蜜桃传媒

Anyone who has spent time working remotely over the past few years can rattle off a list of the ways in which online work differs from in-office jobs. Interruptions from family or pets, increased autonomy and flexibility, and a decreased sense of comradery among colleagues are some of the new realities in a rapidly changing work landscape. One thing that hasn鈥檛 changed: The importance of feeling respected at work. Yet, in virtual workplaces, managers may need to make a different, more concerted effort to show their employees respect.听

Beth Schinoff, an assistant professor of Management and Organization at the Carroll School, sought to understand exactly what makes employees feel respected鈥攅specially when they鈥檙e working remotely鈥攁nd how managers can apply this information to retain their most valued staffers. According to new research co-authored by Schinoff and Kristie Rogers, an associate professor of management at Marquette University, 鈥渆mployees who feel respected perform better and report greater well-being, while those who don鈥檛 feel respected are more likely to dislike their jobs and ultimately quit,鈥� the pair wrote in听.听

Amid the听, managers need to understand why their employees are quitting鈥攁nd how to get them to stay. Illustrating this point is a听, which found that the most common reasons employees quit are low pay, minimal opportunities for advancement, and feeling disrespected at work. While the first two factors are (in some ways) simpler to address, tackling the latter requires more insight.

One challenge facing managers is that there are fewer opportunities to directly show respect in an online workplace. Effortless exchanges, like small talk over coffee in the break room or a quick word of praise in passing, become impossible in a virtual setting. Conversations held over Zoom are task-oriented, leaving little room for fostering company culture. 鈥淩esearch finds that employees who work remotely focus more on tasks than on how they interact with others, and thus feel less respected,鈥� the scholars wrote.

All hope is not lost for positive communication and engagement while working from home. As part of Schinoff鈥檚 research, the pair surveyed 100 managers and 100 employees who work in either hybrid or remote arrangements. Schinoff and Rogers were then able to identify 284 instances of how these participants both gave and received respect. They found that there are four distinct ways to show respect in an online work environment: through time, validation, tangibility, and visibility.听

Respect works

Time largely relates to the act of protecting an employee鈥檚 time鈥攆or example, not scheduling superfluous meetings or going over time due to a lack of organization. Allowing flexibility in hours and schedules is another step bosses can take to increase employee satisfaction.听

Validation often comes in the form of pay raises and promotions, but a simple 鈥渢hank you鈥� can go a long way, too. 鈥淚n our survey, remote employees reported feeling validated in their performance when a manager acknowledged a specific work product and related success connected to their individual performance,鈥� wrote Schinoff, who, in 2020, published a听听about how virtual work changed the ways in which employees interact with one another.听听