It goes without saying, kindness is going to be the key of any organization’s workplace culture. You can be ready with all the perks and benefits you want to offer, but if the simple acts of kindness at work are ignored, you cannot succeed in building a good work culture.
Workplace kindness might seem like a small thing which might not show that much impact. But kindness brings in connection and belongingness between the employees, eventually increasing the employee retention rates. At the same time, studies also show that happy employees are 13% more productive.
Hence it is important to try out effective ways to promote kindness within the workplace. Here are a few ways through which you can do the same:
Effective ways to spread kindness at work
Have good, meaningful conversations with the employees
Your employees need to have “human” conversations with you. This sounds obvious, but believe it or not, there are plenty of organizations which treat their employees like robots. Their conversations start and end with tasks and deadlines.
It is important to recognize the need for more conversations- around their growth, team interactions, and learnings. This makes them feel more involved within the workspace.
Creating an engaging environment
Engagement is an absolute necessity when it comes to promoting kindness. Employee engagement activities like regular informal meetings, games, tea sessions, etc. can lead to better team-bonding and interaction.
How can one be kind if one does not feel engaged, right?
Hence, make sure that you bring in engaging activities which help teammates know each other better.
Recognize people for their hard work/achievements
Recognizing is the key ingredient to building relationships with an organization. When your employees feel recognized for the work they do and when they feel that their contributions are significant, both their efforts and motivation increase to a significant level.
Recognition will beat any other method of expressing gratitude to your employees naturally, be it monetary or simple “well done! Your contribution has made a difference.”
Acknowledge each other’s birthdays and work anniversaries
This might sound like a simple thing but acknowledging a colleague’s birthday/ work anniversary, wishing and celebrating with them is a huge step towards your goal of bringing in kindness at work.
It shows that employees care for each other and are there to celebrate the good times. This is a very effective way, especially when leaders lead by example bringing a culture of kindness at work.
Help each other out in their tasks
Yes, managers should be there to help, but more than that, they need to encourage employees to help each other when facing a barrier at work. Helpfulness is directly proportional to kindness.
This leads to a helpful and kind work environment where people believe in the value of togetherness and collaboration. The best results come in when people collaborate. Simply knowing how to be nice at work can go a long way.
FAQ
How to spread kindness at work
As mentioned above, a few simple and basic ways to spread kindness at work are:
- Ensure engagement within the workspace
- Have conversations outside of work
- Be grateful to your employees for their contributions
- Celebrate special days like birthdays and work anniversaries
- Encourage teammates to help each other in their tasks when one faces a barrier
How do you encourage employees to be kind?
Employees need to be made aware of being respectful, kind, and well-spoken to one another. Harmony is a must in the workplace and employees can bring that in, simply by being kind.
Why is kindness important at work?
Workplace kindness sounds like a simple moral value, however it creates the path to a lot more important factors in a workplace.
- Team-bonding
- Collaboration
- Employee engagement
And overall, a healthy workspace culture. Hence, kindness is extremely important to build the basics of your workplace’s culture.
What does a culture of kindness mean?
A culture of kindness at work includes a culture of team-bonding, helpfulness, engagement, and empathy. In such a culture, teams are expected to work together in harmony and managers to care about more than just tasks from the employees.
5 Reasons Kindness Matters at Work
5 reasons kindness at work matters :
- It creates a healthy workspace culture
- It brings in engagement and team-bonding
- Employees feel like an important part of the organization
- It increases the overall retention of employees and also calls for better employer branding
- It brings in a culture of recognition
