World Kindness Day, falls on 13th November this year, serving as a valuable reminder of the power of kindness. It’s a time when many companies and communities across the globe place emphasis on being kind. A simple yet fundamental part of being human and belonging; the language of kindness can be recognised by all, regardless of race, translation, politics, or religion.
With fewer opportunities to connect in person, it’s more important than ever to look after the people around us as well as the wider community. According to The Mental Health Foundation, helping others can help you feel good, reduce isolation, improve optimism, and inspire others to do the same!
The science behind kindness
Happiness studies tell us that acts of kindness acts as a ripple effect. Perkbox found that 63% of UK employees value kindness as a leadership trait. Kindness at work not only makes people feel good, it also makes the organisation run better.
One happiness study conducted at Coca Cola’s headquarters in Madrid, found that performing acts of kindness at work resulted in higher life and job satisfaction, less depressive symptoms, and feelings of more control and camaraderie at work.
Interestingly, the receiving person also went on to pay those acts of kindness forward. Engaging in nearly three times more prosocial behaviour. Showing that giving is just as rewarding as receiving.
Remote-friendly acts of kindness
With this notion in mind, we’ve put together a list of remote-friendly ways that you can introduce random acts of kindness.
- Assign small groups to design simple act of kindness initiatives, such as volunteering at local food banks or handing out flowers on the high street
- Encourage people to pick up a teammates task, so everyone can have an early mark
- Organise a remote-friendly team breakfast. There are plenty of pastry deliveries that can get a fresh croissant to everyone’s door, and voila, virtual breakfast is sorted (just make sure to buy local from small suppliers if you can)
- Plant trees together – the earth needs it!
- Give people extra time at lunch to call a loved one
- Create a work playlist to send around to keep people’s spirits up!
- Let the team order a lunch delivery on expenses
- Organise an anonymous words of kindness day, using a name generator tool, (such as Drawnames), which assigns everyone with a name, that they can send a kindness note to
- Organise a virtual secret Santa. There are plenty of online tools like Prezzybox to match employees, gifts can then be posted to open over a video call.
Kindness doesn’t need to be in form of a grand gesture – sometimes the simplest of things can make us feel valued. Just remember to keep the kindness going and make it an everyday thing!
For more information on discovering happiness initiatives, contact someone from our team at HappyHQ www.happyhq.co.uk
