Ideas to Implement That Are Good for Morale at Work
Have you been trying to find new changes in the workplace that are good for morale? If so, it can be hard to find the right fits for your team. However, morale is a crucial part of your workplace and can be a good way to measure the health of your culture as a whole.
You can only achieve great morale in your workplace when you make sure your employees feel valued and cared for while at work. If you’re having trouble finding ways to make culture a priority, try out these tips that are good for morale.
Why Morale Matters
Your employee’s morale is their overall outlook on their work environment. It affects how they see their position, approach their tasks, and how seriously they take the mission of the company. When morale is good, other things are too – engagement, retention, productivity, and overall job satisfaction.
Having good morale is usually connected to a healthy culture and happier employees. Companies with high morale may even become enviable because of the reputation they build through their culture.
Low morale leads to high attrition rates, poor culture, and less engaged employees. None of these are traits you want in your workplace. So how do you make sure you make changes that are good for morale?
Changes That Are Good for Morale
When you’re looking for changes to make, you want to find ones that help boost company morale. We’ve pulled together a list of a few ideas to get you started!
Hold One on Ones Regularly
Making communication a priority is one of the most efficient ways to boost morale. Over 80% of employees feel they’re getting the support they need at work when they have a one-on-one at least weekly. Having a continuous line of communication between employees and leaders is good for morale throughout the workplace.
One-on-ones are a perfect opportunity to give feedback to both employees and managers, which makes them even more productive. It can be intimidating to start holding regular meetings with individual employees, but there are some tips to make it easier for you.
To make your one-on-one meetings as productive as possible, keep these tips in mind:
- Have a plan in place before the meeting
- Go into the meeting with an open mind
- Let your employee speak and explain how they’re feeling about work
- Hold employees accountable for their performance
- Recognize wins
- Follow up after the meeting
These are the basic tips to make sure you’re hosting meetings that are good for morale instead of harmful.
Let Your Team Ask for Feedback
When your employees can ask you for feedback on specific areas of their job, it tends to make the feedback more relevant to them. Giving relevant feedback helps ensure that feedback is actively considered in the workplace.
Many times, employees feel that they can only get feedback during performance reviews. However, if you implement a process that allows them to request it when they need it, it can be good for morale. Not only does it increase the feedback given through your company, but it can also boost the confidence of your team as a whole. When your employee asks for feedback, they’re taking control of their development at work.
When employees feel like they can get relevant feedback when they need it most, it can boost their desire to work towards goals. Plus, giving timely feedback through requests will allow the correction of potential issues before they cause productivity concerns.
Make Sure Managers Receive Proper Training
One of the most effective ways to boost the morale of your team is to ensure that all managers have the tools needed to succeed. Many managers receive their position due to excelling in a lower position. However, that doesn’t mean they have the leadership skills necessary to be the best manager possible.
Take time to ensure your managers know how to properly coach their team. Part of this includes making it a priority to get to know each employee’s preferred way of receiving coaching. Every person responds to coaching differently and knowing this can help make coaching sessions more effective.
Not only that, but it’s also crucial that management knows what strengths each person has so that they can highlight those in job duties. Giving employees a chance to shine in areas they enjoy is good for morale.
A great manager will do more than focus on the data and performance of each team member. While this information is important, it’s equally important to give employees a chance to use their strengths to better themselves and the whole team. With employees placed in the right positions, the team is more likely to flourish.
When managers are focusing on growing their coaching skills, help them remember these key points:
- Coaching is for growing your employees
- Coaching helps motivate your team
- Coaching includes giving feedback consistently
- Coaching should focus on the highest strengths of each person
- Coaching includes setting a great example
Help Employees Develop Both Personally and Professionally
When you want to help morale, it’s crucial to give your team members the tools they need to properly do their job. However, it’s also important to remember that employees should grow in areas that help them in places besides their current position. The truth is, that many of your employees may move on from your organization. However, you can help them succeed in their long-term goals when you focus on developing them personally.
With professional development, the training given may look different based on the position a person is holding. Professional development should focus on the current job position of the individual as well as any position they’d like to move to. Professional development can include options like:
- Leadership training
- Certifications
- Technical skills training
- Uptraining on new opportunities
Meanwhile, personal development often gets overlooked in the workplace. When your employees are working on personal skills, it helps them grow things like soft skills and self-esteem. While these traits are great for them to have in their current roles, they also are relevant to any opportunities that arise in the future.
There are different areas of personal development that you should focus on:
- Mental: taking rest days as needed, learning opportunities, and coaching
- Social: communication, problem-solving, and giving and receiving feedback
- Emotional: Understanding feelings for yourself and others
Working on soft skills through personal development has proven to be good for morale. This is because it helps develop both personal and professional relationships, which can leave your employees feeling more useful and fulfilled in the workplace.
Show Appreciation
It’s also vital to show your appreciation for your employees regularly. There’s plenty of research that shows supportive teams are more productive than those who don’t support one another. Appreciation can boost morale along with engagement, creativity, and productivity.
Make sure your appreciation is timely by giving it as soon as an opportunity arises. Consider using different styles of appreciation including small gifts, notes, and awards ceremonies. When you’re giving appreciation regularly, it becomes contagious, and you’ll soon find your entire team is sharing in the praise.
Work can become tense easily. However, when you’re showing appreciation to your team, it can help break up the tense moments with more celebratory ones. This is good for morale and is an easy change to implement.
Have Fun!
Yes, work requires you to be productive and serious many times throughout the day. However, you shouldn’t have to be serious every moment of the day. If you’re looking for an easy change that’s good for morale, start implementing times to relax and connect with your team.
When your employees feel like you’re being an authentic version of yourself, it boosts their trust in you and can be good for morale as well. Take time to get to know your employees on a more personal level. Of course, you need to stay appropriate, but it doesn’t hurt to get to know who your team is outside of work.
As you build a relaxed and trusting environment, your employees are likely to feel more supported and engaged. This can help boost productivity in the moments that you need them to be serious. That’s why breaks for fun and relationship building are so important.
Takeaway
Morale is a great way to measure the overall health of your employees. When you have high morale, you have happier employees. It takes work and dedication to make changes that are good for morale. However, it’s proven to be well worth the time you put into it.
When leaders show their dedication to boosting the morale and culture of a workplace, that passion becomes contagious in the other levels of employees. When you focus on improving morale, you’ll quickly notice the changes that come with it. Before you know it, you’ll have a team that has the highest morale in town.