Having good workplace relationships helps you to be more productive in your job and make going to work every day a pleasant experience. Getting along with others is at the core of a harmonious work environment. Workplace relationships can suffer when tolerance, communication and respect are absent.  Tolerance in principle and practice can be a challenge in any environment, but especially in the workplace due to personal biases or individual disagreements.
In a harmonious workplace, the following basic principles are present and modeled by members of the organization.
- Respect and appreciation for the differences of others
- Space where others can be who they are, no matter how they differ ethnically, culturally, temperamentally and even politically
- Collaboration where others are allowed to share their ideas, engage in healthy debate and make decisions together, when possible
- Team members model the behavior they want and expect to receive from others
The following articles on respect and tolerance in the workplace are just a few of the on-line resources available to our SMU community via our Employee Relations Provider Magellan Health Services.
Learn more about SMU’s EAP Program. EAP information and services (including online counseling) can be accessed online at Magellan Health Services.
Additionally, SMU Human Resources provides a variety of opportunities and resources to help individual employees, teams and/or departments in the areas of relationship management, including:
- on-line education
- in-person professional and manager development workshops
- individual or team consultations
- access to trained Employee Relations specialists
For more support or to learn more, contact SMU HR at 214-768-3311 or smuhr@smu.edu
