Viewpoint Why Respect Dignity And Kindness Are Foundational Shrm

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Oct 30, 2025, 4:12 AM

viewpoint why respect dignity and kindness are foundational shrm

As a SHRM Member®, you’ll pave the path of your success with invaluable resources, world-class educational opportunities and premier events. Demonstrate your ability to apply HR principles to real-life situations. Stand out from among your HR peers with the skills obtained from a SHRM Seminar. Demonstrate targeted competence and enhance your HR credibility. Designed and delivered by HR experts to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need to drive lasting change in the workplace. As a member of SHRM, I’ve had the opportunity to read many interesting and insightful articles featured on their website.

I want to mention one recent piece that really resonated with me. In Why Respect, Dignity and Kindness Are Foundational Workplace Principles, Raquelle Solon discusses the importance of creating a welcoming work environment free of hostility. One of the primary reasons I enjoyed this article is because it explains how we, as HR professionals, can act proactively to prevent hostility by treating people with respect, dignity, and kindness. The author presents a scenario to help explain the importance of respect, dignity, and kindness. Solon tells the story of a new manager who joins the office and spreads his negativity, harshness, and lack of respect to other employees in the office. As a result, several employees choose to leave the new manager’s team, and others begin to take on some of the new manager’s qualities.

The author reveals that the new manager’s “overwhelming negativity threw a wrench into a once strong team and threatened to break it down into an unproductive group of individuals.” The scenario described in the last paragraph spotlights how a lack of respect, dignity, and kindness can destroy office relations and productivity. Could this situation have been avoided? I totally agree with Solon’s affirmative answer to that question. “When building a team, it is important to establish respect, dignity and kindness as foundational principles. This will very likely increase productivity and reduce the risk of violent workplace behaviors.

When employees feel respected and treated with dignity, they are more likely to treat co-workers and customers the same way.” Utilizing these values leads to a much more civilized and pleasant work environment and in my opinion, results in more cooperation, teamwork, and involvement by employees. As stated in the article, focusing on respect, dignity and kindness is also a great foundation for a positive company culture. As a member of SHRM, I’ve had the opportunity to read many insightful articles featured on their website. I want to tell you about one recent piece that really resonated with me. In Why Respect, Dignity and Kindness Are Foundational Workplace Principles, Raquelle Solon discusses the importance of creating a welcoming work environment free of hostility.

One of the primary reasons I enjoyed this article is because it explains how we, as HR professionals, can act proactively to prevent hostility by treating people with respect, dignity, and kindness. The author presents a scenario to help explain the importance of respect, dignity, and kindness. Solon tells the story of a new manager who joins the office and spreads his negativity, harshness, and lack of respect to other employees in the office. As a result, several employees choose to leave the new manager’s team, and others begin to take on some of the new manager’s qualities. The author reveals that the new manager’s “overwhelming negativity threw a wrench into a once strong team and threatened to break it down into an unproductive group of individuals.” The scenario described in the last paragraph shows how a lack of respect, dignity, and kindness can destroy office relations and productivity.

Could this situation have been avoided? I totally agree with Solon’s affirmative answer to that question. “When building a team, it is important to establish respect, dignity and kindness as foundational principles. This will very likely increase productivity and reduce the risk of violent workplace behaviors. When employees feel respected and treated with dignity, they are more likely to treat co-workers and customers the same way.” Using these values leads to a much more civilized and pleasant work environment and, in my opinion, results in more cooperation, teamwork, and involvement by employees.

As stated in the article, focusing on respect, dignity and kindness is also a great foundation for a positive company culture. What actions help create a hostile working environment? Corporate leadership shouldn’t wait until disruptive incidents occur to focus on the state of their workplace environment. Read this blog post to learn more. SHRM has partnered with Security Management magazine to bring you relevant articles on key HR topics and strategies. This is the #MeToo era.

The great wave of public accusations involving inappropriate conduct such as sexual harassment between managers, employees and co-workers has washed over U.S. workplaces, unsettling everything in its wake. But sexual harassment is not the only conduct that can help turn a working environment hostile. Given this, employers who take action now to help establish and solidify a welcoming and hostility-free work environment will be better positioned for the future. Such actions can come in many forms, ranging from zero-tolerance anti-harassment policies and violence prevention training to diversity task forces and team-building exercises. While they vary, these actions all benefit from a proactive approach.

