Kindness in Organisations
The Benefits
Within organisations a culture of kindness and compassion may reduce stress and absenteeism, and enable staff to be happier, healthier, more motivated and more productive. Additionally:
- those who show and receive kindness in the workplace are often more engaged and can experience greater job satisfaction thus reducing levels of absenteeism or presenteeism (where staff are present but not so productive)
- work places supporting kindness initiatives often have more loyal staff, which in turn can help organisations grow and reduces the amount of time and money spent on recruitment and induction training
Within communities, we do not think negative states such as anger, bitterness and hatred can survive when confronted with thoughts or acts of kindness and compassion.
Ways to be Kind
- Offering support; working collaboratively with others means respecting and recognising the experiences of others and their contributions to teams. Asking and offering support can be a way to meet deadlines and build confidence
- Smiling at colleagues means recognising and acknowledging their existence; it means offering eye contact which makes it easier to take in information and respond accordingly
- Thanking others shows appreciation for their work and actions. it validates other people, and helps people feel valued and that their efforts are appreciated, and
- Listening to others shows others that what they are saying is important and matters. Listening actively also helps improve communication and reduces the chances of errors or mistakes.
It is essential to stay and be safe, and to make good choices, but, if someone is standing in a queue beside you for coffee or similar why not acknowledge that person’s existence? Make eye contact? Smile and say hello? And if you have any spare change think about buying their coffee, e.g. "As part of my daily act of kindness I would love to pay for your coffee".
For sure, reaching out to others can lead to feelings of insecurity or anxiety but with practice it becomes easier. And who knows, although there are "no strings" / expectations with DAKtivism, maybe your act of kindness will have lots of great or feel-great consequences, e.g. if they talk about it to others and so share even the concept of DAKtivism; or if they act and "pass on" their own act of kindness in turn. These are all vital steps to help us get that bit closer to a kinder society.
Good luck! And do tell us abour your DAKtivism!