The 1 Thing Every Workplace Will Want to Become This Year: Kinder

Most workplaces set goals for the year that involve growth, technology or development. This year, many want to become something different: kinder.

Kindness in the workplace is on the rise. In fact, 87% of employees and 94% of employers plan to make kindness a core company value this year, according to the Dexian HumanKindex.

“The findings show a marked rise in both employee and employer perceptions of kindness, signaling a cultural shift toward empathy, connection and respect as core business capabilities rather than soft ideals,” says Maruf Ahmed, CEO of Dexian.

Good Time for Kinder Times

And the timing couldn’t be better, as uncertainty surrounds employees outside of the workplace daily. We all know that it’s difficult to look at phones, TVs, social media, street signs or a stranger’s face and not be inundated with negative news.

“As we enter a new year, people are showing up to work carrying a larger amount of personal, professional, and emotional stress. The pace of work continues to increase, expectations are high, AI has people simultaneously excited and concerned, and uncertainty has become part of everyday life,” says Lydia Wilson, Chief People Officer at Dexian.

So, being in a workplace that is kinder than a cruel world can help.

“Kindness helps humanize our interactions. It reminds us that we are seen, supported, and not navigating challenges alone. When we feel grounded and valued, we do our best work and build more productive work communities,” says Wilson.

Even better, being in a kind workplace can help everyone work better. More than 90% of the people in the Dexian study agreed that a culture of kindness is essential to building a high-performing workplace.

More specifically, employees link kindness to measurable business outcomes, including:

• Performance (85%)
• Productivity (84%)
• Engagement (82%)
• Collaboration (81%), and
• Innovation (79%).

Bottom line: People who work in a kind environment work better.

“Employees and leaders are aligned on its value and impact on performance, productivity, engagement, and talent attraction,” says Ahmed.

Building Kinder Workplaces

So while you work to stay on top of trends, on the edge of AI, ahead of turnover, or continue to grow this year, try to build a kinder workplace, too. That effort will likely help all your other initiatives.

Here are four tactics to create more kindness and happiness in your workplace.

1. Do It From the Start

According to Wilson, kind workplaces are built from the ground up — from the day people walk in the door.

“It’s about the systems we put in place, like how we onboard, how we develop people, and how we communicate. When kindness is reflected both in how we behave and how we operate, it simply becomes part of how we work every day,” says Wilson.

Her advice takes me back to a piece of advice that I’ve shared many times from this company: We have a collegiality expectation when we sign on. People are expected to treat others professionally and with courtesy. It’s not a nice-to-have. It’s a performance expectation.

2. Get People Involved in Solutions

Harvard Business School Professor and author of The Happiness Files: Insights on Work and Life, Arthur C. Brooks says making employees happy is the key to improving business performance. Simply put, when employees’ quality of life improves so does the business’s quality improve.

One of his first pieces of advice: To spread happiness, turn to employees to find a new way to solve one nagging problem. This serves two purposes: You fix a problem that causes people a reason to be unhappy and possibly unkind. And you give them greater meaning at work.

Pick a persistent issue and ask a senior team member for input. Explain how you’ve been approaching it, then invite their alternative perspective. This simple act signals openness to ideas and encourages innovation.

3. Be Honest and Move On

Start the year with some honesty about something you’ve been avoiding. Then meet it head-on and move on. Brooks suggests that you tell an employee — or as many as need to hear it — something you’ve been avoiding.

You might want to think of one difficult conversation you’ve been putting off — perhaps it’s about compensation, performance, uncertainty, expectations or next moves. Then deliver the message with clarity and honesty. Employees don’t need perfect answers, but they need the truth from their leaders all the time. In fact, 40% of employees in the Dexian study said they were most influenced by leaders who lead with kindness.

4. Give People Space

Brooks suggests that to build a kinder workplace this year, leaders schedule team lunches … and don’t go to them!

The point is to create space for people to connect where they can casually get together with no agenda. Then let them gather without the boss looking over their shoulder or hearing and directing their conversations.

Often, when leaders step back, employees can form genuine relationships that strengthen engagement and build a ground-up culture.