The pandemic led to one of the lowest employment rates in history. With so many companies letting people go because they, themselves, had to shut down, people were out of jobs and out of hope. Now that things are turning around, some companies are finding it difficult to keep employees. The lure of work-from-home jobs and unemployment funds are too appealing for many in the work force.
So then, what is a business to do? How do you raise workplace morale and keep employees happy, inspired, and enthusiastic?
Table of Contents
Encourage a Positive Work-Home Balance
Many companies provide paid time off, sick days, holiday pay, and vacation time. However, the flip side is that most workers expect those things, and so they do little to raise workplace morale. As a business, it’s important to remember that your employees don’t exist in the vacuum of your company. They have their personal lives and stresses to attend to, and are constantly trying to juggle both, at once. Workers will feel appreciated and enriched if you take the steps to provide, or send them to, various workshops and forums. Informative lectures that center around emotional intelligence, empathy, communication, and conflict resolution skills are priceless tools for employee enrichment. These opportunities for workplace improvement and enrichment of self-awareness through self-expression, are not just personal. All of these soft skills can be transferred and used in the professional environment, as well.
Open the Doors to Feedback
Being given an opportunity to talk about the various obstacles every employee faces is critical to their professional well-being. Imagine an employee with an issue that they feel is unresolvable and feeling like there is nowhere for them to turn. They will likely either suffer in silence, and then their productivity suffers, or they will find their way out of the company entirely. When you open easy avenues for feedback good results occur. Reminding employees on a regular basis that those communicative avenues are there will help ease their anxieties, resolve their issues, and raise their morale. They will know that the company cares.
Actively Show Appreciation
While both positive and negative feedback may be productive as a means for change, positive feedback is motivating and inspiring. As a company, when you take the time to provide an employee with a congratulations on a job well done, you foster an environment of positivity and a sense of belonging.
Why not:
- Send them a Thank You note
- Present them with eGift Cards to use however they wish. Easily purchased online, it’s a gift that will be highly appreciated and you can choose from a multitude of vendors
- Host a Company Breakfast in their honor to help mark a grand achievement
- Invite them to a celebratory lunch
Train Managers to Become More Effective
When people recognize that they are being valued for their own personal set of strengths, a shift takes place. The workplace becomes intrinsically stronger and employee productivity and their bonds with each other become undeniably more robust. Managers who are trained to elicit this positivity from their subordinates will feel a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment, as will the employees. Being an effective manager doesn’t just mean that they strive for employees’ high performance, but also creativity and unique problem-solving skills, as well.
Establish Regular Meetings
You have implemented ways to keep feedback flowing. It’s also important to encourage regular meetings between employees and their superiors. That line of open communication is a proven method of increasing employee morale. The employee will get the support that they request and need, instead of feeling log jammed or bottle necked with no means of assistance. It’s also virtually impossible to keep data analysis and productivity up to date without frequent meetings and a regular generation of reports.
Fostering an Environment of Transparency
There’s almost nothing worse for an employee than not knowing where their company is headed. Rumors abound, and fear, tension, and stress cloud the air. Eliminate all the speculation by regularly fostering an environment of transparency and open communication. This will help employees feel valued and invested in. The company’s mission statement and ongoing announcement of progress toward those goals is highly motivating. Employees will work harder for the good of not just themselves, but for the company as a whole and their fellow employees. This includes offering an understanding of hiring decisions, how general decisions are made, the future of the company, and expectations for their own future. This transparency will lead to greater trust, which in turn, leads to increased morale.
Regardless of the company culture and the mood of the employees currently, a workplace environment can always be turned around. It’s about building trust and confidence in the business and finding ways to appreciate and elicit a greater sense of fulfillment for the employees. This is no small task when undertaken all at once, but over time, these strategies are sure to lead to great results.
