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Sara Ritchie

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Growing up, my grandfather taught me the importance of having respect for others and demonstrating good manners. By leading through example, the lessons he instilled in me have been crucial to my career. There is a lot to be said for the motto, treat others as you would have them treat you.

In every job I always find there are some people who lack common courtesies. However, as a manager, using common manners and courtesies can be the most cost-effective way to show your respect for and appreciation of your team members.

Everyone, fundamentally wants to feel respected and valued, however often in day to day working life we forget this simple truth. When your employee works hard on an assignment, or stays late to get the job done simply saying "Thanks, I appreciate it" will go a long way to show you've noticed the contribution they made to the team and organization. It's really very simple and very often overlooked.

Leading through example you, as a manager, can help your team cultivate an attitude of respect and genuine thoughtfulness. In one of my previous roles, we were challenged with our customer service levels. It was during our busiest season and everyone was putting in extra time to handle the extra volume, but employees felt under-appreciated, which then flowed through to client contact.

Despite the fact the team was working long hours and handling many complaints about wait times, no one had received a thank you from management.

Finally the senior manager, recognizing something needed to change, asked a select group of top-performing employees what he could do to help customer service.

Using our feedback, he arranged a surprise breakfast meeting the next day, in which he called all of the employees together. He thanked us for the hard work and extra hours we put in and acknowledged his appreciation was long overdue.

By taking responsibility and immediately changing his behaviour he showed his employees he respected the value the team added to the company. For the rest of the time I worked under him, he would walk the floors regularly asking us if we needed anything and congratulating individuals when they had good results, or if there was a complex situation, thanking the staff for helping to get it taken care of.

To help build respect within the team, he also encouraged peer recognition. If someone had a great conversation with a client, we were encouraged to recognize that person by sending an email to our boss about what we had overheard.

The employee who had been recognized would be informed in front of the rest of the team, and the manager would thank the employee for their contribution.

This was an easy solution to implement and in the process it fostered team spirit and encouraged members of the team to acknowledge best practices.

My grandfather gave me the sage advice that working relationships need to be cultivated, just the same as any other relationship.

By paying attention to how you talk to people, demonstrating common courtesies and acknowledging when others do the same, you build respect and forge great working relationships - with supervisors, your peers and your direct reports.

Sara Ritchie has worked for the past 10 years in the finance industry in Saint John, Montreal and Toronto. She can be reached at sararthewriter@gmail.com. Her column appears on Saturdays.