IBM Romania

Global Marketing Center

The Bridge, Building 1
Șoseaua Orhideelor 15D, 060071, Bucharest

Random Acts of Kindness

GMC — or Global Marketing Center — is a marketing center in Romania that is
part of IBM and functions globally. The center is made up of talented
individuals with a variety of expertise, who are able to provide end-to-end
marketing services.
Covid forced the organization to adapt to a remote working environment,
which proved difficult for many employees. Additionally, internal restructuring
that took place during the pandemic created insecurity in the workspace. As a
result, employee engagement and morale were low in 2021. Internal surveys
highlighted the lack of shared values, continuous improvement, and resilience
as the three behavioral dimensions that needed improving. People were
displeased and felt unseen and underappreciated.
The Random Acts of Kindness initiative was our organizational answer to a
monumental challenge: to build back an entire community of colleagues that
lift each other up, and to demonstrate to each employee how valued they are
and how much their work is appreciated. The initiative was created and
implemented by an internal team of volunteers which help drive culture and
engagement in the workplace and are known as the IBM Ambassadors.
Random Acts of Kindness is a recognition program which promotes and
rewards the "extra mile" that people take to support their team or colleagues.
The program includes 21 weeks of opportunities for people to nominate their
colleagues and peers for a kind gesture or trait. Each week had a specific
theme, such as "Data Ninja”, “The Storyteller”, “Well Versed Traveler”, “Merry
Mood Maker”, “Change Champion” and more. The themes were chosen to
offer space for many varied types of interests/ hobbies/personal strengths to
shine. Nominees and nominators were rewarded each week and had an
opportunity to make their voice heard. In addition to the weekly nominations,
there were also two main events included in the campaign: September of
Kindness and the Festival of Kindness in December.
The campaign was successful in reconnecting colleagues and making
employees more engaged and confident in their roles. 457 nominations were
received in total, with an average of 21 per week. 149 colleagues were
awarded, representing close to half of the number of employees in the Center
at the time. The overall participation rate was over 50%. Following the
campaign, the Global Marketing Center saw a significant improvement in
engagement scores across the board.
What started as an effort to get employees more engaged transformed into a
true celebration of gratitude and gentleness that reminded people that they
matter, and they are appreciated. We successfully transformed the challenges
of remote work, isolation, and internal transformation into an opportunity for
people to see and acknowledge the good that surrounds them every day and
be a messenger of kindness and grace.