In all aspects of our lives, respect plays an integral role in developing mutually beneficial relationships. It’s unique in that it develops slowly but can sour quickly. This is why it’s crucial to actively maintain and nurture respect with your colleagues to ensure a healthy and safe workplace for all.

For this Labour Relations Blog, we’ll take a deeper dive into the importance of establishing and maintaining respect as it pertains to your workplace relationships.

Six hallmarks of a respectful relationship

Regardless of whether you’re just beginning your career in the federal government or you’re a seasoned veteran of the public service, we’re all professionals worthy of dignity and respect.

Despite this, at ACFO-ACAF, we sometimes see instances of negative interactions in the workplace. We try to remind members when addressing these issues about the essential hallmarks of a respectful relationship, including:

• Courtesy;
• Civility;
• Patience;
• Professionalism;
• Cooperation; and
• Appreciation.

While in theory, we can all agree these hallmarks are important when interacting with others, they become increasingly difficult to think about when we find ourselves in situations where we are stressed, frustrated, and/or upset. For this reason, we must be aware of how we can reflect these unpleasant emotions towards others and how to control these emotions in difficult situations so that we don’t say or do something that could harm our working relationships. 

What a respectful workplace looks like

A respectful workplace is somewhere everyone feels valued and safe without the fear of being demeaned for having different or contradictory ideas.

When the aforementioned hallmarks of a respectful relationship are adhered to, some of the benefits include:

Reduced levels of stress

When a lack of respect exists between two or more individuals on any given team, it can cause heightened stress levels around things as simple as beginning work in the morning. Establishing a respectful workplace culture ensures that all staff members, regardless of the size of the team that they’re working on, understand what types of behaviours are acceptable.

When everyone is on the same page and respect has been established, we avoid putting added stress onto our colleagues, which will in turn allow for the sharing of opinions and ideas, ultimately leading to better results and discussions amongst team members.

Reduced levels of bullying, discrimination, and harassment

A lack of respect for an individual or group of individuals is one of the most common factors that result in bullying, discrimination, and harassment in the workplace. When any of these behaviours are present, it inevitably causes a significant reduction in workplace morale and performance, and it can destroy an employee’s sense of belonging within the team.

There is no place for discriminatory behaviours in the workplace, and any instances of discrimination that you either personally experience or witness should be reported through the proper channels. To learn more about discrimination in the workplace and where it can be reported, visit this article on our website.

Impact of respect on mental health

While we all have good days and bad days, it’s important to remember that the way we treat people on our bad days has just as much or even greater of an impact on our workplace relationships as on our good days. Therefore, we must make a conscious effort to cultivate and maintain the level of respect we all deserve.

ACFO-ACAF encourages all members to make use of the resources available to you as federal public servants there to help you in the event that you’re struggling with your mental health or believe that someone else may be. In this 2023 piece, we outlined the programs available to you and how you can support a colleague who might be struggling.

Respecting ACFO-ACAF staff

Showing respect in the workplace should go beyond just respecting your coworkers – it also applies to extensions of the CT Community, such as the staff at ACFO-ACAF.

Over the past year, our Labour Relations staff have experienced a notable increase in the number of instances when dealing with members where they have been subject to impatient, condescending, derogatory, and/or accusatory behaviours. In a few cases, there have been exchanges where our staff members were bullied, verbally abused, and even threatened.

The Labour Relations team at ACFO-ACAF is comprised of a highly educated group of individuals, all of whom have dedicated their careers to helping solve your complex workplace issues. While you may disagree with their advice and their recommendations may not always align with your desired outcome, it’s important to remember that they are applying their extensive knowledge and experience as certified labour relations advisors, licensed lawyers, and/or qualified mediators to provide advice they believe is in your best interest.

As an extension of the CT Community, our staff at ACFO-ACAF deserve to be treated with the same respect and dignity that you expect for yourself in your workplace. We completely understand that feelings like distress, anger, frustration, anxiety, or fear may be underlying this behaviour, but our staff cannot do their best work on members’ behalf in the absence of a mutually respectful working relationship. Therefore, this type of behaviour towards our staff members will not be tolerated.

When staff members find themselves on the receiving end of disrespectful behaviour from members, they must remove themselves from the situation and arrange for another time to meet/speak with members, therefore delaying the treatment of cases. In severe cases, union membership may even be suspended or revoked for untenable behaviours.