How To Deal With Lack Of Respect At Work

Working out how to deal with lack of respect at work is difficult precisely because each incident is small. Nothing is reportable, and the accumulation is real.

What works better than raising it as an attitude is naming a single specific behaviour, once, close to when it happened.

Not “you don’t respect me”, which invites a denial about someone’s character and cannot be resolved. Something narrower. That you were interrupted three times in that meeting. That the change was decided without you and you found out afterwards. That your name keeps being left off the email.

A specific behaviour can be acknowledged and changed. An attitude cannot, and the conversation turns into a dispute about intent.

If it continues after being named clearly and specifically, it stops being a misunderstanding and becomes a decision on their part. That is the point at which escalating is reasonable, and you now have something concrete to escalate.

Safe Work Australia covers psychosocial hazards. This is general information rather than legal advice.

See Sentrient’s respect at work training and workplace bullying course.