How You Can Boost Employee Morale in Your Workplace

How You Can Boost Employee Morale in Your WorkplaceHow You Can Boost Employee Morale in Your WorkplaceEmployee morale describes the overall outlook, attitude, satisfaction, and confidence that employees feel at work. When employees are positive about their work environment and believe that they can meet their most important career and vocational needs, employee morale is positive or high. Like employee motivation, you cant give an employee positive morale. As an employer, though, you do control large components of the environment in which employees work each day. Consequently, you are a powerful contributor to whether an employees morale is positive or negative. Portions of the environment that you control that have an impact on employee morale include things like the effectiveness of your managers, the quality of managers interaction with employees, and the way employees interact with each other on a day-to-day basis. You hold the cards to creatingthe environment or culture in which these positive factors are valued. For starters, its as simple as rewarding and recognizing the managers who best monitor the characteristics you want to see in their interactions with employees. Contributors to Positive Employee Morale When employees have confidence in the capability of their company leadership, they tend to have positive morale. When they share a vision for where the company is headed and are positive about the direction, employees also exhibit high morale. Feeling part of the goals that are bigger than themselves (and their job) contributes significantly to positive employee morale. Many employees want to feel as if they are part of something important and contributing to success for the greater good is a real morale booster. A deep focus on serving the needs of customers also promotes positive employee morale. Communication is another significant factor in positive employee morale. Employees want to feel that they are privy to the important information abou t their company, their customers, and their products. They also need current information so that the decisions they make are congruent with their success in the company. The interaction of employees with their immediate manager and coworkers plays a role in employee morale. Effective, harmonious interpersonal relationships bolster employee morale and make employees feel that going to work is a worthwhile endeavor in addition to collecting a paycheck. The relationship with their immediate manager and their communication and interaction with the senior managers are also significant. Employees want to feel as if they are valued equally with other employees and held in serious regard by the senior gruppe of leaders. Positive Employee Morale Detractors When employees dislike their manager and compete with co-workers for attention and appreciation, morale is generally low. If employees lack confidence in the companys leadership and direction, morale will also be affected. When an empl oyee is unsure what is expected of them (and hence experience a lack of accomplishment) morale is low. Steps to Improve Employee Morale Factors that can contribute to positive employee morale include the following Providing reasonable, supportive management and leadership personnel who have integrity and will treat employees fairly and consistently.Treating employees withrespect.Treating employees as if they are one of your organizations most significant resourcesProviding regularemployee recognition.Taking actions thatempower employeesso they can make decisions about their jobs.Offering open and regular communication about issues important to employees.Providingfeedbackandcoaching.Offering above industry-averagebenefitsandcompensation. Giving employees the opportunity to develop their professional skills and their careers.Providingemployee perksand company activities. You can measure your organizations success, in part, by measuring employee satisfaction. Building positive empl oyee morale is not difficult it just takes desire, time, and commitment on the part of management and the organization.