Kindness: Why we need it now, more than ever.

• T-ROC Staff
• Jan 27, 2022
• 4 mins read

 

I don’t have to tell you that things are upside-down right now. In nearly every industry, the workforce is stretched thin, Zoom meetings are too many to even count and the new COVID variant being highly transmissible means more people are living in fear of getting sick. If that’s not enough, let’s layer on the fact that our country’s political divide is growing ever wider. Phew. It’s a lot.

 

And while we don’t have control over much, there is, indeed, one thing we can control: Being kind to others.

 

We can’t often know what other people are struggling with, but we can do our best to be more empathetic and see things from a different lens. My husband and I went out to dinner last week, and the waitress looked very stressed. I asked, “Are you doing okay? I’m sure you’re short-staffed and I bet that’s really stressful for you.” She looked at me as if I’d given her a million dollars, and said, “Thank you for being so kind and understanding. We are short-staffed, and if you could place your order now, we might be able to get it out to you in an hour—if we’re lucky.” We looked at her, and said, “No problem! We’ll be your easiest customers tonight.”

 

While this situation happened outside of work, practicing kindness in the workplace is just as important, if not more so. We spend a third of our lives working, so let’s be kind to all the colleagues that we spend so much time with. In addition to kindness just being the right thing to do, it also boosts productivity, trust, and positive work culture. In one study, researchers found that teams in a respectful, kind environment were 36% more satisfied with their jobs and 44% more committed to their organization. And in another study, it turns out that giving compliments can make us even happier than receiving them! Every act of kindness can have an impact. Here are just a few ways you can show kindness at work:

 

• Be willing to listen first, and ask, “How can I help?”
• Recognize the good work and success of others.
• Smile. A good mood can lift everyone’s spirits.
• Be a cheerleader for someone else’s ideas.
• Say thank you. It’s such an easy way to help others feel valued.

 

I can think of countless examples of people being kind at T-ROC and why I love this organization.  Being in a Business Development role means collaborating across divisions—from marketing and recruiting to operations, reporting, and many more. In order to secure partnerships with clients, every division needs to work together for the greater good of the customer. But kindness at T-ROC doesn’t stop when we secure the client—it’s that day-to-day going the extra mile for our customers that make T-ROC unique. Everything we do is tailor-made for our customer and their needs and pain points—the training, reporting, operational plan…and it’s done with kindness because our employees really do care. And that’s why I appreciate T-ROC.

 

Don’t underestimate the power of kindness. Just treat people how you’d want to be treated… it’s really as simple as that… and it’s exactly what we need in this unsettled world we’re living in. Kindness has—and always will be—all we need.

 

Mary Jo Liesch (MJ) is Vice President of Business Development with T-ROC, a global retail solutions provider. To learn more about how MJ and T-ROC can work with your brand or manufacturer on innovative solutions, you can reach her at [email protected].