Workplace Culture, Kindness, and Values

Photo by Spikeball on Unsplash

When leaders understand the importance of celebrating teams and organizational values, important messages resonate beyond an “event.” There are many opportunities to bring people together to underscore that your business is about people and values, not just work and the bottom line.

We’re in a time of heightened pressure to recruit and retain happy, committed employees and this big-picture thinking is critical. Here are a wide variety of ways you can incorporate “celebrating teams and organizational values” into your workplace. We hope this sparks inspiration for gifts of connection, belonging and shared joy.

Give the Gift of Connection

• Welcome new employees with a memorable first impression. Schedule coffee or lunch with the head of the company on their first day at work.

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Photo by Ali Bakhtiari on Unsplash

NEWS ALERT: The work world has shifted. Priorities have changed, hybrid and remote working has become status quo, and flexibility is key. Collectively, we are figuring out how to navigate new ways of working.

What’s really keeping HR people up at night is how to RETAIN talented and hardworking staff. If we thought retention was important before, we have a tighter grip now. But what is the secret sauce to keeping employees happy, healthy and gainfully employed by you? Appreciation and recognition go a long way. Here are some ways to navigate new ways of working:

Pay attention equally to employees regardless of their location.

With a shift to remote and hybrid workplaces, it is important to “spread the love” to those who may be working elsewhere. “Out of sight, out of mind” is the wrong approach. Be sure to show appreciation equally for people across town or the globe. (more…)

We honor Random Acts of Kindness Week every February (Feb. 13-19 this year) to celebrate small acts of goodwill. We all know that every day is a good day to build workplace gratitude through kindness. But how often do you think about random acts of kindness? How often do you actually do it? It’s a great reminder that little gestures go a long way.

Where Did Random Acts of Kindness Begin?

The phrase “random acts of kindness,” is believed to have been coined by the writer Anne Herbert in the early 1980s. Apparently, she scribbled on a restaurant placemat, “Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.” The phrase uses language of war (“senseless acts of violence”) in a call for the opposite.
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February is the month of love and kindness. While some people thoroughly enjoy the multitude of candy hearts, red roses and pink teddy bears, others would rather skip right through to March. But February is much more than Valentine’s Day – it’s the month of kindness! Take advantage of this time to show compassion and share kindness with colleagues at work. We all need a little extra appreciation these days.

We admire the work that the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation has been doing for years. February 17th is Random Acts of Kindness day and this year’s theme is Explore the Good which is the perfect mindset for 2021.  They have a plethora of ideas, tips, inspiring quotes, materials like posters and calendars and even dedicated workplace materials. Check it out! Consider becoming a RAKtivist® (short for ‘Random Acts of Kindness activist).
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Join Us on the #WorkTrends Twitter Chat this Wednesday at 1:30 pm EST

Our CMO, Liz King, recently spoke with Talent Culture rock star Meghan M. Biro about the importance of workplace gratitude on this week’s #WorkTrends Podcast.

You can read Meghan’s Blog and listen to the podcast here: “#WorkTrends: The Power of Workplace Gratitude with Liz King“.

We highly recommend listening if you are trying to get ideas to improve your workplace. Whether you are a CEO, HR, or office manager.

We hope you’ll join us for this Twitter Chat or listen to the podcast anytime!

Is it a coincidence that the year begins with holidays focusing on kindness and gratitude … perhaps to help us keep the heartfelt feelings from December alive?

February brings Valentine’s Day on the 14th and Random Acts of Kindness Day on the 17th while March opens with Employee Appreciation Day on the first Friday of the month.  But rather than reserving these sentiments for certain days or weeks, why not carry them forward and make kindness and gratitude a year-round practice in the workplace?

As we approach celebrating Thanksgiving with family and friends, this quote from Melody Beattie beautifully reminds us of the transformative power of gratitude at the holidays – and every day.

Beattie knows about the transformative power of gratitude having survived a traumatic childhood, addiction and the loss of a child but emerging from this to live a a full and rewarding life. After having an epiphany in rehab that got her to focus her energies on “the right things,” she became a renowned self-help author (she literally wrote the book on codependency, followed by many other bestsellers) and remains a celebrated writer and an inspiring beacon for many struggling with addiction and grief. The daily meditations on her website (or apps) are a good way to start or end your day!

