Employee morale is critical for a successful workplace. While a business can certainly limp along for some time with miserable employees, the company will pay the price in lowered productivity, a lack of worker engagement, and a struggle to retain good staff. Teamwork takes a hit when morale falters. However, there are effective and ineffective ways to go about boosting that morale in the office.
You know how you want things done. Getting things right is important to you. Therefore, you have a tendency to hover over the people who work for you to make sure they get it right as well. While this temptation is understandable, it can also be disastrous. Most employees don't want to be micromanaged, and doing so damages their ability to perform at their best. Giving them autonomy deepens their sense of ownership in their work. You'll end up with employees who are able to work well independently. This can help you get more comfortable with delegating, which is a critical skill because you can't do eve
Recognize your employees who perform well. How you recognize them will vary depending on what they have done, but anything from public acknowledgement in a meeting or in the company newsletter to a promotion, a raise or a bonus may be appropriate. Be sure that your recognition is proportional to their accomplishment. If an employee has just done something that's resulted in a huge profit for your company or a big influx of new business, a gift card to the local coffee shop isn't going to cut it. In addition to offering rewards for excellent work, it's also important that you credit people. Workers who know that a supervisor is going to take credit for any big effort on their part are not going to keep making that effort.
One trap companies often fall into when they are trying to increase morale is spending a lot of time flailing around nebulous concepts, wasting money on team building retreats for workers who would rather be spending time with their families or at their job getting work done. Instead, make it easy for them to get their jobs done. Employees who are trying to work with outdated processes or software can become frustrated and disengaged.
In some cases, the right tools can substantially change the nature of the work for the better. In fleet management, dash cams with GPS tracking capabilities can help protect drivers from false claims against hem, providing video evidence. Dash cams can also reduce costs and improve safety. You can read more about what features you should look for when choosing dash cams and the benefits offered by this technology. Look for tools to similarly help your employees in other departments as well.
You want staff who share your vision and passion for the company, and that's not an entirely unrealistic aim. However, ultimately, it's your business, and no one is going to feel quite the way that you do about it. You may be able to preserve your mental health burning the candle at both ends, be fine with working weekends or burning the midnight oil to power through more work, but you can't expect the same levels of dedication from your staff. In fact, you should make sure that they have a healthy work/life balance.
You can set limits on when people should respond to emails or texts after business hours or ban such communications entirely. Opportunities to work from home and flexible hours are also great ways to ensure that your employees have time for more in their lives than work.
Morale flourishes in an atmosphere of trust. People feel like they can come to you with their ideas or problems, and the atmosphere at work is more collaborative. Trust is also vital when you have to deliver difficult news, talk about challenges or implement changes that may not be entirely welcome at first.
