Summary:
The importance of kindness in the workplace
Generosity and consideration in the workplace and beyond
Financial wellbeing for the whole family
Embed kindness into your business with an end-to-end wellbeing offering and Sodexo Engage
EMBED KINDNESS AND TOLERANCE INTO YOUR WORKPLACE CULTURE WITH A 360-WELLBEING STRATEGY
Positive workplace culture is a recruitment must-have.
When Ian Hodson, Head of Reward at the University of Lincoln, spoke at EB Live 2022, he provided research showing that the workforce of tomorrow wants to experience workplace culture in the office environment, absorbing everything it entails.
Since Sunday, 13th November was World Kindness Day, we’re focusing on how you can make the experience better by embedding kindness into your workplace and how you can achieve it.
The importance of kindness in the workplace
According to the Mental Health Foundation, kindness plays a large part in creating positive mental health by:
- Increasing positive wellbeing and state of mind
- Improving our self-esteem
- Providing a sense of belonging and stronger social connections with others
- Giving us a more empathetic and optimistic mindset
You can read more on the importance of supporting mental health in the workplace, and here are some ways your employees can be encouraged to behave to incorporate a culture of kindness:
Courtesy and Politeness
Do you have an employee who keeps their head down when someone greets them in the morning? It takes two seconds to turn away from your screen, smile and say hello - two seconds that negate potential workplace conflict and clashes. Encourage employees to be mindful of how their actions, or lack of them, may be interpreted.
Fairness
Fairness starts at the top by creating a culture of equality, but it’s also the responsibility of all employees to treat each other fairly. Your workforce is human, and disagreements can arise, but they need to be handled respectfully. Employees should never be in a position where they feel isolated or uneasy.
Collaboration
Workplace collaboration is where employees look beyond their own agenda to reach a shared business goal. Collaboration can be attained by encouraging teams to come out of their silos, share information and understand what they can achieve when business areas work together.
We could go on because there are so many ways businesses could encourage behavioural changes that would make a significant difference to workplace culture without requiring additional expense.
Generosity and consideration in the Workplace and Beyond
If we look at the dictionary definition of kindness, it says that it's the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. For businesses, especially in the current climate, the focus should be on being generous and considerate.
Reward and Recognition
66% of employees would resign if they didn’t feel appreciated at work.
Does your business have a reward and recognition strategy in place? Is brilliance rewarded when it happens, or do you wait until Christmas to consider a bonus?
We’re in a cost-of-living crisis, and businesses all over the UK are taking measures to provide additional financial support to their employees. Prioritising employee financial wellbeing is a generous move, and it’s also a good business decision because this additional support, whether delivered as an employee benefit or a reward, will boost employee engagement and retention.
In our recent article - 9 Reasons why you should revolutionise your 2023 employee reward & recognition strategy - we discuss the business benefits of rewarding great work, thus positively reinforcing that behaviour and boosting your employees' power to perform. These benefits include reduced absenteeism, increased engagement and employee retention rates, and the ability to better position your organisation to attract and acquire talent.
Financial Wellbeing for the Whole Family
A recent study by Randstad found that just 25% of employees have received additional assistance beyond an annual pay rise. That same study found that 30% of the people surveyed wanted their employer to support them during the cost-of-living crisis by providing subsidies for daily expenses like energy bills or travel.
Here at Sodexo, we have the perfect solution for organisations seeking cost-effective, long-term and sustainable financial support for their employees. You can incorporate our prepaid recognition cashback card (Spree) into your business as an employee benefit or a method of distributing rewards. Once in place within your company, load it up with funds, and your employees can use it in-store and online wherever Visa prepaid is accepted. Employees can go on to add funds themselves and use the card to earn up to 15% cashback at a vast range of retailers.
Add in an employee discounts platform they can access on the go, and you’ll be helping your employees' wages stretch further, benefitting their entire household. The discounts platform by Sodexo Engage includes popular retailers used for the weekly shop to top tech, holidays and even the cleanest and greenest cars on the market.
Physical and Mental Wellbeing
How much time does your business spend reviewing your employees' physical and mental wellbeing?
It’s something that needs regular consideration. Excess stress in the workplace is detrimental to businesses and individuals since, if unmanaged, it can lead to mental health illnesses, like burnout, which lead to employee absences. The Centre for Medical Health released data showing that poor mental health leads to reduced productivity, costing businesses an additional £21.2 billion annually.
An employee assistance programme (EAP) can help reduce the chances of your employees suffering a mental health-related illness through free, confidential mental health support. The EAP includes face-to-face counselling by BACP-accredited counsellors, e-mail and phone support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Another generous way to show your employees that their physical health is a business priority is through a corporate gym membership. Enable your workforce to maintain a healthy lifestyle by saving them up to 25% in annual membership fees. Alternatively, a cycle-to-work scheme will save businesses up to 15.05% on National Insurance contributions for those who use the scheme whilst also making a top-spec bike affordable for the individual.
Embed Kindness into your business with an end-to-end Wellbeing offering, and Sodexo Engage
Contact Sodexo Engage today if you’re ready to reap the benefits of embedding kindness into your business with a sustainable end-to-end wellbeing strategy, incorporating physical, mental, and financial wellbeing.
Our friendly team of engagement experts will take you through the employee benefit and reward solutions.