The Importance of Employee Morale & 10 Ways To Improve It

Why is employee morale important?

July 20, 2022
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With the ebb and flow of today's economy and the constant threat of layoffs, any company can find itself in a position where workplace morale dips dangerously low.

Employee morale is a concept that can't be interpreted or applied the same way to every company. For one company, there may be a need to improve morale in the workplace through growth opportunities. And for another company, that’s not the case.

Employees are the key to your company's success. If you have a happy and motivated team, they will be more likely to provide high-quality work. 

This article will explore the benefits of improving employee morale and effective ways to boost it.

What Is Employee Morale, And What Are The Benefits?

Employee morale is a measurement of how happy and engaged staff are in their jobs - a measure of job satisfaction and commitment.

It’s how workers perceive their environment and roles concerning the company's needs, vision, and mission.

It's a combination of factors, including pay, benefits, job security, and relationships with co-workers and supervisors. When staff morale is high, you can expect higher productivity and lower turnover rates. These directly affect productivity and profitability, contributing to improved business results.

In addition, creating morale boosters at work can help you attract better talents for open positions in your company and improve retention rates.

Improving employee productivity is at the core of what Assembly does. Book a Demo today to discover fantastic workplace solutions.

Why is Employee Morale So Important?

The importance of employee morale in the workplace is critical. It reflects how productive the workforce is and how happy the workers are to come to work each day.

Unfortunately, it is often ignored or overlooked by many business owners.

An engaged workforce can have a significant impact on productivity and turnover rates. In fact, new research shows that 71% of company executives believe that employee engagement increases profit by 21%!

Companies that understand the importance of job satisfaction will endeavour to learn how to increase employee morale. So, it's essential for companies to incorporate ways to boost morale at work and emphasise the importance of staff morale.

Here are four benefits of having high employee morale:

  1. Increased productivity
  2. Reduced turnover rates
  3. Increased customer satisfaction
  4. Increased creativity

1. Increased productivity

When employees are motivated, they're more likely to put in extra effort when needed and enjoy their work more. This means they'll be able to produce more with less effort, saving you money on constantly hiring and training new people.

2. Reduced turnover rates

Happy employees are less likely to quit their jobs because they're satisfied with their positions and the value they bring. Team members who feel they're valued will be less likely to leave for greener pastures.

3. Increased customer satisfaction

Happy staff will treat customers better than those who aren't satisfied with their jobs or employers. This will bring about customers who feel respected rather than taken for granted by businesses who don't care about them.

4.  Increased creativity

Employees with low morale are not very creative because they’re stressed and may feel so much pressure. This prevents them from focusing on performing their best without worrying about job security.

What Affects Employee Morale?

Employee morale can be a good indicator of whether the company is doing well or not. It is challenging to run a business if everyone is unhappy and unmotivated. So, it's essential to understand how to improve morale at work and what factors influence staff morale.

Factors that influence office morale include:

  1. Communication
  2. Work/life balance
  3. Recognition
  4. Workplace culture
  5. Growth opportunities

1. Communication

Communication is about giving directions or information and listening to employees' ideas and concerns. Communication is vital for maintaining good relations and boosting morale. If communication between managers and employees breaks down, they may feel ignored or disrespected by management.

Workers should feel comfortable speaking up when they have concerns. This includes sharing ideas about how the management could do things better in the workplace.

2. Work/Life Balance

Employees who feel tired or overworked will be unmotivated and burnt out. They may also start looking for jobs that give them some balance. People are more productive and creative when they have time to relax and enjoy their life outside work.

3. Recognition

Recognize your team for their hard work and achievements through rewards or incentives. Positive recognition will help improve employees' perception of their role in the company or organization, making them feel more engaged and motivated at work.

Recognition means different things to different people. It can be building a recognition culture with workplace recognition templates or having appreciation parties. Everyone wants to be appreciated for their hard work, so a simple thank you goes a long way towards boosting office morale. There’s an extra plus when it's followed up with tangible rewards like bonuses or promotions (or even a pizza party!).

4. Workplace Culture

Company culture greatly influences a worker’s perception of job satisfaction, affecting morale. Employees will be more devoted when you have a positive, collaborative workplace culture where they feel valued and respected. 

A way to create this kind of culture is through leadership training programs for managers to understand how to lead effectively and foster trust among their teams.

Growth Opportunities

Employees want to feel like they're growing with the company and not being held back from achieving their professional goals. It can be through new learnings or career advancement courses or programs. If there aren't any opportunities available, it will give employees a reason to look elsewhere for career advancement.

How Is Employee Morale Measured?

The first step to improving office morale is knowing your current levels.

Measurement is essential as it allows you to see whether or not you need to make changes and, if so, what those changes should be.

Building a culture where people feel comfortable talking openly about their work experience, including both positives and negatives, is vital. Regular check-ins with managers or even town hall meetings allow staff members to speak freely among themselves without fear of being reprimanded. 

