Nov 9, 2011
How do you feel driving to work every day? I know the old saying, “if it was fun, then it wouldn’t be called work,” right?
The thing is, if you absolutely dread going to work every day, then think about how your employees and coworkers feel, too. If you get a pit in your stomach when you pull into the parking lot at work, it’s probably not just you. More than likely, there is a problem internally with the company that is making you, your coworkers and your employees feel that way.
Amidst a search, one of our recruiters was in discussions with a candidate who was hesitant to accept an interview with the hiring company. Curious as to the cause of his reluctance, our recruiter bluntly asked the candidate what the issue was.
The candidate hedged around it for a few seconds and finally admitted, as rumor had it, management was not great at the company and the employees were over worked and underpaid.
The employees of said company felt unappreciated and word was quickly traveling, making it excessively hard for our recruiters to find top-notch candidates for the job.
Moral of the story…low employee morale is a huge issue.
People talk and negativity will undoubtedly breed negativity. One or two unhappy employees will quickly and undoubtedly escalate, and your employees will become hyper sensitive to changes or incidences that would not otherwise promote unhappy reactions.
Once employee morale fails, it’s really hard to salvage. And the impact goes far beyond just having unhappy employees. It really hurts your company, too.
The lack of employee morale will impact not only the productivity of your employees, but it will also severely deter the mental health, physical health and all around motivational drive you expect your employees to thrive off of (not to mention, of course, your reputation).
10 Tips to Increase Employee Morale
1. Recognize birthdays, anniversaries and personal accomplishments and milestones
2. Treat everyone with the same respect you would expect to be treated with
3. Establish an employee recognition program
4. Say “thank you” for a job well done
5. Treat your staff to lunch, food goes a long way
6. Stay updated on what’s going on through group and one-on-one meetings
7. Stand behind your employees, defend them if you need to
8. Provide opportunities for training, conferences and most of all, advancement
9. Offer performance-based bonuses
10. Take time to get to know your employees, what they do outside of work, and what makes them tick.
