Respect in the Workplace

Brian Donnelly

Director respectme

Values

• What do values mean to you?

• How would you define ‘values’?

• Share and discuss your thoughts

Values

• A belief or standard that we hold to

• Values reflect our sense of right and wrong – how we feel things should be

• They underpin everything we do

• They affect our behaviour and our attitudes

Culture

• It is made up of the norms, routines, stories, symbols, power structure and control systems of an organisation

• It is ‘the way things are done round here’

• How would you describe the culture within

Why do values and culture matter?

•There is a very strong link between organisational culture and behaviour at work.

•Cultures based on inclusion and respect are less likely to see bullying and harassment flourish.

What is bullying?

Bullying is the combination of unacceptable behaviours by someone and the impact they have on another. The impact of this behaviour is that it strips an individual of the capacity to take effective action. This capacity is referred to as a person’s ‘agency’

Bullying is about both the behaviour and impact

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What is harassment?• According to the Equality Act 2010, harassment is unwanted conduct

relating to a protected characteristic or of a sexual nature, these protected characteristics are

 

• Age

• Disability

• Gender re-assignment

• Marriage or civil partnership

• Pregnancy or maternity

• Race

• Religion or belief

• Sex

• Sexual orientation

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Why ‘Respect at Work’?

• Define the positive behaviours we can expect at work

• Introduce our responsibility and accountability to each other

• Long list of ‘unacceptable’ behaviour is not helpful - rather describe how we would like to be treated at work

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Why ‘Respect at Work’?• Responding to bullying is a mix of process and soft

skills

• Responding to Harassment is similar but it can also lead to criminal or civil charges

• Best practice indicates a local resolution should be sought

• Bullying and harassment are conduct – existing policy context

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Thank you

brian.donnelly@respectme.org.uk