Ways Leaders Can Boost The Morale of Their Team

There is nothing as destructive in the workplace than having low morale amongst employees, and yes there will be times when it is hard and stressful, but to keep the morale up throughout the company is something that is extremely important.

Employees with low morale will not only produce work that isn't up to the standard that it should be, but will also drag others down as low morale has a knock on effect.

Quite simply, low morale can essentially make or break a business.

So what can leaders do to help keep morale high and boost it when needed?

Acknowledge/feedback

When an employee has worked hard and done a really good job, acknowledge it. Tell them. Give them the feedback they deserve. No one likes to work hard and not get a thanks for it. If the work the employee did had an end result then feedback to them what happened to it. Explain to them what went well and what didn't.

By providing your team with feedback on their work helps, to boost their morale as well as teaching them where they can improve next time, what needs tweaking to perhaps hit that target, as well as giving them positive feedback so they know what they can do again, that should have a good impact on their next task.

By taking time to reflect on all employees accomplishments will truly boost morale their individual morale as well as team and the overall company's morale too.

Routine = boring

You know the drill, you start work, check your emails, have a weekly catch up, then have another meeting, lunch and then get on with paperwork in the afternoon.

Is this something that is done on a daily or weekly basis. Is this routine boring?

If the answer is yes, then you need to switch things up.

Routine in any aspect of life will eventually become boring and mundane, and those involved will lose their creativity and encouragement to participate in them, hence why Steve at the end of the table is yawning!

Yes meetings, and weekly catch ups are essential, but can these be done differently?

Do they have to be in the meeting room?

Switch up where you hold the meetings and switch up how you present the meetings. For example, if in a slide show then change up the layout. It will grab your colleagues attention and help to keeping them alert.

Introduce a dress down day at work, why not make it a Friday, so everyone can be ready for the weekend?

Add a snack cupboard, packed with a range of snacks from sweeter options to healthier options, and make sure there are two schedule breaks throughout the day, on top of the one hour lunch break. Perhaps a 10.30am and 3.30pm break, where everyone stops working for fifteen minutes, grabs a drink, snack and stretches their legs and gets some fresh air. This will help give them that short break to clear their heads and be able to refocus for their next task.

It also helps to break up the day more so it doesn't seem one long stint, which is a sure fire way to lower the happiness and morale of employees.

Have fun

Try and make the working environment fun. Long gone are the days of boring white and grey offices.

Paint the office bright colours, have an interaction whiteboard where anyone can jot something down, whether thats a quote, a thought provoking question, a game for passers by to add too, or a quiz for everyone to try and answer.

Have inter team competitions that aren't centred around work i.e. hitting targets. Make it a fun competition such as the best table decorations for Christmas and who can make their easter egg last the longest etc.

Remember when you were at school and you'd have a couple of hours in the week to do something fun? Whether that was building something out of lego or playing Guess Who! It made school not just a place where you learned but a fun environment too, which in turn made you more receptive to learn.

Uniform

By having a team uniform, even a shirt with your company's logo embroidered on it can help make everyone feel apart of the team and the company.  The Embroidered Printed and Clothing Company, have a huge selection of clothing that can be easily embroidered or printed upon for your company's uniform.

If you take one thing away from this, then please never underestimate the power of low morale and how it will greatly affect your team and company.

Happy workforce = good results!

Share with friends