Love is in the air, as we approach Valentine’s Day this week. Shops are brimming with pink and red cards, filled with mushy messages to give to your spouse. Little teddy bears holding hearts, emblazoned with phrases like “BE MINE” and “I LOVE YOU.” Desperately trying to book a table in a restaurant a week before the day, only to find that those loved-up couples are way ahead of you.
I’m no cynic when it comes to Valentine’s Day. Showing your love and appreciation for others is what we’re all about at People Lab, and we encourage random acts of kindness and sharing what you’re grateful for. It’s all part of our expertise in positive psychology, a discipline that actively promotes securing happiness before you worry about anything else in life. We combine our Employee Engagement Approach with Positive Psychology, to create successful, sustainable results.
Valentine’s Day is the designated day for declaring your love for someone – whether you do it anonymously or openly. If you’re in a relationship, it can be a great day to go on a date and reminisce about the past. If you’re single, you might finally be confident enough to ask that guy from the third floor out for a drink. Anything goes on Valentine’s Day – and if you’re scared of rejection, you can share your thoughts in an anonymous card.
We’re so willing to support this tradition in our personal lives, that it can often be a sore point if you forget to send a card to your loved one. It’s an expected behaviour, a social holiday so entrenched in society that you can genuinely buy Valentine’s themed dog attire (I’m not joking). Approximately 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second most popular card-sending holiday after Christmas – so, however you feel about the day itself, there’s no escaping it.
Browsing the mountain of pink and red cards, I began thinking about this tradition and what it means for workplaces. Couldn’t we take the essence of Valentine’s Day, and use it in our organisations? Couldn’t we stand to be a little more loving to our colleagues?
It’s easy to brighten someone’s day, with just a small act, a smile or a favour – so we think it’s high time to share the love with your colleagues. We’ve put together a few ideas to help on this, in case you’re stuck:
Help Out
If you find yourself with some free time and one of your colleagues is snowed under, offer to share the load – you’ll ease their stress, whilst letting them know that you care about their pressures as well as you’re own.
Listen & Learn
Is there someone in your office that you don’t know very well? Maybe a new starter, who’s still trying to fit in? Take some time out today to introduce yourself, and find out more about them. It shows your colleague that you’re interested in them, and helps you to form another great relationship at work.
Be Kind
The best way to show you care is by performing a random act of kindness. It could be anything – from bringing in homemade biscuits for your team, to offering to help with a colleague’s charity work at the weekend. It’s Random Acts of Kindness Week (10th – 16th Feb), so all the more reason to get involved – take a look at the infographic from The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation below for more ideas.
We’d love to hear what you get up to this week, and how you help your organisation to share the love. However, it’s good to remember that we don’t have to reserve this kind of behaviour to a single day or week of the year – we should promote happiness & love all year round.
And for those celebrating – have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!
