World Kindness Day, invites us to reflect on how we treat one another in all aspects of our life. But what if kindness wasn’t just a cultural value, but a strategic business metric?
Recent research from Dale Carnegie positions empathy as a leadership essential – not a soft skill, but a measurable driver of performance, retention, and engagement. In high-empathy workplaces:
67% of employees report a strong intent to stay.
Only 5% say the same in low-empathy environments.
Yet only 27% of employees strongly agree their leader cares about them as a person, and just 21% feel their leader cares about how life outside work affects their role.
Kindness Drives Retention
Kindness isn’t just nice – it’s why people stay.
A toxic culture is the #1 predictor of attrition, 10x more influential than compensation. (MITSloanManagement)
Inclusive, kind leadership builds psychological safety, which boosts loyalty, especially among underrepresented groups.
Kindness Attracts Talent
74% of young workers want to work in a kind environment. [soocial.com]
Job seekers are more likely to apply to companies that list kindness as a core value. [forbes.com]
Kindness Boosts Well-being
92% of employees say it’s important to work for an organisation that values emotional and psychological well-being. [apa.org]
Kindness reduces stress, increases connection, and improves mental health outcomes. [hrwatchdog…hamber.com]
Kindness Fuels Productivity
Teams in kind workplaces are 30% more motivated. [soocial.com]
Kindness fosters psychological safety—identified by Google’s Project Aristotle as the #1 factor in high-performing teams. [investingi…roject.com]
Kindness Costs Nothing: 4 Ways to Be Kind at Work
Kindness doesn’t require a budget – just intention. Here are four simple, high-impact ways to show kindness at work:
