Always the fan of vox-pops since I studied journalism a decade ago, I conducted a mini one to seek answers to this question. My assumption was that people’s first thought would quite probably along the lines of ‘more money’ or other financial gifts.
Absolutely this would fit a definition of generosity. However the reality is, particularly in our current economic climate, that our financial resources are stretched.
Which means we need to think about other ways in which we can be generous to our teams. Best of all, according to my quick vox-pop, the better acts of generosity aren’t tied to the dollar and cents factor but instead take many different forms that, quite frankly, are great examples of ‘people first’ cultures.
What does generosity at work look like?
Here are a few of my favourite vox-pop responses:
- Sharing wisdom
- Sharing information and giving to others
- Generous with your time and attention
And here is my absolute favourite:
Generosity at work means being generous of spirit with my colleagues: checking in with those who are having a hard time, helping new team members who are learning the ropes, pulling my own weight and not leaving too much for others to do, and helping out my mates when they’re busy even if it’s “not my job” to do so.
When I cast my mind back over the many leaders I have worked for or with, I realise that several of the traits I most admired about them, were examples of the ways in which they displayed generosity.
They:
- Led by example when it came to acknowledgment and appreciation. This included ensuring praise was given for good work when it was due, and often extended to either public shout outs and occasionally small gifts. It’s not the cost or size of the gift by the way, it’s the fact that by giving me a gift, I feel valued and seen. Heck, a hand written thank you card is a lovely way to receive recognition from your manager. Especially given so few of us hand write anything these days. Which if you’ve ever tried to read my handwriting, you will know is a blessing.
- Were always available to listen to me, even if they had other priorities and so needed to ask me to come back at a later scheduled time. In other words, they made time for me – and they made sure they followed up.
- Demonstrated interest in me, not just as Ali the worker bee, but also the Ali that has interests, commitments and passions outside of the office. Often by finding an interest we had in common (be it fur babies, human babies, footy teams or Bruce Springsteen) and made time to have chats about these shared interests.
One of the best and earliest pieces of advice I ever received from a manager happened after I received a letter from a mate who was acting for the other side in a family law dispute. The letter was written in a way that attacked me (as opposed to arguing her client’s side) and I experienced all the feels after I received it.
JLD, my boss, advised me to go and bash out a letter on the computer that included EXACTLY how I felt when I received that letter. Then, I had to put it in my bottom drawer for 3 days. After that, I could take it out and revisit it. Of course by the time I took the letter from my drawer, all (ok, ok, the majority) of my anger had dissipated and version 2 of my response was professional and calm. And considerably kinder aka generous.
Keen for more tips? Desperate to see one of my infographics? Well here you go:
How can coworkers display generosity to each other?
Displaying generosity within organisations should not just be the remit of managers and leaders.
In order for the benefits of generosity to flow across a business (think increased motivation, engagement and productivity), coworkers also need to share the love.
Some ways that coworkers can do so are:
A) Via peer recognition and/ or reward schemes. There are many options for a pre-established systems such as this on the market, but an example of what they offer might look like this:
- Every employee is allocated 5 credits a month, which they can use to recognise any team member’s efforts. The recognition includes why they are nominating the particular peer, and a copy is provided to that peer.
- Systems that provide for both recognition AND reward will have an additional step. For example, when individuals accumulate enough of these credits from their peers per month, then it translates into either a $ amount or other options like gift cards. A mate of mine scored a brand new air-fryer this way, which as you can imagine, made her pretty darn happy. Both for the recognition and the reward.
- By mentoring new employees, or buddying up with them. This could (should) include inviting new coworkers to a coffee or lunch date either virtually or IRL.
B) Understanding how team members like to work and then accommodating their preferences where possible. Atlassian provides a great tool to do this called My User Manual.
C) Provide opportunities for team members to share their expertise and knowledge with others. This may be job-related, by why not mix up? Encourage team members to run ‘lunch and learn’ sessions, where individual team members share about their passions and hobbies with each other.
D) To quote from the quote above (if that’s even allowed): actively encourage a supportive environment like this, where team members are ‘helping out my mates when they’re busy even if it’s “not my job” to do so. ‘
External generosity
Generosity can and probably should be external as well as internal for organisations.
The most common form of external generosity is via Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs.
Keen to understand more of what CSR is and how it helps build engagement and great culture?
CSR can bring employees to work with a greater sense of enthusiasm and commitment. When an employee engages with the community, finds a connection to a non-profit or to a cause that matters to them, they’re going to come to work feeling that they’re part of something bigger, and their commitment and motivation is going to rise.
Before we leave this blog…
May I offer one final tip for leaders, managers and teams alike?
SMILE.
Smiling has documented health benefits, including triggering the release of the happy hormones dopamine, endorphins and serotonin.
But smiling is also one of the easiest (and most satisfying) ways to display kindness and generosity.
And smiling just happens to go hand in hand with humour. Which, in a crazy turn of events, is next week’s theme in Workology Co’s A – Z of Workplace Culture, ‘H is for Humour’. Boom.