The World Kindness Movement is an international Movement with no political, commercial or religious affiliations. The formation of the organisation crystallised at a conference in Tokyo in 1997 when Japan brought together like-minded kindness organisations from around the world. The global campaign aims to ensure Kindness engages everyone, from our Classrooms to our staff rooms and from our Boardrooms to those residing in our corridors of Government. Many see the campaign as a way to address the fear associated to bystander behaviour in situations of bullying, however it has far more reach in a world which struggles to find the “Courage To Be Kind” and be the best it can be. To assist organisations start their journey KPIs were developed but rather than been seen as a form of compliance they are seen as a guide where accomplishing each step inspires you to take the next and ensuring it embeds a positive culture in the community and or workplace.
Kindness Performance Indicators How does one measure this let alone begin to implement a kinder culture in the business if it has never had kindness on the agenda? The fact is that if we did a word search on all emails, manuals, minutes of meetings, social media or the company website, the word kindness would rarely appear if at all. “Wellbeing and Mindfulness” does not really cut it because unless a 4 year old to a 94 year old gets it, it will be a struggle to strike a chord in the hearts and minds of the staff or the clients. So instead of trying to reinvent the wheel with buzz words let’s clean up the messaging around kindness and put into place some real KPI’s
We have been talking about “What Business Does Kindness Have In Business?” for a while now and we believe Kindness Performance Indicators” will bulletproof your brand from within through a richer and stronger corporate culture rather than relying on masters of spin where the integrity will not just be perceived it will be realised. We set some simple parameters, however each organisation needs to take a bespoke approach for developing programs to support the embedding of a “Corporate Culture of Kindness”. History tells us not to rely on leadership to drive change because that can be temporary rarely surviving past the tenure of the management. Real change requires collaboration and engagement with a will to drive it. Embedding the culture with positive reinforcement ensures you create an environment that influences the people long after the instigators may have left, let this be your legacy to influence leaders of the future. Unfortunately we see this in workplaces where negative cultures are embedded through gossip, office politics and blame which reinforce a negative environment and we see good people lured into bad behaviour which becomes the norm. So here are ten difficult steps to commence a process of positive change:
Ten Difficult Steps To Change
- Place Kindness on The Agenda at the next meeting.
- Host a panel “Conversations In Kindness” What does this look like in an ideal world and why is taking the “Kinder Option” often the path of most resistance?
- Develop a Kindness Policy and Workshop. (we can help)
- Pledge to use your best endeavours to Always Seek the Kinder Option in all decision making processes both professional and personal.
- Appoint Company/ Departmental Goodwill Ambassadors each month to implement Class Acts of Kindness – A group or department activity and have the staff vote at the end of twelve months which Act of Kindness they felt had the greatest impact on them. If possible it should involve all staff from all departments. (By all I mean every Victim every Bully and every Bystander)
- Acknowledge Acts of Kindness with an Award and or sponsor a co-branded interactive Kindness Card which tracked on Google Maps to record a journal of acts of kindness as they are passed on from one person to another to acknowledge someone’s kindness. This can support your CSR programs and be used as a fundraising tool for your chosen charity rather than a novelty cheque. If novelty cheques could change the world the world would be changed, it requires engagement through telling and sharing the stories that inspire.
- Collaborate in Kindness through seeking three ideas from all staff on their thoughts on how to create a kinder company:
A) With the Community
B) For clients and Suppliers
C) In the Workplace - Undertake A quarterly Kindness Index
- Aim for your organisation to become an “Agent for Positive Change” through having a purpose greater than its bottom line.
- Join the Global Campaign to Create a Kinder World with the board signing a
Declaration of Support in an official Signing Ceremony inviting all key stakeholders to witness.
Consider inserting a Kindness Clause known as Article 28 resloved in Seoul at the 9th General Assembly of the World Kindness Movement, into your organisation’s agreements, manuals and or Constitution.
If this seems too hard, then good, you are on the right track because seeking the “Kinder Option” is deciding to take the path of most resistance and that almost always requires courage to deliver ambitious outcomes derived by a thinking outside the box approach.