Employee morale is one of these aspects that you can’t ignore when running a successful company.
Businesses are about people and people make the difference when it comes to earn or lose money, which is why you should never forget how important is to be sure their energy is not going lower and lower.
When employee morale is low, business begins to suffer. Poor motivation, bad cooperation, nor satisfactory results.
The question is obvious then: how to increase employee morale?
1. Praise employees publicly
Surveys and researches show how employees stay longer and more happily at their jobs if they get appreciation from their boss.
When someone is doing something awesome…tell them. It’s very important for employees to feel their boss is recognizing and appreciating their effort, which usually leads to the desire to go even above and beyond.
While private recognition is still great, being publicly complimented for what you are doing is one of the best ways – if not the best – to boost employees motivation.
Think about it: you are showing appreciation to someone in front of everyone else, recognizing his or her dedication and skills and certifying them. From now, no one can deny it!
It usually also adds a lot of positive pressure to all the peers, who will feel encouraged and stimulated to achieve the same public reward.
2. Show how much you care
Don’t be the boss who looks at his employees just like a number and a way to make profit.
Ask them how do they feel, how you can help them, how you can improve their workplace setting. Are they comfortable? Are they feeling safe?
Be happy to know more about their lives, family, hobbies. Find common interests and have a laugh with them when possible.
Human relationships – meaning real ones – at work are sometimes underestimated but so powerful: when people feel they are loved and appreciated, they feel better and almost like they need to return something to you in exchange.
3. Offer a paid day off when really needed
Strongly connected to the previous point, understanding your employees needs and being ready to offer a paid day off when you notice someone really needs a small break for personal reasons – no matter if he needs to reorganize something in his life or simply have some rest after a lot of work – is a great way to boost morale.
Workers are used to the rule that working days have to be working days with no exceptions and hearing they can stay home simply because you noticed they needed and deserved some rest will come as a huge surprise.
Your generosity will come back in form of appreciation and hard work.
4. Listen to employees ideas
You should remember to value personal ideas and efforts to do something for the group.
No matter the role in the company, anyone can have a nice idea or proposition and you should be ready to listen carefully, regardless your final decision about them.
Knowing that your boss treats you and listens to your ideas the same way he does with every other person in the company is usually a big boost in morale and excitement.
5. Make personal and meaningful rewards
It’s a common practice to provide some small cash bonuses when employees perform particularly well. Although no one is going to deny that more cash is always appreciated, you should notice how after your bonus is spent, it’s simply gone.
Instead, you should give employees rewards that won’t be forgotten after some time. Think about experiences or physical stuff connected to your employees personal passions. Something that they can keep on their desk or always proudly exposed, either at work or their home.
6. Create a stimulating work environment
You will often hear that facts matter, not appearance.
While we can’t argue about the importance of focusing on real stuff and concrete numbers, underestimating the effects of a proper workplace would be a big error. Workers are humans, not robots, and can respond in total different ways depending on how happy they feel about the place where they work.
Creating a cool environment, with modern tools – no matter which job we are talking about – and even nice decorations can help a lot to focus more on tasks and duties and, as a consequence, to become more productive.
7. Provide on-going training and education
One of the main reasons why employees decide to leave their job is because they don’t feel motivated enough. They feel like they are not improving, not getting a better version of themselves and definitively not growing up from a professional point of view.
You should never forget your team’s career goals and always be ready to invest part of your budget in their education. It’s a win-win situation: your employee grows up internally, becoming a better worker and getting more and more connected to you and your company while he also feels happy about how his career is developing.