Monthly Archive for August, 2009

The economy is taking its toll on many areas of business today, but one of the most severe effects has been on the morale in the workplace.  The United States Labor Department predicts the nationwide unemployment rate will exceed 10 percent by end of 2009.  Currently seven states exceed this:  Nevada; North Carolina; Oregon; Michigan; Rhode Island; South Carolina; and California.  The fact that employment is not stable can adversely affect those that are still employed.

Economic Crisis is creating an Employee Crisis
The fear of layoffs not only places stress on a person, but greatly affects the level of effort they make and enjoyment they get out of the workplace. With the loss of morale, you lose efficiency, good service, and overall happiness.  It is almost impossible to be certain of anything in these times, and this ‘unknown’ creates low morale in the workplace.  Daily, employees may be bombarded with negativity, which reinforces the fact the circumstances are not ideal. In today’s economy, employees are struggling to make ends meet and continue to have issues in their personal lives, which they inevitably bring into the workplace.

Employees cannot simply switch their personal lives off at the door, because the workplace may be contributing to their worries.  Some companies have completely done away with medical benefits; others have increased cost and diminished coverage.  In addition, employees are experiencing, frozen cost of living increases, mandated pay cuts, and in some cases, layoffs that affect friends and family.  All of these items add to the negativity at home and in the workplace.

To combat this growing stress in the workplace, we as employers and managers need to overcome the negativity and lead our staff out of the trenches by making them feel appreciated and a part of something bigger and more positive.

Managers of Morale
During times of trouble, we tend to look out for ourselves and focus on addressing our own issues, not those of our employees.  As managers and leaders of our organizations, it is our job to help employees through troubled times.  The workplace needs to be a positive beacon in our employee’s lives now more than ever. As managers, we have the ability to break the cycle of negativity and create and keep a positive environment.  If you do, you will not only experience higher morale, but more efficiency, loyalty, and enthusiasm from your grateful employees.  Moreover, if you want employees to give their all and go the extra mile, you need to go the extra mile for them.  The bottom line is not only defined by customer satisfaction and financial feasibility, but equally by the happiness of your employees.

Below, I have listed some practical tips to help improve workplace morale, and overall employee happiness. I have found these to be successful in keeping a positive work environment for my own staff.

Tips to Improve Workplace Morale

Be there for your staff
Caring cannot be faked.  Some managers may be tempted to hide from issues and detach themselves from employees’ personal lives. However, building personal relationship is key to growing the moral of your staff.  You do not have to become their best friend, but do get to know them as a person and show genuine interest and care in their well being.  Remember, they are people, not numbers or chess pieces that you can add or subtract with a whim.  Do not try to remove the human element, as that is the very corner stone of positive working relationships.

I once had an employee who was late every Wednesday to work.  The company policy for dealing with tardiness was to first give a verbal warning, the second time a more severe talk, the third a written warning, and if a fourth happened in a 30-day period, termination.  On paper, this rule seemed to be a good deterrent.  However, rules such as this do not suit every situation. For instance, he was a dedicated faithful employee who I did not want to see let go due to tardiness. Had I just seen him as a number, rather than a valuable employee, I wouldn’t have cared, but I valued him, and more importantly, I expressed that to him and asked what was causing his lateness.  Turns out, his mother was dying of cancer and he was the only caregiver.  He needed the job in order to pay the medical bills, and could not afford full-time hospice care.  Upon hearing this, I immediately issued him two weeks leave so he was able to be by his mother’s side until she passed away.  After her passing, he came back to work and stayed with me for over eight years.  It was the right thing to do, but more importantly, taking the time to build a relationship helped me do the right thing for him.

Work purposefully and still work harmoniously
Uncertainty is a morale killer in this economic environment, so try to eliminate as many uncertainties as you can. Having a purpose and feeling included is a universal need.  Invite employees into your planning process; ask them to help you define the goals of their department.    Make sure they understand the direction of the company and their department.  Give them a chance to present their ideas and thoughts.  If you create an environment where employees, management, and executives work together in a collaborative fashion, there is more buy in from the staff and therefore higher morale.