It’s also essential to build a culture where customer feedback is welcome so that workers can access information that will help them improve.

Here are ten ways to measure employee morale:

1. Opinion and morale surveys

2. Focus groups

3. Periodic interviews

4. Exit interviews

5. Observation

6. Company reports

7. Group meetings

8. Participative tendencies

9. Performance appraisals

10. Quality records

 Are you looking to have your survey? We are here to help. Book a Demo to get started.

How Do You Improve Employee Morale?

Team morale is a big deal, and companies need to be intentional about ways to improve employee morale. But, in the bid to do this, it often becomes mechanical.

Thankfully, there are also fun ways to boost morale at work. Boosting team morale shouldn't be hard—it just takes a little bit of effort.

To begin, here are ten effective ways to improve morale boosts for employees to get started:

  1. Provide personal and professional development
  2. Prioritise work/life balance
  3. Establish better channels of communication
  4. Ask for feedback
  5. Train your managers to become better coaches
  6. Introduce greenery
  7. Introduce team-building activities
  8. Employee recognition
  9. Promote workplace diversity
  10. Incentives and rewards

  1. Provide Personal And Professional Development 

People want to grow as individuals; it's part of human nature. They want to learn new things and develop new skills. And through formal training and opportunities to stretch outside their comfort zones, employees can grow. Learn more about what employees are looking for and struggling with by utilizing self-evaluation.

  1. Prioritize Work-Life Balance

A healthy work-life balance means ensuring that your staff have enough time to spend with their families and time for themselves. The best way to do this is by setting clear and achievable goals for your employees and giving them enough time to complete them.

This is important because it helps prevent burnout and can also help improve productivity by making them happier and improving office morale. 

  1. Establish Better Channels of Communication

When there’s no clear communication in a company, employees start worrying about the future of their jobs or careers. Clear communication is vital for business operations. And with remote and hybrid working, two-way channels of communication is essential now than ever. 

It allows seamless conversations with employees to address their concerns and an easy way to share them. 

  1. Ask For Feedback

Asking for employee feedback allows staff, especially remote employees, to voice concerns about their job or the company. With this, you show employees that they can give input on projects or policies that affect them directly. It could be through employee surveys, insights and focus group discussions.

  1. Train Your Managers To Become Better Coaches

Managers are an important influence in your teams' lives. If your managers are doing their jobs well, they can help employees grow professionally and personally. 

One way to build this is by encouraging one-on-one meetings. One-on-one meetings are every manager’s superpower, and they can wield them to increase team morale. The company should also train new managers properly to coach their employees on how best to perform their jobs.

  1. Introduce Greenery 

Green plants make the office a more pleasant place to be. Plants not only add beauty and freshness to your office, but they also help purify the air and help to lower stress levels.

According to a study by Life Science, having a few plants in your office helps to boost staff happiness, and happy employees are more likely to have high morale than their unhappy counterparts.

  1. Organize Team Building Activities

Team building activities are another great way to boost team morale; they don't have to be expensive or time-consuming. 

You can organize a team lunch or a friendly competition between teams or departments. You will be surprised at how much fun these activities can be!  

Team building exercises where everyone has fun will increase team spirit and improve communication between colleagues.

  1. Employee Recognition

Recognition awards are a way to show your appreciation for an employee's hard work and efforts - especially if they go above and beyond what’s expected of them. 

Everyone wants to feel appreciated for their efforts and achievements; we encourage staff recognition to be done frequently. With employee recognition strategies in place, workers feel more valued.

  1. Promote Workplace Diversity

A diverse workforce can mean better performance, more innovation, and more creativity. Studies have shown that diverse teams are more innovative, productive, and profitable than homogeneous ones. 

And this can boost workplace morale because there are several opportunities for people from different backgrounds to learn from each other and share ideas and perspectives.

  1. Incentives and Rewards

Incentives and rewards are powerful motivators that can help boost team morale. These can include bonuses, vacation days, prizes, or other forms of recognition. 

Companies can offer incentives based on individual or group performances depending on the type of incentive program being implemented by the company. The important thing is that you pick an incentive that is meaningful for each employee.

Learn more about the Assembly Intranet to help unify company knowledge and improve company morale with recognition & rewards.

Driving Employee Morale In The Workplace

Employee morale and job satisfaction go hand in hand. Therefore, the importance of morale in the workplace cannot be overemphasized.

When looking at boosting employee morale, your job is two-fold: first, to create the conditions that allow people to work well together and remain engaged. And second, to proactively address any issues with low morale, should they arise.

Engaged staff will have high morale and bring total effort and conviction to their work - that’s why it's important to encourage employee engagement. A company with engaged employees will naturally be more profitable and successful in the long term.

Encourage employee satisfaction and engagement with our employee morale-boosting solutions today.  Try Assembly today, for free.

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