How Can We Apply ‘Random Acts of Kindness Day’ to the Corporate World?

In 1982 author Anne Herbert responded to the negative quote, “Random acts of violence and senseless acts of cruelty” with a more inspirational phrase, “practise random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.”???

In 1993, she published her poetic and empowering book, titled from the phrase she had coined on a placemat 11 years earlier, “Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty”.

From this, a movement was born. 1995 saw the creation of the Colorado based ‘Random Acts of Kindness Foundation’, who immediately awarded February 17th the honour of the first annual ‘Random Acts of Kindness Day’. ???

The premise is to do small acts of good to make the world a better place. Though the act might be small, kindness is often contagious and small acts combined result in a big difference.

Not only is there benefit to the recipient but there are benefits to the donor also as our bodies release hormones such as oxytocin, known to lower blood pressure and increase optimism. Giving can also increase serotonin levels, which helps lower depression and anxiety and increase feelings of happiness and well-being. Thus in offering gestures of goodwill, we can quite literally increase our lifespan.

So how do we apply this to our corporate endeavours??Here are 10 suggestions you may wish to take up within your working environment:

·????????Reply to a post you enjoy – make a positive comment on a website or blog

If you’ve ever written and article, post or blog you may be familiar with the warm fuzzy feeling you get when someone puts a comment, however small, showing they’ve read it. Taking that extra second to give them some appreciation, or constructive criticism, often gives the author a rush of endorphins greater than you may realise. A simple, but effective, gift.

·????????Set goals for yourself

Whether short or long-term, for your own benefit or to add value to the company, although these are in no way mutually exclusive, indeed quite the opposite, or to support your customer’s success, setting goals provides a real sense of purpose, something to aim for helps reinvigorate your sense of potential.

·????????Join an online forum

Whatever topic you’re most passionate about, finding an online forum dedicated to it will allow you the opportunity to share your knowledge, answer questions and start discussions. You will be reaching out to people who share your enthusiasm, who may even feel isolated and shy and by joining their community you might be giving them support they otherwise would not receive. Way to go!?

·????????Find out something new about a co-worker

You may feel like you know a co-worker well if you speak to them regularly, you may be aware of what they get up to most weekends with your standard Monday opening gambit of “How was your weekend, get up to much?” But do you really know them? Do you know what energises them, what makes them wake up in the morning, (from an inspirational perspective, not their alarm clock)? You never know, you may learn about a shared interest that blossoms into a life-long friendship, at the very least, listening is caring.

·????????Turn your computer off overnight and unplug unused appliances

Since working from home became a cultural standard, it is much easier to forget to turn off appliances, knowing you are not monitored by your organisation. Gone are the days when the first one in or last one out would do a quick floor-walk to identify offenders of ‘sleep-mode-monitoring’, to save those precious few seconds of boot up in the morning. Now, we have the responsibility to monitor ourselves, and what benefits can be gained. Not only will you reduce your carbon footprint by saving ‘phantom power’ energy, but HowStuffWorks estimates leaving appliances plugged in unnecessarily could contribute to a whopping 10% of your overall energy bill. By unplugging, you’re not just doing the environment a favour, you’re also doing one for your bank balance.

·????????Send an encouraging email

Do you drown in emails? Do you spend your days fending off, jumping from meeting to meeting whilst trying to find time to action the ever-growing inbox? Wouldn’t it be nice, if one of those was, instead of a request/demand, a note just to say thank you or show support or encouragement. Or even just to say “You show really strength in XXXX skills, and I just wanted to let you know how inspirational I find you.“?Why not be that email sender for someone else? With just a minute of your time, you could make someone smile. And smiling is contagious. That’s the kind of pandemic we deserve.

·????????If your company has a ‘thank you’ or ‘rewards’ platform - use it!

You may have forgotten that your company has a tool to send gratitude. If it does, it’s worth using instead of an email as you may find the recipient’s manager is also cc’d, or it may get displayed on a platform for greater acknowledgement of the gratitude you are sending. Receiving a ‘thank you’ or ‘reward’ is extremely motivational and a gesture which will no doubt make the beneficiary feel highly valued, which is not only good for their own morale, but will have a butterfly effect resulting in increasing incentivisation of those around them.

·????????Share your most inspirational book

If you found a specific book powerful and gained much value from it, why not share that knowledge with others, to give them the opportunity to receive the same benefits . For this author, ‘The 5am Club’ by Robin Sharma was recommended by a friend, and has revolutionised my daily routines and goals, and could not be more highly recommended, (if a little preachy in places - bear with).

·????????Give constructive feedback

Constructive feedback can be used to approach a challenge or potential blind spot whilst offering support on how to address any areas for improvement. Whilst sometimes conversations might seem hard, it actually shows great kindness as the receiver may be unaware, or may be aware but struggling to come up with solutions. By assisting and supporting in the identification of areas for improvement, you are able to expose and support the rectification, not simply ‘ostrich’ any concerns. ?????????????*Disclaimer; it's recommended to plan your approach to avoid potential for unsolicited negative criticism. Deliver with empathy and care.

·????????Reach out to a client

If you haven’t made contact for a while, or even if you spoke yesterday, you can show you care by acts such as sending a relevant article, news of an innovation they might make use of or simply just to ask how they are, not to try to turn it into an opportunity, but just to let them know you’re thinking of them. A little kindness goes a long way.

Whilst February 17th is the official day to celebrate random acts of kindness we should encourage it to become the norm. Why not aim to do at least one kind act every day, and in doing so, contribute to a happier, longer life and a better, more peaceful world?

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