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Being a Good Citizen Is Good for Employers and Workers

Being a good citizen is good for business — in more than one way. Last year, Harvard Business Review reported on the beneficial effects when employees engage in “citizenship behaviors.” That’s another way to say going above and beyond: “helping out coworkers, volunteering to take on special assignments, introducing new ideas and work practices, attending non-mandatory meetings, putting in extra hours to complete important projects, and so forth.”
Research has found that employees who voluntarily demonstrate citizenship behaviors tend to find their work more meaningful. They also perform better and improve their companies’ performance, as well. For all of these reasons, smart employers want to encourage being a good citizen at their companies.
HBR’s recommendation is to promote “citizenship crafting,” or offering workers the opportunity to figure out how their own strengths and preferences can best be utilized to add value to the business. The idea is straightforward: When employees can help in ways they find personally satisfying and that align with their own values and goals, the help will be better and come more frequently. This is also a relief for managers, who don’t have to push so hard when extra help is needed. (more…)

Community service is a great way to get your team out of the office and bond over a project that makes everyone feel better. (Photo via Rocco Rossi, Flickr)

Employees benefit from having a common experience during the learning process. This social interaction helps individuals digest new concepts and gives them an opportunity to learn from each other.

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Creating a giving culture means learning how to take sometimes, too.

Companies with a giving culture are more successful.
They say it’s better to give than to receive. It turns out it could be way better!
Beloved Wharton School professor Adam Grant’s 2013 bestseller, Give and Take, used groundbreaking research to show that giving can have a revolutionary positive effect on all kinds of businesses. Givers are employees who help others regardless of whether they’re getting something in return. And the best-performing employees and leaders inevitably turn out to be givers. By taking steps to foster a giving culture, companies can significantly improve their productivity and efficiency, and their employee engagement and loyalty. One consulting firm estimated that implementing a giving culture saved it more than $250,000 and 50 workdays. A pharmaceutical company credited its giving culture with saving over $90,000 and 67 days of labor. (more…)

When workplace volunteers come together it builds satisfaction, happiness and community engagement. Building workplace community is easy in the summer! Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

Summer is an opportune time to cultivate workplace community by volunteering in the community as a team.  Just in the month of June alone there are two officially designated dates that you can celebrate: The United Way’s Day of Action 2018 which occurs on (or around) June 21 and United Nation’s Public Service Day on June 23.  It’s always great to recognize the good work that your staff does in the workplace, but doing good outside the office is likely to boost happiness, improve engagement and build workplace spirit.

Why Volunteering As A Team Is Valuable

A Huffington Post article exploring how workplace giving and volunteering can drive employee engagement explained that “prosocial” behavior, doing something for the benefit of someone else, positively affects the individuals participating in it, and in return, their workplaces.
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Civility in the workplace grows through small, positive gestures. (Photo via Kate Ter Haar, Flickr)

Civility in the workplace is quickly becoming a topic of concern among HR leaders. The more it’s studied, the clearer it is that civility is not just a matter of “being nice.”
It’s an important part of everyday company culture.
The opposite of civility — incivility, or rudeness — is on the rise and has devastating consequences, we’re learning. Science Daily calls incivility in the workplace “the silent epidemic.”
New research shows that incivility, even a little bit, even when it’s not directed at you, can derail job performance. (more…)

Be inspired to spread kindness in the workplace during and beyond Random Acts of Kindness Week (Feb. 11-17)!

Kindness in the workplace is a big part of cultivating a happy, engaged workforce. What better time to celebrate it than this week during Random Acts of Kindness Week?
The theme of #RAKWeek2018 is “Who’s your one?” — as in, Who’s the person who starts the chain reaction of kindness in your life? Just one kind person can spread kindness across an entire team or community.
This year, the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, a nonprofit organization started in 1995 in Denver, is inviting everyone to tell a story about “that one person who inspires you to be a better human being.” (more…)

What’s trending? More workplace gratitude! (Image via FutUndBeidl, Flickr)

As the value of workplace gratitude gets more recognition, leaders are exploring its impact and studying how to better implement it.
The power of a positive, appreciation-driven culture is clear.
Employees at organizations with positive cultures scored significantly higher scores in leadership caring, confidence and listening, a CultureIQ poll found. (more…)

How do you tell the story of your company? Organizational storytelling is key to better employee retention. (Photo via ITU Pictures, Flickr)

Data, numbers, graphs and percentages only go so far in engaging with employees and customers. Organizational storytelling fills in the gaps and actually connects with people. It provides the emotional context for why the organization does what it does.
Tony Hsieh, CEO of online shoe retailer Zappos, has “a mental pantry of stories at his ready” to explain his company and business philosophies, according to Chief Executive magazine.
“It’s possible for a leader to have a grand vision, but it’s not possible to turn that vision into reality unless countless others adopt it as their own and work tirelessly in concert to achieve it,” Chief Executive’s Bill Baker writes.
Inspiring others requires good storytelling. (more…)