How to make kindness the norm in your company culture

Practicing kindness at work makes employees happier, more engaged and better performers. Leaders who practice and encourage kindness in their organizations not only see improvements in profits and efficiency, they see improved relationships and a higher level of trust, which is so vital to a company’s success. Creating a culture of kindness in your organization is easier than you think and in theme of World Kindness Day 2023 we’re giving you four tips on how to make kindness the norm in your company.

1.?Top-down kindness

This is the most import step into creating a culture of kindness in your company. Leaders should be the primary examples of the behaviors they want to see in their employees. Company leaders and managers who wants to create a work environment where kindness is the norm for both how the company does business and how it treats employees have to encourage employees to treat customers and each other with kindness. They also have to model kind behavior as part of their leadership style. As a leader, you set the tone for your organization’s culture.

Adopting a leadership style full of compassion and emotional intelligence will set the tone for a kind culture in your organization that employees will gladly follow.

2.?Caring mentorship

Mentoring is a great way to show kindness to employees because it shows them that you care about their well-being and personal and professional development. Caring mentorship can come in different forms and levels in the company: from having regular HR talks to encouraging employees to follow different trainings to better their professional skills.

Mentoring also helps build trust, which makes all the other steps you will take to create and maintain a kind culture in your organization so much easier.

Showing interest in employee growth, career progress, and personal well-being shows employees that you are invested in their happiness and success beyond their day-to-day role in the company. This contributes to a positive work environment for employees at all levels of the organization.

3.?Listen to understand

When asking your team members “How are you?”, are you really listening to the responses? Or is this just a routine question? Always be aware that they can spot the difference between a routine “How was your weekend?” and an honest question about their well-being because you actually care about their happiness. This also goes for feedback conversations. When employees give their honest opinions on things that need improvement in the company, make sure to actively listen and take serious actions to make changes. Otherwise employees might feel like these talks are only for show and aren’t really made to create real change.

4. Kind feedback

Staying on the topic of feedback: sometimes leaders and managers have to give feedback as well. This can be hard, especially when it’s not necessarily positive. Whatever the scenario you’re in, remember to take a kind approach when addressing issues. Always be mindful of the impact of your words and your tone-of-voice when addressing others. Handling difficult situations with kindness and empathy will always produce a better outcome than an unkind approach. The more an employee is exposed to negativity and harsh criticism, the more it affects the employee’s overall mood and productivity, and the more likely that employee is to respond to their environment of constant negativity with unkind behavior.

Kindness is essential to keep employees united with a shared sense of purpose. It’s also such an important tool to combat toxic workplace environments. Since so much of our time is spent at work, in-person and remotely, creating a culture of kindness in our workplaces could significantly improve the quality of our lives. Make kindness at work the norm, not the exception!

#article #kindness #tips #haysbe #haysnl #companyculture

?