If you hear an organisation described as a ‘nice place to work’, what image does that conjure up for you? You might picture a place full of warm, friendly people who care about each other and are quick to help others out – all good things.
But while it might sound great to work in an ‘nice’ culture, could this be at the expense of something else? What if a culture of being nice acts as a barrier to saying and doing the things that are genuinely best for people, performance and innovation?
This is an excerpt from an article we wrote for HR Magazine about Building a Kind Culture (but not a ‘Nice’ one).
Striving to build a culture where people are nice to one another seems like a worthy goal. However, does a ‘nice’ culture signal true kindness and respect and genuinely drive wellbeing and success?
Nice and kind cultures have some similarities in that the people in both types of culture care about each other. Employees are mindful of colleague’s feelings, and treat each other with warmth. However, in a culture of kindness, people are encouraged to express this care through openness and respectful challenge, whereas in a culture of niceness, people may hold back from sharing their true thoughts for fear of upsetting others.
This means that employees may not challenge how things are done and they shy away from holding people to account. So, what can leaders do to build a kind culture?
In this article, Lucy Cox shares three ideas for HR to explore…
“But while it might sound great to work in an ‘nice’ culture, could this be at the expense of something else? What if a culture of being nice acts as a barrier to saying and doing the things that are genuinely best for people, performance and innovation?“
Read the article in full by clicking on the link below to visit the HR Magazine website.
For more information, please contact Lucy Cox at lucy.cox@oecam.com
