Your #HRActsofKindness Challenge List

Welcome to our very festive #HRActsofKindness challenge. Our last chance to spread a bit of happiness throughout our workplaces and communities in 2016, so let’s get going!

You don’t have to spend anything and you don’t have to be in HR to take part. Most of the challenges cost nothing so it’s easy for everyone to be involved. Ask your teams, colleagues, friends and family to get involved, the more people spreading kindness the better.

Throughout the next few weeks I’ll look forward to hearing your stories and will pick one each week to be highlighted as a “Kindness Champion” and I will send you a gift; besides it’s nice to keep the kindness going! Email your stories to Natalieellis084@gmail.com

Christmas can be a challenging time of the year for many so by being present and taking a small amount of time can make a big difference.

Make the challenges relevant to you; if you are passionate about it then you’re more likely to enjoy it!

What does kindness look like at your workplace and in the community?

Here is your challenge list:

1. Host a mince pie and coffee morning at your workplace or local nursing home for the  elderly community – combating elderly loneliness at Christmas is difficult so by rallying your teams and working together as a company to host something like this can work really well. It benefits the elderly people by providing company and as most of us are HR professionals, we’re known for our listening skills. It’s also something that can project a positive community impact upon the business.
2. Boost employee morale by getting a local school choir to sing carols at your workplace! This sounds bizarre but I remember at a previous employer, we had this and we all sang together, had hot chocolate and in return gave the school children insight into our business and offered work experience placements. It worked really well and there wasn’t one person who left work that day without a smile on their face!
3. Utilise your resources! Promote your employee assistance programme or support line. It may sound simple but unless it’s under people’s noses they don’t generally know it’s there. When I worked in transport the EAP line was used most between December and January, more people need support than you think so by providing that service can mean a lot to come people.
4. Hold a shoebox appeal. You can do this for children living in shelters, in foster care or those who have fallen on hard times. My colleagues at Forterra are currently putting together donations for the local homeless Hope Centre in Northampton.
5. Hold a charity bake sale, invite colleagues, customers and suppliers, bring people together and raise money for a charity of your choice.
6. Prepare someone to take that leap of faith with a “New Year, New Job” aim. Ask if you can help with smartening up their CV, interview techniques and adapting their job search so they target the right employer. Sometimes all it takes is 10 minutes to help someone land that dream job, so why not utilise your existing skills?
7. Gather donations for the local children’s hospital ward – put a smile on a child’s face this Christmas and buy an extra toy to donate to the local hospital.
8. Arrange a Christmas themed lunch at work, if you can’t do a full on roast, why not book a table at a local restaurant or even order in a pizza! It’s great to get away from the desk and spread the kindness by spending just that little bit of time getting to know your colleagues, after all they are our extended family
9. Don’t forget those who got you where you are now when writing out those cards! I’m sending  cards to my tutors, former managers, colleagues and those who have supported me in my career. Without them, I wouldn’t be here so once a year is not a lot to highlight why they’re important to me.
10. McDonalds Christmas cups! Random I know but how many times do we get McDonalds breakfast on a Friday morning? Come on… be honest! Order a coffee and on the side you’ll see a bean sticker, collect the stickers to make free coffee tokens. I save these up and give them to those sleeping rough on the streets when I see them. Drinking coffee is good but being kind makes the coffee even better.

So there you have it, your ten kindness challenges! This list is not extensive, if you want to do an act in your own way please do share it with me, thinking outside the box is never a bad thing plus you may pass on the kindness and inspire someone else.