Kindness Goes a Long Way in Business

There’s a lot to be said about the power of kindness. This applies to everyday life of course, but it also rings true in the business world. It used to be that cold, distant bosses who sat in a corner office and didn’t know their employees’ names were the definition of success in this country. This mindset is quickly turning in the opposite direction, with more employees seeking empathy and kindness in their leaders. After all, Americans do spend almost 1,800 hours a year at work! Who wants to be reporting to someone unrelatable? So, does kindness equate to success? We think so, and here’s why…

We all remember The Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Most of us are taught this mantra in childhood, but somewhere down the road it seems to slip away from people’s world look. The way you treat others often has a direct influence over the way they perceive and treat you. This doesn’t apply to just friends and acquaintances, either: the way we act toward our employees, colleagues, and peers can significantly affect how successful we are as business owners.

Employee Retention

Think about it this way… what do people want out of their jobs? Do they want to toil away for hours, doing thankless tasks for an even more thankless boss? Or do they want to do work that inspires them, for a leader who also sees the value in work-life balance and driving toward the common good? Building trust and loyalty with the folks whose paychecks you sign is a tried-and-true way to reduce employee turnover. And we already know that reduced turnover equates to reduced operating costs.

Positive Reputation

In addition to retaining employees, kindness also goes a long way in attracting and retaining customers. There are few things more kind than displaying charitable behavior, and charitable behavior leads to a lot of positive customer opinions. People want to do business with a company that’s concerned with kindness. No matter what size business you have, you can build and maintain a strong reputation just by conducting business with kindness at the core.

Strong Relationships

You’ll likely partner with all manner of vendors over the course of your career. The key to creating and hanging on to those business relationships often lies in kindness. If you’re easy to work with and others enjoy doing business with you, you’re more likely to get treated better than, say… a partner who is rude. You can even improve relationships with your competitors, which might lead to better business deals or joint ventures.

What do you get when you combine kindness, a great business strategy, and a little extra cash on hand? Success! The experts here at ARF Financial are ready to equip you with the curated content and financial assistance you need to make your business shine. Whether you’re looking for a small business loan or line of credit, you came to the right place–we’ll get you the right loan product for the right amount, quickly and with limited paperwork. Stop by today and learn more about our team.