Recently, my company’s management brought employees together to determine the goals for the next year.  The entire session was about establishing what employees thought their customers needed; how they thought they should get there and, more importantly, what they wanted to see the company look like a year down the road.  It had a phenomenal effect.  People were ecstatic and engaged.  Engagement is the biggest indicator that you have given your staff the feeling of purpose and ownership of their future.

Manage efficiency vs. effectiveness
The age-old question when it comes to staffing is how as managers, do we place the employee in the most effective and efficient position?  Unfortunately, there’s no straight or simple answer, since putting people in the most effective positions may not always be the most efficient.  It is important to know how to best utilize your staff and manage these two competing elements.  An employee may be a salesperson, but had a strong desire to be an IT Technician.  Giving them the knowledge and room to grow, and helping them to prepare for an opening of that position, will return results tenfold.  If you help employees play to their strengths and provide enjoyment in their jobs, you will undoubtedly see heightened effectiveness.  Effective people strive for success and efficient people strive to avoid failure.

I once brought an employee into my office and said, “You do a great job.  You have been doing it for twice as long as everyone else has.  Where do you want to go?  What is the next step for you?”  He shared that he had always wanted to fix things, computer hardware to be specific.  At that time he was working on phone software support and was very effective, but didn’t have any opportunities to touch hardware. I helped him learn what he needed, got him the tools to do the job, and shortly thereafter he moved over to the hardware technician team.   In his new role, he broke out of his shell and took the department to a level I had never expected, and even became its manager.  Initially, it may not have been the most efficient thing to do, but in working with him, it was the most effective. Helping him to find happiness in his job had a huge payoff for the company overall.

Do not forget to praise employees
Over the years, peers and employees have said to me that they have great benefits and perks at their job, but they still don’t enjoy it.  After a five-minute conversation with one friend, I understood why.  The management team at his company did not praise its employees.  I do not mean fake praise; people can tell when you are simply saying it only for the sake of saying it.  I am talking about showing true thankfulness and appreciation.  To keep employees working hard and working towards a greater goal, they need to hear positive reinforcement.  Creative forms of praise and reward are more important than ever, now that traditional employee bonuses are less available.  Taking small actions such as providing verbal praise, fronting vacation time, and being flexible with schedules can go a long way.

Praising employees can be like interactions within your family.  If you have ever been a parent, when you get home your child is there, excited, and ready to follow your lead.  If you ignore them, go away, and withhold attention, they eventually pull away over time.  However, if you reach down, hug them, and give them love, they get even more excited and cannot wait for the next encounter.  This builds over time and when you praise certain behaviors, they repeat them often and better than before.  Interaction with your employees is much the same.  If you praise good behavior and quality work from your employees, they’re far more likely to arrive the next day, excited and ready to go the extra mile once again.

I have a manager who works for me who is his own worst critic.  He beats himself up when he makes a mistake and is hard on the work he delivers.  Each time, I tell him he is doing a good job, I can actually see his own critical view diminish.  He is no longer worried about his work being perfect, which it nearly always is anyway, and he now delivers it in a much more eager and excited way.  If I had just let him beat himself up, it would have grown and the internalized negativity would have stifled the creativity from his work.  In this case, a little well-deserved praise made for a happier, better employee.

In conclusion, the economy can affect morale in the workplace and we as managers need to be aware of this.  A happy employee is vital to the strategic success of your company.  We can never completely resolve the problem of uncertainty, but with a strategic, caring approach, you can make the workplace the positive beacon in their lives.

Focus on some key elements; be there for your staff, work purposefully and harmoniously, manage efficiency versus effectiveness, and most importantly praise employees for a job well done.  The solution can be something as simple as being more aware of our employees’ personal situations, and being willing to do what we can to help curb negativity to create a positive work environment.