Thought piece
Making kindness in the workplace your strategy
Kindness is emerging as a powerful and transformative force in today’s workplace. It is elbowing its way past traditional cut-throat competitiveness – and stepping firmly into the spotlight as a crucial component of any dynamic and thriving work environment.
From a simple smile, thoughtful compliment or the recognition of a job well done – to the giving of small spot bonuses, the offering of candid yet empathetic feedback and the encouragement of an early Friday finish – kindness takes many forms. And fostering a culture of kindness in the workplace helps attract and retain top talent, improve employee engagement and productivity, and create psychologically safer spaces (which, in turn, helps unlock creativity and passion, and encourages innovation and effective collaboration).
In other words: it pays to be kind.
The Be Seen Project designs and implements bespoke programmes and strategies to help encourage your leaders and teams to approach all interactions and decisions in the workplace and daily life the kind way. We understand that the fastest way for kindness to propagate is from the top: leaders modelling the kindness they wish to see in others. Effective leaders treat everyone with respect and encouragement – and effective teams are comprised of members who all feel seen, heard and valued.
To help inject more kindness into your workplace, we often encourage the introduction of ‘kindness rounds’ to your meetings: deliberately allocating time to reflect on and acknowledge efforts and positive impacts made, and to express gratitude for those who make them. We help you commit to recognising and appreciating the unique contributions of each of your team members, so that they feel fulfilled, connected and motivated. We also strongly encourage you to make time for human connections away from the screen. This is especially important for remote workers who miss out on those casual but important water-cooler interactions.
The first (and perhaps most important) step we encourage you to take to be kind to others: be kind to yourself.
The best way to be a valuable, considerate and helpful colleague is to be disciplined about your own wellness.
Self-care is not an indulgence – it’s a necessary step to bringing your best self to everything you do. If you’re burnt out with nothing left to contribute, it’ll affect your work and all those around you (especially if they’re having to pick up your slack). The best way to be a valuable, considerate and helpful colleague is to be disciplined about your own wellness, and to do the job asked of you to the best of your ability.
And did you know that engaging in acts of kindness is also proven to stimulate serotonin and oxytocin (your happy hormones) and lower cortisol (your stress hormone). It’s also infectious – someone who receives it is instinctively more likely to pass it forwards – so, kindness is good for everyone! And in these times of economic uncertainty and geopolitical strife, we think it’s needed and appreciated more than ever.
If you’d like to make kindness your workplace strategy – and its strength, we’re here to help. Please get in touch to find out how.