10 Tips to Improve Employee Morale
Could your company benefit from boosting staff morale? Low employee morale is often reflected in poor levels of employee productivity, so it is in your best interests to keep your workforce happy.
Here are ten simple ways HR teams and Senior Management can boost employee motivation without breaking the bank.
1. Show Them the Bigger Picture
An employee may have a good understanding of what is going on in his or her immediate team but may not have any idea what is going on in other areas of the company. When your company has successes, make sure the great news filters down throughout your company to every level so that every employee can experience the glory of the win. Understanding the part each person played in a company success can boost morale and encourage employees to perform at their best while creating a positive workplace environment.
2. Celebrate Employee Achievements
Recognition is one of the simplest ways to boost staff morale. A simple thank you can make your employees feel valued and happy employees are productive employees. If an employee feels valued in the workplace, they will be happy to put the time and effort in during working hours. There are hundreds of ways to celebrate employee achievements from free team lunches and extra holiday days to staff rewards and gift cards.
3. Take a Break from the Norm
Doing the same tasks day in and day out can become monotonous so why not give your employees the opportunity to switch up their schedule? Have employees lead their own workshops or encourage regular breaks throughout the day. Create a room that is dedicated to creative thinking and fill it with fun activities including a pool table, comfy beanbag seats and whiteboards to encourage brainstorming sessions.
4. Give Them Regular One-on-One Time
Your employees dedicate five days out of the week to your company so why not return the favour by giving them a little one-on-one time? Use this time to discuss an employee’s progress, achievements and address any concerns. This is not only a great way to improve employee motivation but a superb way for you as an employer to gauge what motivates each employee in turn and discover what makes them tick.
5. Add to their Skill-Set
One of the top ways to motivate employees is to invest in their future and offer them development opportunities along with the chance to widen their skill set. Have each employee spend time with senior members of other teams so they can learn a variety of useful skills or give employees tickets to local conventions and business events. A change of scenery can be inspiring and employees will return to work refreshed with a new perspective, but be sure to allow them time to act on what they have learnt.
6. Offer Personal Perks
It isn’t only big gestures that can have a positive impact on staff morale. Sometimes, it is the little things that make the biggest difference to an employee’s wellbeing. Assisting employees with their daily lives through small perks is simple and cost effective. Provide office workers with one day a week where they can work from home, free breakfast sandwiches on a Friday, money saving discount schemes, or introduce flexible working hours.
7. Ask Their Opinion
Every employee wants to feel like part of the team and asking for their feedback on important matters is a simple way to show that you value their opinion.
8. Provide a Cool Office Environment
Spending eight hours or more confined to the same four walls can be challenging by anybody’s standards but a few unique touches to a mundane office environment can’t fail to boost employee morale (in the short term at least). Have your employees put forward their suggestions and use this information to create an engaging office environment.
9. Give Employees Extra Responsibilities
If morale is low, delegate some of the decision making responsibilities. Dishing out extra responsibilities can give staff a sense of increased authority which in turn provokes a certain feel good factor and promotes a positive workplace.
10. Keep Them in the Loop
If you have demotivated employees, making the extra effort to inform staff on the latest company developments is one of the easiest employee motivation ideas. Prioritise internal communication, create a company newsletter or intranet that details the latest company news and update staff members on the latest developments. Use video or face to face presentations to bring dry information to life, provide real-life case study examples and give staff the opportunity to feed their views ‘up the food chain’, plus ask questions and address any immediate concerns.
Demotivated employees can and will be detrimental to the success of any company. Whilst the tips above are a drop in the ocean when it comes to creating and sustaining a well-motivated workforce, they are worth careful consideration. Morale is the lifeblood of your company, and by empowering your employees you will make positive inroads to improving retention and engagement.
