Have you ever had someone make you feeling ashamed? Now imagine it happening to you at the hands of someone who is supposed to be helping you.
Real World Story:
I recently surveyed a company that provides care services to homeless people. It provides free meals, clothing, healthcare, computer use, and many other similar services. The executive team of this organization wants its staffers—paid and volunteers—to treat EVERYONE with dignity and respect. Unfortunately, following are behaviors I observed from some of the employees and volunteers:
- At the entrance to the dining room, a monitor would simply grab guests’ tickets without a smile or word of welcome.
42093912 – compassion banner – wide banner with a woman’s hands holding a man’s cupped hands in a needy gesture
- One volunteer responsible for arranging food on trays would shove the tray to the next person in line. And I don’t mean sliding it a few inches; she shoved it so hard that it would slide about 2–3 feet! There was no love or care in this food service. It was awful to watch.
- The clothing area was no different. After a guest is done shopping, an employee is supposed to count all the items. The employee, however, would quickly thumb through the clothes—throwing them from one pile to another. Again, no love or care was shown in this process.
- Toward the end of the day, two guests arrived after meal service had ended. In a rude and aggressive tone, the security guard takes out his lunch and shoves it at them while saying, “Take my lunch. I don’t want it.” As the two homeless guests turned around, I saw the look of sadness and shame on one of their faces. It made my heart hurt.
Strategies that Turn it Around:
- EVERY single person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of where you work or the people you encounter. Period. Look people in the eye. Acknowledge their presence. Seeing someone is always the first step.
- Communicate with people with kindness by seeing them as fellow human beings. Smile. Say hello. Ask with sincerity about their day. Wish them a great afternoon. Treat others how you would like to be treated. It’s that simple.
- If you encounter difficult people, remember rules 1 and 2—and then try a little bit harder to show compassion. If that doesn’t work, get someone else to help, but do it in a kind manner in order not to make the situation worse. It can be as simple as, “I’m very sorry that I am not able to help you with this particular problem. Please wait here while I get someone else with more experience.”
Remember: By knowing how to communicate with others, you give them dignity. The definition of dignity is the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect. You don’t have to agree with someone or even like them, but we can all treat one another with kindness and respect—instilling dignity in another. It’s good for you, for them, and for the world!
What do YOU do to treat everyone with dignity and respect? Feel free to share your ideas.