected, they are more likely to feel psychologically safe, which enables them to take risks, share ideas, and learn from mistakes without fear of negative consequences.
ReplyDelete" Our goal as Human Resource Management (HRM) practitioners is to build psychologically safe workplaces that operate at peak productivity. Fear has no place in such environments. In our regular temperature checks, we need to measure the levels of respect and trust within the teams to be aware about the organisation’s health. We need to educate leaders and low-level managers about the importance of respect and trust and empower them to embed those values into their teams. This way, I believe we can form better teams and organisations to achieve great results." this is clearly mention on your blog.
ReplyDeleteits good article & useful for every industry, and article explain thinking out of the box, appreciate it
ReplyDeleteThe blog post delves into the contrast between fear and respect as motivators within organizations. It emphasizes how fear, though effective in childhood, loses its efficacy in adulthood and argues that respect is a more constructive driver.
ReplyDeleteEmployees that feel unstressed and respected are more confident about sharing ideas and working with their colleagues to achieve their goals. Good adding
ReplyDeleteEmployees that feel unstressed and respected are more confident about sharing ideas and working with their colleagues to achieve their goals. Good adding
Delete
ReplyDeleteEmployees that feel unstressed and respected are more confident about sharing ideas and working with their colleagues to achieve their goals. Good adding.