High morale. It’s the key to building a strong company culture and creating a positive work environment that helps employees progress in their roles, as well as aid with retention.
Researchers from Warwick University found that happy workers are 12 percent more productive than unhappy ones. This means that employees are much more likely to give their best when they feel rewarded, supported, and appreciated.
So how can you keep your employees happy and make your office the place they want to be? Implement these 11 tips to help boost employee morale in the workplace:
1. Organize a team activity or party
Office activities and parties are an effective way to pep up employee spirits. Apart from the annual Christmas dinner, arrange special events, celebratory meetings and nights out when you achieve a goal. Events like these should be an open invitation, whereas the occasional lunch or coffee is a great opportunity to show your appreciation and offer a setting where employees can share their ideas without hesitation.
2. Help them feel a sense of growth
Another way to increase employee morale is to give personnel a sense of purpose so they have a goal to look forward to or an opportunity to work towards. It doesn’t need to be an increase in their salary. Instead, you can send them on a sponsored trip to a conference or event to enhance their professional skills. Workers today want a sense of growth to be truly passionate about their jobs.
3. Communicate on a regular basis
Don’t wait for the weekly meeting to communicate with your employees. Share an interesting story, a glowing customer review or a positive thing you’ve noticed about their work. Your staff members are humans too and should be treated as such. It’s also a good idea to check with them on a frequent basis by asking how they’re feeling about their co-worker/manager/job. Regular, open communication about achievements and barriers is crucial to your employees and can help keep their morale high.
4. Invest in team building
A defining element of a productive workplace is employees who genuinely like each other. This requires a company to take steps that help foster team engagement and encourage staff members to work together. You can achieve this by organizing team activities and events outside of the office so that employees can really get to know their team members. Host an office trivia challenge or organize a scavenger hunt to energize your employees.
5. Encourage employees to take breaks
Tell your workers to get away from their cubicle/laptop for five to 10 minutes every so often. For example, go out of the office for some fresh air, get a cup of coffee, stretch the body, or talk to a co-worker. When employees turn this into a habit, they’ll be happier and can significantly contribute to the company’s bottom line as they’re refreshed and focused. Even if it’s just for a few minutes, taking a break can prevent creativity from taking a nosedive as it tends to when you’re stuck in the same environment all the time.
6. Ask for their feedback
Requesting feedback from employees shows that you’re listening and care about their opinions. When employees feel heard, they’re far more likely to be satisfied. But it’s not just enough to send out a survey; you need to act on the feedback as well. Even if you don’t have the bandwidth to attend to every concern or opinion, be sure to at least acknowledge them by thanking the employee for sharing their insights. You can use a tool like SurveyMonkey to develop surveys for all aspects of the worker’s experience.
7. Provide appraisals
Sometimes, increasing employee morale means stroking a few egos. This can be done by providing quarterly, monthly, or weekly appraisals. We’re not saying that you need to be disingenuous, but occasional feedback about things employees are doing well—as well as suggestions for growth and improvement, can serve as a powerful motivator for your workforce.
8. Make the work environment comfortable
No matter how many appraisals or incentives you give to your employees, if your work environment is unappealing, your employees may struggle to maintain morale. Try creating a chic yet minimalistic workspace, and encourage employees to choose their own decorations and seating arrangements (so that like-minded folks with similar tastes can be near each other). A workplace that feels personal will help teams feel inspired, motivated, and happy.
9. Help employees believe
Millennials are joining the workforce in large numbers, and they want to work for firms they believe in. If they feel the job they’re doing is going to make an impact, they’ll be far more motivated than if they just feel like a 9-5 employee who’s working to earn a living. To make them believe in your company, make sure your mission goes beyond your profit target for the year. What does your business do to stand out from the competition? How are you contributing to society or the economy of your country?
10. Embrace diversity
As employees spend a major portion of their day in the office, you don’t want it to be a place where they can’t be themselves. Making them feel comfortable and celebrating everything that makes them unique and different will create a thriving culture while enhancing engagement and morale. This can also have a trickle-down effect on new employees. When existing members of the staff say good things about the company, it spreads and may reach the ears of prospective employees.
11. Hire temps who are experienced
When your employees are burdened, they won’t have time to extensively guide temps who are there to assist with the workload. They need qualified individuals who can be helpful and productive from the get-go. That’s why any organization that is looking to boost employee morale should recruit experienced temps. Working with respected recruitment agencies like PrincePerelson is the easiest way to find temps experienced in a wide variety of specialized fields.
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