How to raise morale in a team?
Company morale measures the confidence, enthusiasm and overall satisfaction of your team. Does your team like to come to work in the morning? Is there a team spirit in your team? High morale goes hand in hand with corporate culture. If your office is full of sad faces and you clearly believe that “it's just work,” morale is probably zero.
Although it sounds trite, modern offices want to create a “family” atmosphere. This means that not only are honest relationships built on your team, but everyone feels supported, free of judgment and capable of taking on new challenges without fear of reprimand. In terms of real productivity, this means greater employee engagement and better team collaboration. It's not just about hard work, but about the quality of work in which everyone motivates each other.
Why employee morale is it important?
Retaining an existing employee is cheaper than training a new one. When morale is high, the risk of losing a talented employee is much more difficult. Your company probably already knows that taking care of existing customers is more effective than acquiring new ones. So thinking about the team in the same way should be natural. In order to retain a talented employee, it is necessary to provide him with the best possible conditions. Do not immediately assume that this is a raise. For more than half of employees, salary is not the most important thing at work. What does it mean to be well-paid but unhappy?
Improve your work environment
It doesn't have to be as expensive as it seems. Especially now, in the age of the pandemic, many small businesses are moving into small spaces, sometimes even garages, and it still makes them happy. One of the most important things is natural light. Many studies have shown a link between exposure to natural light and well-being. In addition, 80% of employees say that the presence of natural light is important to them. Add some plants, prepare a quality coffee maker, fill the space with one or two storage bags, and your small office will suddenly become much more comfortable. Working in a dull and boring environment not only affects overall readiness and commitment, but it can also affect mental health.
Take care of your mental health
Ultimately, employee morale is just as compromised in remote work as it is in a stationary office, which is why support in areas such as mental health is crucial. Paying attention to employees means not only appreciating their professional progress, but also appreciating the people behind these great results. You may not be able to manage the entire HR department, but you deserve to be an honest and impartial HR expert that other employees can always turn to. In the same spirit, a flexible approach should be taken to how the most productive work should look. This means that absences from work caused by mental problems should not be seen as less motivating than absenteeism caused by illness or a cold.
Healthy work-life balance
Your company should seriously consider flexible working and teleworking if it doesn't already offer one. The ideal work-life balance ensures that work does not interfere with the quality of your employee's private life. This can be achieved in a simple way — working from home eliminates the cost and time of commuting to the office, so employees can spend it with their families. You can also allow employees to finish and start work at hours that do not interfere with other life responsibilities — within the same agreed number of hours, of course. Regardless of how your company wants to approach this topic, make sure you are doing everything you can to meet the needs of your team, not just your company.
Flat Hierarchy
In modern offices, business owners and managers very often put their egos aside. Nowadays, in many companies it is possible to enter the office and not even know who is the boss, since everyone is treated the same. By eliminating a rigid hierarchy, you show employees that they don't have to stick to rigid “straight up” and “know your place in the queue” rules. This encourages them to share new ideas and solve problems creatively, without limiting their position. The boss should be as accessible as subordinate employees, and the talents and achievements of such employees should be considered on a par with the achievements of team leaders.
Take care of relationships
Give yourself a little slack and encourage casual conversation, this is the key to building real friendships between employees. With messengers like Slack and well-chosen emojis, even the most boring projects are not a nuisance if they are run by a team with a good atmosphere. And good humor goes hand in hand with productive work.
Give feedback on an ongoing basis
Feedback is an area that many employees say is neglected. Even if your team has colorful goodie bags, the best coffee machines and a pool table to play after dinner, but you don't give feedback, you will probably never know how to improve the performance of your business. Development is extremely important for many employees, which is why no one wants to have the feeling that they are not developing.
Meet regularly with the team
Remember to meet regularly with your team and create action plans so your employees know what and how they can improve. The assessment should be carried out at least once a year, but it should not be a fearful event. They should be seen as an opportunity to have an open and honest discussion about strengths, areas for improvement, and ideas on what you can do to help your employees. If you show that you invest in the professional development of an employee, you will show him that you value him.
Take care of a good atmosphere
Provide facilities and entertainment as much as possible, but also tailored to the real expectations of the team. Not everyone will like a console or a table for table football. Not everyone will find themselves in cooking workshops. Know your team, talk to them, ask for their opinion, react and show flexibility. They will certainly appreciate it and return it with a sincere relationship, based on trust and mutual support.
