Why dignity matters in the workplace

Author: Donna Hicks, Associate of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University

While I have spent two decades of my career as an international conflict resolution specialist working on intractable conflicts all over the world, to my great surprise, I have spent the last decade doing consultations in the corporate world, healthcare, education, and organisations of all kinds.

During my time facilitating dialogues between warring parties, I felt I had discovered a missing link in my understanding of conflict. It appeared to be a truth more far reaching than what happened in longstanding international conflicts. What is that truth? Why does it resonate in so many places where people come together and interact?

The truth was about dignity and the role it plays in our lives and relationships. While sitting at countless negotiating tables, trying to get the parties to come to an agreement about the political issues that divided them, I became aware that there was always another conversation taking place in the room, but it had nothing to do with the issues being discussed at the table. The other conversation had no words – but showed up as emotional turmoil that wreaked havoc on the fragile process of trying to find a way to put the past to rest. This other unspoken conversation was about their dignity – about being treated as inferior, less-than, and even less than human.

Once I figured out how to put words to these dignity assaults, the parties were more than willing to talk about them. I knew I had to write about this profound human issue – human beings react negatively to assaults to their value and worth. When people feel that they are treated with dignity, it brings out the best in them – they flourish. Our highest common denominator as human beings is our desire to be treated with dignity. It doesn’t matter where we are, who we are with, the unspoken message we send to one another is “Treat me as something of value and worth.”

I define dignity as our inherent value and worth and inherent vulnerability. We are all born with dignity, and we are also born with an inborn vulnerability to having it injured. Research in neuroscience shows us that when we experience a wound to our dignity, it shows up in the brain in the same area (amygdala in the limbic system) as a physical wound[1]. Seemingly, these two ‘injuries’ have a shared neural pathway. Essentially, the brain doesn’t appear to know the difference between the pain of a physical injury and the pain of a dignity violation. This research opened doors for me. The message is clear: dignity matters and we must take it seriously.

I soon realised that I had to make the concept of dignity concrete for people. I embarked on a seven-year project and finally came up with answers to: What does it look like to have our dignity honored? How can we use dignity to help people repair relationships and resolve conflicts? How can we create a culture of dignity in organisations where people feel seen, heard, and safe to be their authentic selves?

My first book, ‘Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict’[2] details the answers to these. The book touched a nerve in the corporate world. I was asked into organisations to address conflicts that they were unable to resolve with traditional means. My ‘Ten Elements of Dignity’, resonated with both management and employees. These elements, once violated, give rise to conflict.

The elements are: 

1. Acceptance of identity (people want their identity accepted no matter their race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or physical capacity).
2. Recognition (people want to be given credit for their efforts).
3. Acknowledgment (people want acknowledgment for the suffering they have endured).
4. Inclusion (people want to feel a sense of belonging).
5. Safety (people want to feel physically safe as well as psychologically safe, safe to speak up and to be their authentic selves).
6. Fairness (people want to be treated justly, with equality, and in an evenhanded way).
7. Independence (people want to act on their own behalf, so that the feel in control, not micromanaged or constrained).
8. Understanding (people want to be understood for who they are, not judged by stereotypes).
9. Benefit of the Doubt (people want to be treated as if they have integrity and have good reason why they feel the way they do).
10. Accountability (people want an apology when someone does them harm).

What is powerful for people once they understand the Ten Elements, is that they give them a vocabulary to talk what happened when they felt that they had been mistreated. Too often, people walk away from a bad reaction feeling bad. Naming what gave rise to the bad feeling helps understand the source of the bad feeling. Saying, for example, “I was excluded from that important meeting”, or “I was treated unfairly”, or “I felt I was discriminated against because of my race”, helps externalise the problem. I always say, “You may feel bad, but you are not bad.  Something bad happened to you – you had your dignity violated.”  It always jump-starts the healing process by placing the cause of the pain outside of the self.

The big lesson I learned from my first consultation in the corporate world was that if the leadership of an organisation was not aware of the impact of dignity violations and honoring digntity, good leaders with good intentions were likely to violate dignity without knowing it.  An awareness of matters related to dignity is not taught in business schools, or any professional schools for that matter. Something so fundamental to our wellbeing – our desire to be treated with dignity – has been virtually ignored by our education systems. It goes beyond our individual wellbeing. Our relationships are profoundly affected by how we treat one another. Relationships flourish when dignity is the medium of exchange. These elements of dignity should be the guidelines for healthy relationships – the rules of engagement.

My space in this blog is limited. There is so much more to say about dignity. If you are curious to learn more, please see my two books, published by Yale University Press: Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict and Leading with Dignity:  How to Create a Culture That Brings Out the Best in People. Or, visit my website at drdonnahicks.com