Working In A Toxic Work Environment? Here Are The 5 Simple Ways To Improve Kindness In Your Workplace
You know the feeling. The Sunday Blues. Back-to-work Monday-itus.
It’s a common feeling among people who mourn the end of their weekend social time and the start of a new week at work. To the healthy mind, the start of a new working week means the start of a fresh challenge to be met. However this way of thinking is not a universally shared mindset. Among the socially anxious it can be foreshadowing a more sinister and deeper feeling.
A toxic work environment can manifest itself in ways that go beyond the workplace. The effects of working in perpetual negativity can creep into our personal lives and wreak destruction, it can make work feel inescapable even in our down time.
According to research from Georgetown University on the effects of negative work environments on our mental health, 47% of employees who were treated poorly deliberately decreased the time they spent at work. 38% of respondents said they intentionally decreased the quality of their work while 66% agreed that their performance had worsened and 78% said their commitment to the organisation had declined.
The Top 5 Tips to Help Display Kindness in the Workplace
Considering the alarming statistics of this study here’s 5 of Inpsyght Consultancy’s top tips on spreading kindness in the workplace.
Sleep
Sleep is one of the biggest factors in deciding good health, period. Let alone when it comes to mental health where it is absolutely paramount to get a good night’s sleep. A healthy, quality sleeping pattern encourages healthy brain function and regeneration. A good night’s sleep will ensure you are in a positive frame of mind and able to spread kindness. Kindness begins with you.
Don’t Respond to Negativity or Anger With Negativity and Anger
On the subject of responding to negativity or anger, Susan Biali Haas M.D. stated that when negativity is mirrored “They may escalate their bad behaviour or get even more demanding or unreasonable. It will become an unpleasant experience for both of us. What works is treating them kindly.”. As kindness is a contagious feeling, it can be used to defuse a situation and promote further kindness in the workplace.
Exercise
Exercise is one of the best pathways to improving mental health. It is proven that employees who exercise more are more likely to have higher job satisfaction.
A study found that employees with less effective skills for coping with stress and who exercised less frequently on a weekly basis were more likely to leave their job role. Unhappiness can spread as fast as kindness, so exercising to improve your mental health can benefit everyone around you.
Nurture Relationships
Building relationships with your colleagues is a great way to promote kindness in the workplace, and it is fun to do. Social gatherings or team building activities can help you get to know your colleagues and establish similarities.
Inpsyght Consultancy’s Top Tip
If your teammate doesn’t seem themselves today, lend them an ear. You never know what someone’s going through and that small kindness of simply listening to an issue they want to talk through can offer some perspective and act as a stress release.
We would love to hear your top tips for promoting a kind work environment. Let us know in the comments section below.
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