Photo by Kristan Browne – Attriniti Consulting
Originally Posted On: https://attriniti.com/blog/how-to-boost-employee-morale-and-job-satisfaction/
Did you know disengaged employees cost U.S businesses up to 550 billion dollars(USD) per year? Given the significant impact to the bottomline, we felt it important to explore the necessity of boosting employee morale as well as share some proven methods on how to boost employee morale and job satisfaction. Let’s get to it.
Defining Employee Morale
So, what is employee morale? In simple terms, employee morale refers to how your employees feel when they come to work everyday. More specifically, their enthusiasm and overall outlook on how they approach their assigned tasks, how they interact with management, and how they work with their fellow employees.
Employee morale is the culmination of job satisfaction, directly correlated to employee performance. When employee morale and motivation are high, employee productivity increases and organizations further benefit from attracting and retaining top talent. On the other hand, if employee motivation and morale are low, performance and productivity are negatively affected.
In order to boost employee morale and job satisfaction with less stress, time, and energy, one must first understand the causes of low morale.
5 Causes Of Low Employee Morale
What causes low morale at work? There are several factors in the workplace, which contribute to low employee morale. Recognizing these problems will help you create a clear strategy to rebuild employee morale. Below is a list of five factors that negatively impact employee morale:
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Lack of Growth
Most people aspire to achieve specific career goals. So, if an employee begins to feel stuck at a dead-end job, a lack of motivation may arise, and in the end, they may leave an organization for a more fulfilling job role.
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Lack of Clarity
Employees respond to clear guidelines on what is expected on a certain project or task. Working on projects and tasks without clearly defined deliverables negatively impacts the morale of your employees.
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Lack of Open Communication
It’s normal for employees to experience various work-related issues. For instance, if an individual is uncomfortable with a co-worker or supervisor and they don’t feel comfortable approaching leadership, then these unaddressed issues become an impediment to even the simplest tasks. Open communication is imperative for the growth of your organization
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Negative Employees
One negative employee exponentially impacts the morale of your entire team. All it takes is one contrary employee to sow seeds of dissent, uncertainty and confusion in the workplace, and negatively affect employee morale. Thus, it’s important to immediately address employee concerns regarding negative individuals within an organization.
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Leadership Issues
A team is only as strong as its leader. So, if the manager or owner displays a lack of leadership, it will eventually affect the entire organization. Distrust in leadership contributes to poor morale.
Hopefully, we have illuminated some of the most common causes of low employee morale, now let us explain the benefits of improving workplace morale.
5 Benefits of Boosting Employee Morale
The importance of employee morale is often underestimated and misunderstood. Five key benefits of boosting employee morale:
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Increased Teamwork
When employees are engaged in the workplace, their levels of job satisfaction are heightened. As a result, team members are more inclined to collaborate and work as a team.
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Increased Productivity
As you may expect, happy employees are more productive, compared to disgruntled workers. When morale and motivation are high, employees are more inclined to put their all into a project.
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High Employee Retention Rate
Employee retention is vital to the growth and success of your company. If you are constantly losing employees and hiring new ones, you will find it extremely hard to scale your business. Prioritizing employee morale will help you to retain experienced employees for longer.
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Greater Attention To Detail
As you may expect, disengaged employees can negatively affect the performance of your organization. On the other hand, highly-motivated workers tend to put forth more effort, since they genuinely care about their work and the outcome of a task.
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More Creativity
Innovation is key to the future growth of a business. As employees feel more of a connection to the company, they begin to contribute more to the company. This also contributes to the creativity and innovation of your staff.
Focusing on employee satisfaction is extremely vital to the growth and success of every organization.
5 Ways To Rebuild Team Morale
If you want your business to thrive, then you must acknowledge the importance of building a strategy to boost workplace morale. With that being said, here are five tips on how to improve employee morale and job satisfaction:
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Align Responsibilities With Skills
Allowing your workers to manage projects and responsibilities that align with their skills and talents creates a win-win situation. Not only does it boost workplace efficiency, it allows your employees to manage projects they enjoy.
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Empower Your Employees
When you give your employees the freedom and autonomy to make decisions, it encourages creativity. This will in turn boost employee morale and confidence. Thus, it’s critical to embrace failures as an opportunity to help empower your team to grow.
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Appreciate Your Employees Regularly
Routinely recognizing your employees when they complete a project is critical to keeping the entire workforce motivated. Employee recognition and appreciation contributes to higher employee retention rates, which in turn helps increase employee morale.
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Be Open To Feedback
If employees know that you are ready to listen to their concerns or complaints, it helps create open dialogue between management and staff. On the other hand, if they don’t feel they can share ideas, concerns, or suggestions internally, it can create an unhealthy work environment, which will eventually erode workplace morale.
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Offer Employee Growth Programs
Studies show that organizations with career development programs enjoy higher levels of workplace productivity. Therefore, it is critical to implement employee development programs within an organization to give your staff a greater purpose in work and life.
In some workplaces, the main cause of low employee morale may not be so easy to diagnose. And in such situations, applying general methods to boost workplace morale may not deliver the expected results. If you are experiencing low employee morale at your workplace and nothing seems to address the issue, then it’s highly advisable to hire an employee morale consulting firm.
Why Hire Employee Morale Consultants
Our team at Attriniti Consulting offers numerous strategies set around team building to improve employee morale. As seasoned employee experience consultants we work with organizations of all sizes around the country. Book a free consultation today. You can also give us a call at 626-755-8043 to learn more.