To create a successful business that has longevity and regularly meets its goals and objectives takes more than working capital and a business plan. Ultimately, the employees of any business are its heart and soul. Good employee morale leads to better productivity and more business growth.
At Select Funding, we work with small business owners every day to help them acquire the financing they need to pursue their most important business objectives. We understand the essential role that employee morale plays in business success. With that in mind, here are 12 strategic ways to boost employee morale and productivity.
Why is Positive Employee Morale Crucial for an Organization?
Employee morale is a term that refers to the overall attitude of employees toward their work and the organization they work for. If employees feel satisfied with their working conditions and proud of the work they’re doing, their morale will be high. When the reverse is true, morale will be low.
Here are some of the specific ways that positive employee morale can help any organization:
- It’s tied to employee engagement. Employees who have good morale are more likely to be engaged with their jobs. Every employer prefers to have employees who are fully engaged with what they do as opposed to employees who are simply phoning it in.
- It’s tied to employee productivity. When employees feel good about their jobs, they are productive every day and an asset to any company. Good morale boosts employee motivation and incentivizes employees to meet personal and organizational goals.
- It’s tied to job satisfaction. When a company makes employee morale a priority, employees are satisfied with their jobs. Job satisfaction links back to productivity and engagement.
- It reduces turnover and increases employee retention. All of the things we’ve mentioned so far, including job satisfaction, lead to employee retention. Employees are far more likely to stay in their jobs when morale is high than they are when morale is low, and considering how expensive it can be to hire and train new employees, low turnover is a major benefit.
These benefits illustrate the importance of making employee morale a priority. Doing so is one of the best ways we know to boost productivity and job satisfaction while increasing employee retention.
How Can You Measure Employee Morale?
Measuring employee morale is easy to do. You will need to ask employees directly about their morale since it’s easy to miss signs that may indicate low morale if you’re only observing and not engaging employees on the topic.
Our suggestion is to send out an anonymous survey for employees to complete. The anonymity is essential because you want to get employees’ honest feedback about how they feel about their jobs and their workplace . If they feel pressure to reply in a certain way, they may hold back important information.
Here are some questions that you may want to include in your employee satisfaction survey:
- Do you get enough recognition for your work?
- Do you feel that leadership cares about you as a person?
- How do you feel about working with your team?
- How would you describe your relationship with your manager?
- What do you like most about your current work environment?
- What do you like least about your current work environment?
- What things keep you motivated?
- Are you satisfied with your compensation and benefits?
- How would you rank employee morale on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest possible level of morale?
Most of these questions may work best on a sliding scale, as we indicated with the last one. You may want to add additional questions based on your industry and/or internal structure. We suggest leaving blank space for employees to add additional thoughts and feedback.
After you receive survey responses, you’ll need to collate the information to evaluate employee morale. You’ll also need to develop a system for incorporating non-ranked employee feedback into your results.
12 Ways to Boost Employee Morale
After collecting information to measure employee morale, you can take steps to improve it. Here are 12 strategic ways to boost employee morale at your company.
#1: Improve Communication
One of the easiest ways to improve employee morale is to improve communication. A lack of communication is a common employee complaint, so it stands to reason that better communication can positively impact staff morale. 360-degree communication is essential with information flowing from management to employees and back again, as well as between memberships of the leadership team and among employees.
#2: Be Transparent
Fostering a culture of transparency goes hand in hand with good communication. When employees feel they’re being kept out of the loop with important information, it follows that they feel undervalued and dissatisfied with their jobs. It’s not necessary to keep every employee in the loop about every decision, but it is necessary to make sure that employees are informed about important happenings.
#3: Give Employees Some Independence
There’s always a push and pull between employee independence and accountability. One easy way to boost employee morale is to allow employees independence when and where it makes sense. For example, you might allow employees to set their own hours and keep them accountable by using a time-tracking system or requiring regular check-ins.
#4: Provide Growth Opportunities
Stagnation and morale have an inverse relationship. When employees feel stuck in their roles, they are likely to be disincentivized to excel at their jobs. You can provide growth opportunities by offering tuition reimbursement for employees who want to pursue a certification or degree, or by creating a platform for professional development that encourages employees to learn and improve their job performance.
#5: Create an Inspirational Company Mission
Employees want to believe in the work they’re doing and one way to foster enthusiasm is to create an inspirational company mission to share with employees. Something positive happens when everybody is working towards a shared mission and it can be a huge morale booster.
#6: Encourage Employees to Share Ideas and Initiatives
Everybody wants to feel that they have a voice in their workplace. Employee morale will improve if employees feel empowered to share their ideas, whether they involve streamlining processes or launching a company-wide initiative to help employees, such as a health initiative or a workout challenge.
#7: Invest in Team Building
Your employees are most likely to feel good about their jobs when they feel good about their coworkers and managers. One way to build solid relationships is to invest in team-building activities. Even if you have remote employees, you can still organize virtual happy hours or lunches to make sure everyone feels connected to their team.
#8: Recognize Employees for Good Work
Everybody likes getting recognition for the work they do. Companies with good employee morale often have programs that provide employee recognition to deserving team members. For example, you might allow employees to give rewards to one another or start an Employee of the Month program to make sure that your staff knows they’re appreciated.
#9: Make Employee Breaks a Priority
In American workplaces, it’s common for employees to eat lunch at their desks or skip taking a break when they’re busy. However, your employees are more likely to feel engaged and happy in their work if they take regular breaks. By encouraging employees to get away from their work for lunch, you can prioritize work-life balance and help to improve workplace morale.
#10: Bring Some Greenery into the Workplace
Using plants to boost team morale might not seem like an obvious decision, but there’s science to back up the idea that team members are happier and more productive when they have plants or windows in their offices. In fact, 82% of employees who had greenery in their workspace said they felt satisfied and happy with their jobs as opposed to only 69% of those who did not have greenery near them.
#11: Create an Employee Relaxation Space
Many offices have an employee break room but that doesn’t mean that employees feel relaxed there, especially as there may be traffic as people come in and out for coffee or water. Providing employees with a designated room for relaxation can make their breaks more restful and restorative and give their morale a boost, as well.
#12: Create an Atmosphere of Kindness and Respect
One of the best ways to foster good employee morale is to create an atmosphere where people are kind to one another and respectful of the contributions of each team member. This type of environment must be built from the top down. When leadership treats employees with kindness, employees are more likely to follow suit. When kindness is built into your company culture, people will want to work for you.
Get Working Capital to Boost Employee Morale
Boosting employee morale can help your company pursue and achieve its growth goals quickly and with minimal employee turnover. The investments you make in employee morale will translate directly into increased productivity and higher employee retention.
Do you need working capital to boost employee morale and productivity? Select Funding is here to help! Click here to learn about our small business financing options and start the application process today.