How Kindness Can Transform the Workplace
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Ephesians 4:32)
Sometimes when we think about work, we often focus on the lists of tasks we have to do; the emails that fill our inboxes, the problems we will need to solve, and the stress that comes with that. We can even, depending on our role, get caught up in the pace and the competition, wanting to make sure we prove ourselves at all times. Whilst there is nothing wrong with striving to be the best we can be at our work, as Christians, I believe we are called to something more than this; kindness. It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? But if we ask ourselves, truly, how often do we take the time in the busy work day, to encourage our colleagues? To be patient with each other? To offer help when we think someone may be in need? Or advise on a project that maybe just needs a fresh pair of eyes? This can help us so much in building good relationships with one another and a positive, fulfilling work environment. And by honouring each other in the workplace with kindness, we are in turn honouring God.
Building Relationships
Kindness is such a key factor in building relationships with anyone, and our work colleagues are no exception to this. When we practise kindness towards each other, we not only start to feel more comfortable around each other, but the workplace becomes a more productive environment as we naturally feel more uplifted and are more willing to share ideas. At Christian Jobs, we have started to make a conscious effort to simply congratulate each other if we’ve reached our goals, or go out of our way to help with workload if someone seems overwhelmed. It’s been really fulfilling for everyone as we feel more like a team and our relationships with each other have continued to grow. Kindness can be done in many different ways as well. For example, it may just be cracking a joke when you notice someone is feeling down or not quite themselves. Everyone loves a good laugh in the office, right?
Encouraging Empathy and Understanding
As I said earlier, as Christians I believe we are called to be empathetic and understanding. Being kind to each other can encourage this and it goes a long way. When we make an effort to understand our colleagues' different perspectives on things and empathise with the challenges of their work, we create a safe place of refuge and trust and in turn your team will start to feel supported and understood. Hopefully, then, this will start to grow career enjoyment and overall happiness/security in the workplace.
Culture of Honour
Another powerful effect of kindness is the shift in the atmosphere at work. When we get up in the morning and start getting ready for work, we want to be on our way knowing that we are going to walk into a positive, friendly and gracious atmosphere. Kindly acts, such as practising forgiveness, recognition of our colleagues, or employees/employers (let’s not forget, our managers need kind words too) hard work and uplifting one another can reap benefits such as; improving staff morale, improving productivity, stress reduction (and in turn help boost mental health) and much more. Ultimately, we want to treat our colleagues at work like we would want to be treated, we want to feel valued so we should also make our colleagues feel valued. And by doing so, we are creating a culture of honour; we’re honouring each other and honouring God.
Leading by Example
We’ve all heard the saying that laughter is contagious, right? Or a smile goes a long way? Kindness has such a ripple effect. As Christians, we are called to be vessels of Christ’s love and kindness, of his compassion and empathy. If we lead with this in our place of work, even the small acts of kindness will start to ripple outwards and others around us will start to do the same. Not only this, but it allows us to be a witness of Christ’s love, whether this be with fellow Christians, people of different faiths or none at all. Never underestimate what a kind word can do, or how much impact an act of kindness can have. We want our workplace culture to be a light, a place of respect and grace for one another.
To Sum Up
Kindness is so transformative and has so much potential. It can harness unity, an uplifting and honouring culture in the workplace, and increase overall morale, productivity and well-being. It is something we should embrace, even though we know it is not always easy. But I do believe it is fundamental to our Christian lives, and to our workplace being a place of honour. Let’s always strive to remember the importance of kindness, and challenge ourselves to listen to the prompting of the Lord on how we can make our workplace an encouraging and kinder space.
Our friends at Worship.Works gave the following practical advice on how to encourage kindness in the workplace. https://www.instagram.com/p/Ct0-eTNsNqg/