Improving Morale

Having good employee morale in your business means that your staff are happy to come to work every day and can give you many benefits, including better production, reduced absenteeism and improved teamwork and engagement.

There are many different factors that can contribute to low staff morale within a workplace – job security, limited promotion opportunities, unfair compensation and high employee turnover.

An expensive sign that you have low morale in your work environment is high staff turnover and increased absenteeism – two things that can cost your business a lot of money.

If you are noticing this in your business, here are a few tips to increase morale:

• Good management. Managers can make or break a workplace environment. A good manager makes an effort to understand employee’s abilities and tries to provide challenges to utilise their full capacity. They give praise where praise is due and allow employees the opportunity to grow.
• Make your employees feel special. Celebrate birthdays, weddings, births etc. with a cake or card. Find a reason to celebrate the little things in your workplace. It helps to make staff feel at home and comfortable in their place of work and fosters a friendly team environment.
• Listen to the ideas of your employees. Keep your employees informed and up to date with what is happening with the company and listen to their input. This helps to make employees feel as though they are a part of something bigger.
• Reward good work. Be sure to acknowledge when a job has been done well. People want to feel valued.
• Make the workplace feel comfortable. Nobody wants to be in a completely cold, sterile and uncomfortable environment. Replace the harsh fluorescent lighting if need be and keep the office at a comfortable temperature.
• Encourage regular work breaks. Tell your staff to take a walk around the block or go get a coffee. People are much more productive if they take regular breaks to refresh their minds.
• Have some fun. Engage in some team building exercises. Encourage your staff to get to know one another.  Talk about hobbies or something other than work
• Let your employees vent. Get it out of their systems. Meet with your employees individually or in small groups and allow them to share some of their frustrations and challenges they’re facing on the job. The process can help improve morale almost instantly.
• Promote from within your company.
  When your employees see that there are opportunities to advance their careers within the company it makes them strive to do better. Keep on the lookout for employees with skills that could benefit your business and develop them .A small investment in training can go a long way.