Kindness at work is one of the principles of the Ubuntuworks Project. However, the workplace may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking about compassion, love, and kindness. Research shows that acts of kindness promote well-being, counteract burnout, and lower turnover rates. These can be words of praise, moments of recognition and gestures of appreciation. By contributing to a culture of kindness, employers and employees feel more connected to meaning and purpose. This results in a better working environment for all.
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Excerpt from “Love and Kindess in the Workplace” from beqom.
The sure cure for burnout
Research shows that love is an antidote to employee burnout. Gallup has studied how to prevent employee burnout, a topic more timely than ever given the stresses of the pandemic. According to Gallup, organizations must strategically focus on three areas when dealing with burnout at work, and the first area is making wellbeing a part of their culture.
Gallup identifies Five Elements of Wellbeing for employees, and one of those elements is Social, defined as having supportive relationships and love in your life. Companies should, as they structure their workplace, jobs, and benefits, do whatever they can to support employees in having healthy relationships both within and outside the workplace.
Kindness at Work drives us to perform
A classic article in the Harvard Business Review (HBR) from 2014, called Employees Who Feel Love Perform Better, posits that love has a strong influence on workplace outcomes, that “those who perceive greater affection and caring from their colleagues perform better.” A study conducted by HBR concluded that “People who worked in a culture where they felt free to express affection, tenderness, caring, and compassion for one another were more satisfied with their jobs, committed to the organization, and accountable for their performance.”
HBR suggested that leaders do at least three things:
- Think about how you can cultivate and enrich the emotional culture, which can be based on love or other emotions, such as joy or pride.
- Pay attention to the emotions and mood you’re expressing to employees every day, which creates a cultural blueprint for the group…
Read the full blog entry and learn about Love and Kindess in the Workplace at: https://www.beqom.com/blog/love-and-kindness-in-the-workplace
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