Understanding the Impact of Employee Morale on Your Organization

Morale isn’t something businesses spend a lot of time thinking about, but it’s certainly worthy of more discussion. Because, while perhaps not as directly as some other things, low morale ultimately impacts the bottom line.

The Importance of Employee Morale

“Employee morale describes the overall outlook, attitude, satisfaction, and confidence that employees feel at work,” management consultant Susan M. Heathfield explains. “When employees are positive about their work environment and believe that they can meet their most important career and vocational needs, employee morale is positive or high.”

When employees feel underappreciated and under-resourced, employee morale can take a dip – which can cause ripple effects throughout other areas of the organization.

“Less engaged teams are less productive, less customer-focused and prone to withdrawing their efforts and adopting counterproductive behaviour,” recruiting consultant Barrett Rose writes. “This occurs when management is unclear about expectations, employees have not been effectively trained, or do not feel a sense of ownership over their work. Low morale causes employees to lose interest in going the extra mile, especially when they do not feel valued by managers or care about the projects assigned.”

Low morale often goes undetected for a period of time, which makes it even more dangerous. Left alone, employees will begin to marinate in low morale, which allows these negative byproducts to seep into the inner workings of the organization. To prevent this sort of outcome, businesses must be proactive in their approach to managing the culture.

5 Tips and Tricks for Boosting Employee Morale

Employee morale is especially important in fields like IT and technology. The work can be isolating and repetitive, which often leads to premature burnout and lack of enthusiasm. But by putting a focus on morale, you can keep your employees happy and engaged. Here are a few practical ideas:

1. Offer Flexibility

Today’s employees – millennials, in particular – love flexibility. They enjoy being able to work when they want where they want. And while you can’t always give total freedom on important aspects such as these, there may be an opportunity to loosen up the reigns and be a bit more flexible.

Flex scheduling is one of the more attractive options. Under this format, you allow employees to set their hours (within reason). As long as they get their 40 hours in per week (or whatever the agreement is), they’re able to frontload, backload, or change up their schedules to account for their preferences.

2. Enhance the Work Environment

The physical work environment is one of the more underrated factors involved in employee morale. Employees are impacted by their surroundings and are far more likely to have high morale when they’re working in comfortable, attractive workspaces.

For starters, you should provide both open and private areas so that employees have the opportunity to work in a space that fits their personality and needs. Providing the latest gadgets and comfortable chairs, desks, and lighting is equally important.

“You can also improve team morale by installing the right types of window treatments. Not only is it a powerful aesthetic choice that can define the character of the office, but it can also give workers more options if it offers a gradient of different lighting possibilities,” Blindster explains. “For example, if a team wants more natural light to feel happier and connected with the outside world, they can do it. If they want more privacy, they can have that too.”

3. Give Independence

Employees respond to independence. They want freedom and will be much happier when you step away and give them the autonomy to do their jobs.

It’s best to manage employees with a simple rule: You let them have certain freedoms until they mess up or give you a reason to put restrictions in place. And if you take a strong stance on this position, you’ll actually notice that your employees police one another (since they don’t want their freedoms taken away). This makes management less of the “bad guy.”

4. Reward Employees

Believe it or not, there are plenty of ways to reward and incentivize employees besides offering huge bonuses or pay increases. In fact, research shows that money often isn’t the greatest motivating factor. Employees may respond better to:

• Contests that pit them against other employees
• Perks – like extra time off or casual dress days – for achievements
• Public recognition for hard work and accomplishments

Feel free to get creative. Every employee responds differently, and there are plenty of ways to reward employees without writing a check.

5. Solicit Employee Feedback (and Take it to Heart)

Employees want to be seen as more than minions working for “the man.” They want to know that they’re appreciated and respected in the organization. One way to help them feel heard is to regularly solicit employee feedback.

Ask employees for their opinion on small and large issues. From the types of computers you purchase for the office to major IT strategies, employees will be happy to be engaged on these issues.

Furthermore, make it a point to actually listen and respond to the feedback they provide. When employee opinions are implemented, it makes them feel like integral parts of the organization.

Retention Over Acquisition

You’re familiar with the importance of customer retention. You know that it’s far more cost-effective to retain a customer than it is to go out and earn the business of another.

“The same idea holds true for employees, too. It’s not enough to just recruit the top talent – the real ROI in recruitment comes in retaining those top performers for years to come,” talent management expert Deanna Bretado writes. “Otherwise, employers are just spinning their wheels, replacing employees as fast as they recruit them.”

The expense of employee turnover can be high. Depending on the situation, it may include separation costs, recruitment costs, productivity costs, and training costs. In other words, it’s much costlier than it initially appears.

Though much goes into retaining employees, maintaining high employee morale is certainly a positive factor in your favor.