Opposing views and opinions are inevitable among a diverse workforce, but leaders of organizations should not wait until disruptive incidents break out before focusing on the state of the workplace environment. Instead, they can start immediately. As a SHRM Member®, you’ll pave the path of your success with invaluable resources, world-class educational opportunities and premier events. Demonstrate your ability to apply HR principles to real-life situations. Stand out from among your HR peers with the skills obtained from a SHRM Seminar. Demonstrate targeted competence and enhance your HR credibility.

Designed and delivered by HR experts to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need to drive lasting change in the workplace. The NCSL Video Resource Center is a collection of recorded webinars accessible for on-demand learning. Join Emily M. Dickens, Chief of Staff, Head of Government Affairs, and Corporate Secretary at SHRM, for an insightful session on SHRM’s Civility Initiative, designed to create respectful, inclusive, and productive work environments. As state policymakers and legislative staff, you play a crucial role in shaping the frameworks that govern workplace behavior. This session will address the importance of civility in facing challenges such as remote work, demographic changes, and societal polarization.

Emily will share SHRM’s efforts to make civility a fundamental aspect of organizational culture, present data-driven strategies for enhancing workplace civility, and discuss how policymakers can support and promote respect and collaboration across diverse... This session will equip you with practical tools and resources to advocate for civility in workplaces across your state. The research is clear: a persistent gap sits between what employees report they are experiencing and what employers believe their workplace and culture are delivering. In fact, while over 80% of employers believe that employees are treated with dignity and respect at their organization regardless of their job, role or level, only 65 percent of employees agree. And when it comes to feeling safe to speak up, the gaps are even worse. In short, and as noted in a 2022 Deloitte report, while a vast majority of leaders think they’re caring and employees are thriving, nearly half their people disagree.

So it was with this in mind that I was eager to attend and lead a conversation at the Society of Human Resources Management INCLUSION 2022 Conference in San Diego last month. SHRM is the largest HR and related professional association in the United States, and the conference brought together business, diversity-equity-inclusion and HR leaders to share tools, know-how, and best practices to create a more... As the leader of a new Workplace Dignity program at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, I know that organizations that honor the dignity of their workers – as individuals and human beings – are more engaging, more equitable, and ultimately more successful. I was privileged to join Chipotle’s Vice President of People Experience and Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer to discuss how diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical elements of a dignity-centered workplace, and how... People spend countless hours at work – one-third of their lives or more!

That makes work a key influencer on meaning, purpose and value or sense of worth in our our lives. So when our dignity – our inherent value and worth – is not advanced (or, worse, diminished) at work it really matters. As the Wall Street Journal has reported, Gallup found that dignity-centering leaders retain employees, thus reducing rehire costs. Gallup also found that it took a pay raise of more than 20 percent l to hire most employees away from a leader who engaged them, and a Catalyst survey found that 57 percent... Prioritizing dignity is also a recruiting lever, as job candidates care deeply about workplace dignity drivers like fairness, equity, and inclusion. Finally, workplace dignity is the right thing to focus on.

Much is given by workers, and in return their workplaces should have a culture that honors their dignity, drives inclusion and belonging, promotes equity, and offers equal opportunity. Do you want to know how to promote dignity and respect in the workplace? Fostering these values in an organization is not simply a moral imperative – it’s a practical necessity. Employees who feel valued and respected are more likely to be committed to their roles. This can ultimately contribute to creating a healthier organization. In this article, let’s see some strategies to foster dignity and respect at work.

Having a dignified and respectful work environment can boost employee morale. Employees who feel respected and valued are more likely to be dedicated, leading to higher levels of productivity. Plus, a company that values respect and dignity enhances its reputation, making it a more attractive place for top talent. Dignity is the quality of being honorable and worthy of respect. In a work environment, it means treating everyone with kindness, regardless of their differences like gender, race, background, etc. It also includes creating a workplace where every employee is treated fairly and equally by understanding that everyone has different needs and capabilities.

Viewpoint Why Respect Dignity And Kindness Are Foundational Shrm

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