Low Employee Morale
Employee morale is a fuzzy issue at best. Measuring morale can be difficult and inconclusive since employees will often not reveal their true feelings. But make no mistake about it. Employee morale has a major impact on productivity and ultimately profitability.
Most of the time, we will have a sense about the level of morale within a work unit or company as a whole. It is not hard to see when morale is generally high or when it is generally low. Employee groups that work hard, smile and have a little bounce in their step when they come to work would seem to have a high level of morale. Those that seem unhappy, don’t interact much and generally seem disinterested in their work are probably suffering from morale problems.
It is not uncommon for a particular employee to suffer from low morale and this can be attributed to a number of factors including poor job fit, a personality conflict with a co-worker, personal problems or difficulty fitting in. While this is an issue of importance, this Quick Tip will focus on widespread work unit and company morale issues.
When a work unit or the company as a whole is affected by low or insufficient morale, the root cause can very often be traced back to the person in charge. Ultimately the manager of a work unit brings a certain philosophy and style to work that directly impacts his/her employees. Unfortunately there are a number of unenlightened managers and supervisors in the business world who don’t understand the impact they have on their employees. As a manager or supervisor, look closely at your style and approach. It is the single most important factor in morale issues. See An Introduction to Team Building and High Employee Turnover for more insight into this issue.
In order to get a better feel for the level of morale in your work unit or organization, pay close attention to your employees’ behavior. Do they appear to enjoy their work and those around them? Does there seem to be a problem employee in terms of being “poisonous” to the environment by making life difficult for those around them? How do employees seem to react to you? Do they seem fearful or tentative around you or are they open and willing to discuss issues?
If there is an employee who seems to cause problems for those around them, they must be dealt with. This is when the coaching and counseling skills of a good manager come to bear. That problem employee needs to be coached and counseled to change his/her behavior to better blend with co-workers. If the employee simply can’t change, the company is usually better off without that employee. If nothing is done, the message that gets sent to employees is that one problem employee is going to be put ahead of the welfare and morale of all other employees. This is a very damaging message to send.
Morale is something that needs to be managed. Take these steps to better manage the morale of your employees:
- Create an environment that is fun and lively.
- Carefully evaluate your management style. Is it facilitating in nature or is it dictatorial or overly assertive and direct.
- Encourage employees to come forward with problems, suggestions and issues. Listen carefully and acknowledge their concerns. Follow up on them and communicate results of your findings back to them. Don’t leave them hanging.
- Address compensation and benefits to make certain that you are competitive with the market.
- Be consistent in how you administer rules and policies.
- Be fair and reasonable.
- Set expectations for all employees about team work and working cooperatively. Let it be known that you expect employees to get along while on the job.
- Be clear in your expectations and follow up when they aren’t met. Don’t ignore low performers. -If they can’t become good employees, terminate them. Bad employees affect those around them.
- Don’t allow double standards. What’s good for one employee is good for all of them.
- Eliminate a punitive mentality. Don’t make employees feel that they will be punished if they make mistakes.
- Encourage innovation and creativity.
- Show employees that you care about them.
- Communicate as much as possible to all employees. Keep them well informed about what’s going on in the business.
- Look at the work environment. Is it light and airy or is it dark, dreary and counterproductive?
Don’t ignore morale issues within your work unit or company. They can be extremely detrimental to your success. Remember that high morale usually equals high productivity.