10 Ways to Boost Employee Morale

As a background checking company, Corra Group maintains relations with staffing agencies and assorted friends in human resources, employment, executive recruiting, and other sectors that have to do with jobs.   Needless to say, during this economic downturn, some have experienced a rough patch while others have moved on.

I would like to think of their experience as a reflection of current events in the work place, and even more so, a reflection of the conditions employees are facing.   Most deal with uncertainty on a daily basis.   They could lose their jobs, face salary cuts,  or see hours reduced.    The employers they work for could close the business or sell it out and say goodbye.

Anyone with any sense realizes it is a volatile time for the economy and the job market in general.   So with employees being insecure and often down in the doldrums these tips from Dianne Gubin can provide helpful to any employer with morale concerns.   Dianne Gubin is the owner of TechExecPartners, and is a friend of ours.  She has a remodeled website, by the way, and it looks great.

Anyway, Dianne offers ten tips for boosting employee morale.   Here you go–

What can executives and managers do to boost morale in the workplace?

1.Show more sincere appreciation for employees on your team. Look for the positive aspects and tell your team how much you appreciate each of their individual contributions—regardless of job description. People who “are just doing their job” want to be acknowledged for their role, importance, and contribution to the company.

2.Everyone works best when passionate about new initiatives and challenges. For example, engineers at Google are encouraged to spend 20 percent of their time to work on company-related projects that are of interest them personally. The result? Google mail and other applications.

3.Hold weekly meetings. People worry the most and imagine the worst when they are out of the loop. Keep your team, especially remote workers, apprised of developments—both good and bad—as everyone needs to know what’s on the corporate radar screen. Assure your employees that if there are changes in the work place you will inform them.

4.Consider implementing or updating Employee of the Month and other recognition programs.

5.Build a sense of team or community. Organize a social action activity within your organization for employees to give back. Participate in a Run or Walk for AIDS or cancer, volunteer at a food bank, support a local Little League team and more. There are countless organizations that would be grateful for your group’s time.

6.Look for reasons to celebrate. Celebrate all company birthdays on the first Friday of the month. Celebrate the success of a great week for sales or hitting a deliverable milestone. Celebrate a higher ranking for your company on the Internet search engines. Look for reasons to connect and form strong teams.

7.Remember the adage, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” This works for women, too! Feed your team. Keep coffee, drinks and healthy snacks available so your team doesn’t need to leave the office to buy treats.  Many employees just “deal” with work place stress for fear of losing a job and income. Create an environment where work/life balance is encouraged.

8.Employee anxiety and depression can cause lower productivity in the workplace.

9.Provide employee wellness programs to combat stress and significantly lower corporate medical costs. Consider providing on-site meditation or gym classes, support groups, and employee-assistance referral and counseling programs.

10.Ask the question. Many people will say off the record that they hate their jobs. It could be the boss. It could be the cleanliness of the break rooms. Create an environment where your people want to be. Take surveys and ask for suggestions on how to improve your work environment so your people—the people you have trained and invested time and energy into—will want to work there.