Many Employees Are Being Disrespected At Work: It’s Time to Re-Center Respect.
Most Employees Experience Disrespect at work
Interactions with Clients & customers may be more respectful than those with coworkers and managers
Data from our Global Respect Survey conducted October to December, 2024.
To participate in the 2025 survey, click here.
Respect Magically Powers Employee Experience
Precondition for trust1
A top reason employees stay (or leave)2
Induces sense of inclusion3
Top predictor of employee perceptions of culture4
Buffer Against Discriminatory & Harssing Behaviors5
Impacts customer experience6
- Dunning, D., Fetchenhauer, D., & Schlösser, T. (2016). The psychology of respect: A case study of how behavioral norms regulate human action. In A. J. Elliot (Ed.), Advances in motivation science (pp. 1–34). Elsevier Academic Press.
- Parker, k., & Horowitz, J. M. (2022, March 9). Majority of workers who quit a job ... Pew Research Center.
- Ellemers, N., Sleebos, E., Stam, D., & de Gilder, D. (2013). Feeling included and valued: How perceived respect affects positive team identity and willingness to invest in the team. British Journal of Management, 24(1), 21-37.
- Sull, et al. (2022).Why Every Leader Needs to Worry About Toxic Culture.
- Source: Pendell, R. (2025, January 13). Respect at Work Returns to a Record Low. Gallup.
- Ashworth, L., & Bourassa, M. A. (2020). Inferred respect: a critical ingredient in customer satisfaction. European Journal of Marketing, 54(10), 2447-2476.
Yet, Workplace Respect Is Low and Declining
Why does this matter?
... because culture is how people in a company make daily decisions even without being told what to do. When employees feel respected, it influences how they act, whether they speak up, take risks, or work with others. When employees feel respected, they make choices that help the company succeed. When 63% feel disrespected, there is a high risk that many employees will make decisions that are counter to or not in step with your business goals.
Source: Pendell, R. (2025, January 13). Respect at Work Returns to a Record Low. Gallup.
There is a better way: Let’s Recenter Respect!
Employees Feel Respected When They are Seen, Heard, and Valued
REDI Model from the book "Leading Inclusion”. ©2022-2023 by Gena Cox. All rights reserved.
Workshops and Speaking
The Surprising Power of Respect
Sub-Title: Powering Leadership Impact & Influence
The Power of Respect for Disrupted Times
Sub-Title: Strategies for Workplace Harmony and Collaboration
Employee Experience in Harmony
Sub-Title: How Playing Together Enhances Collaboration & Respect
Use the REDI "Respect First" Model
Put Respect first in all your inclusion efforts. Without it, diversity and equity are not possible or sustainable.
2025 Global Respect Survey (It's anonymous)
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Gena's Insights About Respect
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Leading Inclusion is a multiple award-winning "how-to-be" book that helps leaders understand and remove the barriers to building inclusive organizations.
Build an inclusive organization from the top down.
Why are workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts often disappointing?
This plain-spoken-yet-nuanced guide shows leaders how to set and incorporate a vision for diversity and inclusion that enables marginalized employees to see and feel the difference in their day-to-day work experiences. Leading Inclusion challenges many preexisting beliefs about how to lead “diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)” and urges leaders to develop the necessary mindset for bold action this work requires.
Leading Inclusion offers a strategic way to forestall disappointing diversity and inclusion outcomes.
