“Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat people-your family, friends, coworkers, and even strangers you meet along the way.”
-Barbara Bush, Former First Lady
Perhaps you’ve heard that love has no place in the workplace, but the past few years has shown us that’s not the case. Caring for the wellbeing of those who share our work is essential, but what does love look like in the workplace?
In today’s post, Strong Cincinnati explains how the character strength of love is necessary in the workplace. This character strength helps in building a team, and we’re sharing practical ways to show love at work.
Does Love Have A Place in the Workplace?
Empathy, tolerance, and forgiveness in relationships are all fostered by love, and kindness towards others is a behavioral outgrowth of love. People with the character strength of love deeply value close relationships and contribute to them with warmth and genuineness. All of these behaviors are necessities when navigating relationships with colleagues, employees, donors, board members, volunteers, and employers.
Why Is Love Important to a Team?
When employees work in a positive culture, they report higher levels of job satisfaction. Indicators of love in a workplace can predict several positive organizational outcomes such as employee teamwork, decreases in absenteeism and burnout, and an increase in customer satisfaction.
If you’ve ever been in an environment where you were judged or punished for the smallest mistakes, you know how important it can be to assume the best in others. Love inspires team members to give the benefit of the doubt. Cultures that lack supportive relationships can make adverse situations more stressful. Love serves as a protective factor by boosting a team’s resiliency.
Related: 5 Ways To Build The Resilience of Employees
How Do You Show Love at Work?
- Offer Help. Do you remember the last time you were overwhelmed at work or stuck on a challenging task? You probably wanted someone to show you a quick tip to make the job more efficient or an offer for something to be taken off your plate. This month, ask a colleague if there’s anything you can do to help when you see them confused or stressed. Not only does this show love, it will help foster an empathetic workplace culture.
- Appreciate One Co-Worker A Day. Write them a card thanking them for their perseverance on a difficult task. Tell them how their humor brightens up your meetings. However you decide to do it, challenge yourself to show appreciation to one co-worker a day for their particular character strengths.
- If appropriate, take a salary cut. Dan Price, co-founder of Gravity Payments, took a $1m salary cut to pay all his staff a minimum $70K wage after talking with a struggling friend.
- Offer What Your Employees Need. Ally, a financial company, offered extra benefits including a $1200 tax-free, financial assistance payment to employees making below $100K to help cover any unexpected costs of working from home.
Contact Mayerson Academy for Strengths-Based Organizational Consulting
There’s a critical need for positive workplace culture shifts that help every employee thrive, no matter the situation. To learn more and connect with other organizations using character strengths day-to-day, you can check out Strong Cincinnati. Strong Cincinnati delivers an engaging, cohort-based learning experiences that the performance and wellbeing of your employees. Connect with us here or call 513-263-2210
Sources
What’s Love Got to Do with It? A Longitudinal Study of the Culture of Companionate Love, Barsade and O’Neill, 2014
Employees Who Feel Love Perform Better, Harvard Business Review, 2014
