Renovate America Holdings

Greg Hawkes

Human-Centered Culture Builder

In 1969, Glen Campbell had a hit with a song called "Try a Little Kindness." Its message is simple: small acts matter, overlook other people's faults and help those who are struggling. From my career in human resources, I believe that song holds one of the most underused principles in business and in life.

Kindness is not softness

Many leaders hear "kindness" and picture lowered standards: a manager who avoids hard conversations and lets poor performance slide. That isn't kindness. It's avoidance, and it hurts the employee most.

Real kindness treats people with dignity while still expecting their best. It tells the truth in a way people can hear, and it assumes good intent first and gives the benefit of the doubt. Used this way, kindness is as practical as a safety procedure and it shows up in retention, attendance and effort. It also doesn't clock out at the end of a shift. The kindness that builds strong teams builds strong families and communities.

Small acts, big returns

The song asks for small gestures, not grand ones and that's where kindness works best. In our cabinet plants, people rarely remember the big programs. They remember the supervisor who learned their name on day one, the manager who said "gracias" and meant it, and the lead who noticed they were quiet and asked about home.

These acts cost almost nothing, and they compound. An employee who feels seen is more likely to report a hazard, share an idea or stay through a hard season. HR's job is to turn kindness from a personality trait into a habit: know people by name, praise specifically and often, speak to people in their own language and follow up.

Overlooking faults without lowering the bar

Looking past faults can't mean ignoring mistakes. A missed step on a production line is a safety issue. But it can mean separating the mistake from the person. Accountability says, "This has to be fixed." Kindness adds, "And I believe you can fix it." Employees who know one bad day won't define them report errors sooner and learn faster. Those who fear one slip will follow them forever hide problems until they get expensive.

Grace in learning

Early in my career, a coworker who is now a good friend told me he tells every new employee on his shift that they can make as many mistakes as needed, as long as it's just a mistake and not continued behavior. Kindness shows up as graceful patience while someone is learning a new process.

Lifting the ones who are struggling

Every workplace has people carrying something heavy: a divorce, a sick parent, a new job that feels overwhelming, the loss of a coworker.

Henry B. Eyring, a man I look up to and have learned so much from, often shared advice a wise church leader gave him as a young man: "When you meet someone, treat them as if they were in serious trouble, and you will be right more than half the time." After years in HR, I believe it. The employee who seems short-tempered or withdrawn is often the one who needs patience most.

HR can't fix every hardship, but we can make sure no one faces it alone, through a flexible schedule, a reminder about the employee assistance program or someone who simply listens. People rarely remember the details of a benefits plan, but they always remember who showed up when life was hard.

A challenge to HR leaders

Culture isn't built in strategy decks. It's built in small exchanges between real people, and HR is in a unique position to model kindness and hold it up as a standard. So here is my challenge: this week, pick one leader and one employee who is struggling, and do one deliberate act of kindness for each. Glen Campbell was right more than fifty years ago, and the advice still holds on the plant floor, in the office and at home: try a little kindness.