What is Employee Morale?
Employee morale is the attitude or the outlook of employees, when it comes to their job or the workplace. When morale is high, an employee feels optimistic about the job or the company. When morale is low, an employee doesn’t feel so great about going to work. Proactively trying to address the issue of employee morale is a much better plan than trying to rescue it when it’s already low.
Why Does Employee Morale Matter?
When employee morale is at a high level, it’s more than just a matter of bragging rights. Higher employee morale means that employees are engaged with their jobs. Companies with higher employee morale are likely to have more loyal employees, which can decrease employee turnover. Just as important, a sense of morale can be a great motivator. This can enhance productivity.
How High is Morale at Your Company?
If you want your company to be a great place to work, doing an employee survey is a great idea. This can allow you to ask all employees questions and get data so your company can make a plan to tackle any spots where employees are unhappy.
What You Can Do to Boost Employee Morale?
The good news is that whether you suspect low morale or if the data shows low morale, there are several things you can do about it.
Maintain Relationships With Your Employees
Keeping open lines of communication is important regardless of each person’s line of work. Employees need to hear from their leaders, and they need to know about changes that impact their jobs. Giving your employees feedback will keep them motivated and increase their morale.
Encourage a Positive Work-Life Balance
There are factors both inside the workplace and outside the workplace that can have an impact on morale. If employees are feeling like they can’t juggle their responsibilities outside of work with their responsibilities, this can damage their morale. Encouraging employees to live a balanced life outside of work can go a long way.
Provide Great Training
Morale can decline if employees don’t know how to do their jobs. Whether it’s switching to a new system or changing to a new policy, it’s a manager’s job to remove obstacles that stand in the way of progress. Employees with great morale often receive great training especially in times of transition.
Reward Good Work
All leaders should strive to recognize and reward good work. Without recognition, employees can feel like their hard work doesn’t matter. And, this can decrease morale. However, a recognition program – whether it’s a monetary bonus or some other form of rewards – can motivate employees.
Offer a Path for Promotion
One way to increase morale is by providing a path for promotion. It can be discouraging for loyal employees to want more responsibility and see no path for this. So, your organization should create a path for current employees to earn more responsibility. Employees want to work somewhere that there is room for them to grow in the company and the industry.