As Q4 Approaches, Keep Kindness and Gratitude Front-of-Mind

“No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop

The 4th quarter of the business year is almost upon us, bringing opportunities for end-of-year sales as companies spend their remaining budgeted research dollars and maximize resources. 

For those of us in the marketing research arena, Q4 is crunch time as our workloads increase and timelines shorten. The holidays (and all they entail) are coming up fast, and managing the unexpected is an everyday occurrence.

This is the perfect time to embrace an attitude of mutual support, respect, kindness, and gratitude. 

There is much written these days about kindness and sincerity in the workplace and for good reason. When you consider these traits it seems obvious they should prevail in any workplace environment. It sounds like a no-brainer, but as we all know, it is not always the case in practice.

The act of sincere caring and kindness, and embracing a spirit of gratitude are traits we should all apply because, well – on a basic human level, it’s the right way to be. That being said, promoting a culture of kindness and gratitude in the workplace is also good business. 

There are many ways in which promoting a culture of kindness, compassion, and gratitude provide a competitive edge, including: 

1. Fosters Trust Within an Organization

Kindness increases employee commitment to the company eliminates communication barriers, minimizes negative competition among staff, and strengthens relationships with client partners.

2. Assists in Talent Recruitment

Job seekers are seeking more meaningful workplace experiences. A positive work culture may attract employees to a company, and lead to lower recruiting, hiring, and training costs, and result in higher productivity.

3. Heightens Employee Engagement and Commitment

Gallup research has shown that in the past twenty years, employee engagement (how people feel about where they work) has become a significant predictor of an organization’s profitability and productivity. Disengaged workers had 37% higher absenteeism, 49% more accidents, and 60% more errors and defects. In organizations with low employee engagement scores, they experienced 18% lower productivity, 16% lower profitability, 37% lower job growth, and 65% lower share price over time.

4. Fuels Learning and Innovation

Empathy and kindness are crucial in learning from failure and fostering innovation because it increases what researchers from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor call psychological safety in sharing information. Because innovation rests on learning from failure, kindness is an important aspect of acceptance when an idea does not pan out, and fosters moving forward in creating new ideas.

5. Promotes High-Quality Service and Brand Loyalty

Honest and meaningful expressions of caring in service interactions create brand loyalty, drive customer engagement, and forge lasting bonds with clients. Expand this attitude toward respondents and you will see a more engaged and satisfied consumer panel as well.

6. Improves Business Performance

A Deloitte University study shows an 80% improvement in business performance among millennials when levels of diversity and inclusion were high. 

 

This Q4, look for opportunities to be kind, respectful, and grateful, even – and especially – in the midst of a hectic workday.  One caring act can release an enormous chain of positive events, not least of which is feeling good. The miracle of kindness is that it is contagious and something we should all want to pass on and spread to others.