How To Improve Employee Morale

Layoffs, poor management and other stressful working conditions can take a toll on employee morale, often manifesting as reduced productivity and increased turnover. Identifying these issues begins with a critical evaluation of your company’s culture. Engage directly with employees to understand their frustrations, keeping in mind that answers may vary across teams and individuals. 

If employees are feeling overworked and undervalued, or believe management is ignoring their concerns, a superficial perk like a pizza party likely won’t solve the problem. Improving employee morale isn’t a one-size-fits-all process, but there are several meaningful steps leaders can take to ensure employees feel like their voices are heard and their work is appreciated. Here are a few suggestions.

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How to Improve Employee Morale

Recognize Employee Contributions

Employee recognition goes a long way toward improving employee morale. When an employee does an exceptional job, recognize their hard work with a congratulatory email or a shout-out at the next company-wide meeting. On employees’ work anniversaries, ask their coworkers to write a few nice words on a digital recognition platform like Kudoboard. Launch an employee of the month program, take the team out to lunch on Employee Appreciation Day or send a gift during the holiday season. Whatever approach you take, find a way to show your employees that you are grateful for all they do for the company.

Support Career Growth

Employees want to work for companies that invest in their professional development, and they’ll often leave if they see no opportunity to advance within the organization. Companies can show they care about their employees’ professional growth by offering mentorship programs, providing skills workshops or paying for continuing education opportunities. Managers can also work with individual employees to create personalized development plans that outline opportunities for career progression within the organization.

Be Communicative and Transparent

For employees to feel invested in the success of the company, keep them in the loop about changes within the organization. Leaders should also explain why certain decisions were made, and be truthful about the state of the business. Transparency breeds trust, which is an important component of high employee morale.

Seek Employee Feedback

Employees want to feel like their voice matters, which is why companies should actively seek feedback through employee surveys, stay interviews and informal listening events with company leaders. To encourage honest responses, create an environment where employees feel safe raising concerns and pointing out blindspots.

Foster Independence

If you want employees to trust you, show that you trust them. Instead of micromanaging them, encourage them to pursue new ideas and take risks. Offer flexibility by allowing them to work remotely and flex their hours, so they can work in a way that best suits their needs. When employees feel like they have autonomy, they are more likely to feel a sense of ownership over their work.

Promote Work-Life Balance

When employees’ working hours seep into their personal time, they will become stressed and resentful, and they will eventually burn out. To prevent this, companies should promote a healthy work-life balance by assigning manageable workloads, limiting work-related communication to business hours and encouraging employees to take paid time off. They can also offer employee wellness programs, including gym reimbursements, financial planning assistance and mental health counseling.

Strengthen Employee-Manager Relationships

An employee’s relationship with their manager plays a key role in shaping their experience at work. Managers should provide employees with all the resources and support they need to do their job, especially during stressful times like illness or a death in the family. Managers should also hold regular one-on-one meetings with their employees to offer feedback, discuss career development and build relationships based on trust. HR can help by training new managers and actively listening to employee feedback about managers.

Encourage Team Building

Team-building activities give employees the opportunity to build social connections, boosting morale in the process. These activities can range from collaborative challenges like an escape room, to more casual gatherings like a happy hour. Since it can be difficult to find activities that everyone will enjoy, consider letting employees vote on their favorite option.

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