Company morale is characterized as the feelings and outlook employees have while working for a business. Company morale is the cumulative result of individual employee morale, but both are influenced by the same factors.

Every job can be stressful. With stress levels being higher than ever in today’s world, it’s important that organizations implement morale-boosting measures to ensure employees have a positive outlook about their workplace overall.

Great company morale can lead to greater productivity among staff and less employee turnover. Conversely, low company morale can lead to employee burnout, turnover, and low motivation.

The morale in your organization can make or break the employee experience. Until actions are taken to boost morale, organizations will suffer the many consequences of low morale, such as motivation issues among employees.

Every business owner should want their company to be a great place to work. Good morale makes recruiting efforts easier, turnover less likely, and causes employees to be more motivated to come to work.

Even if your company’s morale is already decent, it can never hurt to introduce more morale-boosting techniques. Boosting morale and maintaining good morale might be simpler than you think.

Why Boosting Company Morale Matters

Actionable Steps for Boosting Company Morale

If you notice your team’s morale is sliding, it’s time to act. If you allow morale to stay low for too long, you could lose valued employees. Your business functions can suffer as a result, too.

Morale boosting methods are not a one-time fix. Ideally, these strategies should be integrated into the core culture of your organization.

Learning ways to improve company morale is a great step in ensuring long-term employee retention and satisfaction.

Encourage Open Communication

When morale is low, it’s important to uncover the ‘why’ behind it. If you don’t know what is causing employees to disengage in the workplace, it will be harder to solve.

An easy step to implement is bi-annual employee reviews. As part of their review, employees should be given a space to give anonymous feedback about colleagues and management, as well as their overall job satisfaction.

By doing this, your organization can get honest feedback about employee experience. It also allows leaders to look for trends in employee feedback.

However, a bi-annual review is rarely sufficient to get to the bottom of company morale issues. Managers should employ an open-door policy with employees. This encourages employees to speak openly with their manager any time they have concerns in the workplace.

In addition, managers should set up short 1-on-1 meetings with their direct reports at least once per week. An employee may feel more comfortable disclosing their concerns while they have the privacy of 1-on-1 face time with their manager.

Managers must drive home that they are there to listen and want the best for employees. Getting the best results for employees involves open and honest communication.

Recognize Your Employees

Everyone wants praise – it’s that simple. However, at times, managers get caught up in the immediate demands of the business and forget to take the time to recognize their employees’ hard work.

Recognition is extremely vital in making employees feel valued at work. Plus, it helps employees to know what they are doing right. Authentic recognition makes a positive impact on employee confidence as well. All this amounts to better company morale!

People who feel appreciated at work will put more effort into their tasks and stay at the company longer. Something as simple as a handwritten thank you note can go a long way. Team celebrations for a successful project are a great way to build morale, too.

Encourage Breaks

Studies have shown that short breaks improve productivity and focus. However, too many organizations allow (or even encourage) employees to work through their breaks.

Managers should encourage employees to take their entire lunch break. The key to successfully encouraging people to take breaks is ensuring their workload is manageable. Many times, when employees are skipping breaks, it’s because they have a lot of work to do, and not enough hours in the day.

In addition, managers should make clear that they expect employees to take their lunch break. Managers shouldn’t reward or praise people who work through their breaks. This can set the wrong example.

When employees feel they have the space to clear their minds during the workday, morale will improve. A lot of employee morale hinges on emotion and regular breaks help employees manage stress.

Set Clear Boundaries About Office Hours

Like skipping breaks, it’s common to see employees working after hours in many organizations. However, frequent overtime can cause burnout quickly.

Employees who frequently work late should be talked to. The manager should figure out why they are staying late. It could be because their workload is too heavy. Or it could be because they are having personal issues at home.

Whatever the reason, it’s important for managers to show concern when employees frequently work after hours. Managers should be careful not to reward this behavior, as it puts pressure on other employees to do the same.

Managers should clearly state the timeframe employees are expected to work each day. They should make certain that they expect no employees to stay after their scheduled workday and encourage employees to be home with their loved ones.

People who have better work-life boundaries will be happier employees. Sometimes, the manager must enforce these boundaries to let employees know it’s okay to have priorities outside of work.

Plan Team-Building Activities

Company morale is closely linked to how employees feel about their colleagues. A team that doesn’t mesh well is certain to have lower morale. Team building is integral to boosting company morale.

No team of people will automatically click. Each of your employees has a unique personality, and some personalities on your team may clash. Employees don’t have to be friends with everyone at work, but they do have to respect everyone.

It’s important to host team-building activities to create a stronger bond within teams. For in-office staff, there are several fun team-building activities to try. You can host happy hours or team lunches. Or get your team together for an after-work game of bowling or axe throwing.

If you want to do team-building activities during the workday, there are plenty of options. You can host team meetings with the focus of purely getting to know each other better. Employees can take personality tests, ask a question of the day, or play company Jeopardy.

For remote workers, team building might be trickier. However, the above ideas, such as personality tests or company trivia, can be done over a video call. You can also set up a virtual cocktail mixing or cooking class for the team.

Team building often gets overlooked. Many employees may groan at the outdated vision of doing trust falls with their cohorts. However, team building can be a lot of things. Take note of what interests your team and host a team-building activity that caters to your team’s preferences.

Offer Paid Time Off for Birthdays

This tip is simple and easy to implement but creates positive morale. Lots of employees take their birthdays off, but most must use allotted vacation time to do so.

Offering one paid day off, separate from an employee’s accrued paid time off, will make them feel valued. This is a great way to recognize an employee’s birthday which is an important day.

Plus, it unburdens employees from using earned time off for their birthday. This is a relatively cost-effective way to boost company morale.

Show Employees the Difference They Make

It can be easy for employees to get caught up in the daily grind of work. They can lose sight of the difference they make in the company.

Employees who feel a sense of pride in their work are likely to have higher morale. To facilitate this sense of pride, managers must show employees how the work they do positively benefits the company.

By showing employees how their work is helping the company achieve goals, you effectively remind employees that they matter. This leads to a greater sense of purpose and better morale.

Host an Employee Awards Night

Everyone likes an excuse to get dressed up and eat a good dinner. An employee awards night can be the perfect way to bring employees together and celebrate successes.

Awards can be silly or serious. Ideally, there would be a mix of both. It’s important to award employees with big achievements. It’s also important to appreciate employees’ personal strengths and attributes. All of this leads to better company morale.

In addition to recognition, employee award events are beneficial for bringing employees together outside of the workplace. This facilitates team bonding on a personal level, which is great for boosting company morale.

Bottom Line

Your company morale is a vital part of your overall business health. When employees are motivated in the workplace, all functions of the business benefit. Plus, when employees feel valued at work, turnover will be lower.

There are no downsides to implementing more strategies to boost your company morale. You can never appreciate your employees too much.