Random Acts of Kindness: how’s your business doing? Here’s 6 ideas to help

This week marks Random Acts of Kindness week (#RAKWEEK2017). With its Random Acts of Kindness Generator to give us all great ideas of kind acts we can pledge, the organisation is promoting downright good manners and thoughtfulness as a remedy for this self-absorbed world we live in.

Perhaps it might set the scene about my own Random Acts of Kindness. They are usually spur of the moment, when a fit of inspiration hits! Like the time I glanced out of the bedroom window early one morning to see a very young Eastern European charity bag distributor at my letterbox in torrential rain – dressed in just a thin hoody and jeans, soaked does not describe it. On impulse, rather than put a really good quality rain jacket in the charity bag in a day or two, I thought that she would make much better use of it right now. So, jumping in the car to track her down, the young lady was extraordinarily grateful, if not a little surprised to see a 40 something mother of 2 in her PJs stalking her down the street…

Do we need a Random Acts of Kindness ‘week’ to act ethically, morally and think of other people? It does us all good to think of others sometimes so it is good, but… It is slightly alarming if we all need a reminder to help others. Good on the guy on the Random Acts of Kindness site who noticed a colleague’s car headlights were left on so he’d told them – I am positive this guy would do this any day of the year.

Here’s some kind and thoughtful things you can think of doing in your business all year round:

1. Create a caring culture with a family feel in your business, and lead from the top.
2. Hold team days across the business so everyone gets to know everyone else across department, and as a natural progression start to look out for each other.
3. Support a local charity or good cause as a team.
4. Use local businesses to supply YOUR business – and pay early to help THEM keep in business.
5. Celebrate success – not just the sales team when they land that big fish, but across the organisation.
6. Hold a fuddle – it’s an HR180 idea! (It means ‘Food Cuddle’ and is a bit like a bring and share lunch.) A very economic way of marking a special day.