Respecting staff
A diverse and inclusive workplace treats everyone with respect, whatever their role or status.
As a Fair Work employer, you should promote respect across the organisation. This means:
- encouraging the health, safety and wellbeing of all workers
- valuing everyone’s views and contributions in work
Promoting respect can help to:
- create a workplace free from bullying and harassment
- reduce workplace-related illness and injury
- improve communication
- strengthen professional relationships
Find out more about respecting workers.
How to create a respectful workplace
Getting started
Allow workers to have a say in how the organisation can improve. For example, you can have regular employee check-ins with managers, or more formal group-focused meetings.
Next steps
Create a culture of respect at organisational level. Integrate respect into every aspect of work.
Read the CIPD guide to creating a positive organisational culture.
Introduce workplace policies that prioritise employee dignity, wellbeing, health and safety. For example, you should have a mandatory anti-bullying and harassment policy.
Explore ACAS guidance on preventing bullying and harassment.
The Scottish Government’s anti-racist employment strategy includes advice, guidance, examples of good practice and resources to help you make recruitment and progression fairer.
Find out more about the anti-racist employment strategy on gov.scot.
Develop further
Show respect for workers’ personal and family lives by adopting practices that help balance work and family life. For example, you could offer flexible working patterns.
Find out more about introducing flexible working.
The minority ethnic recruitment toolkit includes a range of suggestions and ideas to help improve the diversity of your workforce by recruiting more people from minority ethnic backgrounds.