10 Ways To Gain Respect In The Workplace

Ten genuine methods that will help you gain respect in the workplace — from your coworkers, management team, or even clientele.

If you’re getting passed on promotions, talked down to, or just not taken seriously at work, it’s probably because your coworkers and managers don’t respect you.

Earning the respect of your coworkers and management team will earn you popularity, influence, and most likely an increase in position and pay.

Earning the respect of your coworkers is not necessary a difficult thing to do, but it will take time and a little bit of effort. If you follow these 10 ways to earn respect in the workplace, you’ll be getting your promotion in no time!

1. Listen Before You Speak

Listening to others allows you to gather data before making a statement or decision. This is why some of the most successful business leaders in the world tend to be the strongest listeners. They understand that teamwork makes the dream work, and they’ll weigh all of their options before making any decision.

Possessing listening skills in the workplace always goes noticed, and it’s a great way to gain the respect of your customers, supervisors, and coworkers.

2. Be Humble

No matter which industry you’re working in, your coworkers will be able to smell arrogance from a mile away. If you want to gain respect in the workplace, you’ll need to put your ego in check as soon as you walk through the door.

To avoid coming off as arrogant, NEVER do the following:

• Tell people how much you’re able to accomplish in any given time
• Ridicule someone else’s work performance
• Walk around work like you own the place
• Act like you’re above the rules others are expected to abide by

3. Assume The Best

Gaining respect is not just about influencing the way people think about you; It’s also about influencing the way you think about others. If you always assume that the people around you say and do certain things because they’re lazy, foolish, rude, egotistical, etc; Then you may find it challenging obtain their respect.

Even if some of your coworkers are difficult to work with, assuming the best will make you come off as positive, kind, and respectable to others.

4. Be Receptive Of Criticism

Throughout your career, you’re going to run into people that will share with you, their opinions of your work performance, whether you’ve asked them to or not. When this happens, don’t reject what they have to say even if you don’t agree with them. The respectable thing to do is to graciously thank them for their input.

5. Stand Up For Yourself

While avoiding unnecessary confrontation is an excellent skill in the workplace, if you have a coworker dumping their workload onto you constantly, or if someone is telling you to do things that are only in their own best interests, you’ll need to put your foot down.

Stand up for yourself respectfully, without being insulting. If your coworkers see this, most of them will think twice before disrespecting you.

6. Help The People Around You

One of the best ways to earn respect is to make everyone’s job just a little bit easier by you being there.

If you provide value to your work environment, your coworkers will see you as valuable. This will increase your level of respect.

7. Arrive On Time, Leave On Time

This doesn’t mean you have to work more than everyone else; It just means that you need to do your fair share.

Don’t be that person that comes in late on a daily basis, and don’t leave your coworkers there to finish the job, while you go home early.

It will be challenging to maintain respect if you don’t do your fair share and carry your own workload.

8. Don’t Complain Unless Its Necessary

If you constantly complain about every little thing, people will eventually not take what you have to say seriously. They’ll assume that you’re just complaining like every other day.

If you want people to start respecting what you have to say, make sure you save your complaints for something that’s worth complaining about. That way, when you finally do have something to say, people listen.

9. Participate In The Hard Work

Don’t be the guy that always manages to find the easiest task on the to-do list.

When you participate in the heavy workloads, your coworkers will gain admiration and respect for you. Working hard together can be a bonding experience in many situations, people tend to remember who was there with them during hard times.

10. Have A Positive Attitude

The last, but most important way to gain respect in the workplace, is to come to work with a positive attitude.

No-one wants to work with the person that shows up angry and negative for every shift. Instead, walk in to work ready to have a great day and be ready to share your positive energy with the people around you. Your co-workers will want to be around you, and they’ll value you more for it.

Conclusion

Earning the respect from the people in your workplace is truly very simple. Just remember, when using any of these 10 methods, you must be genuine. If you’re not genuine, your coworkers will smell this a mile away and you may end up receiving less respect than when you started.