The morale of your team can make or break how productive they are during the workday. The mood at work can dip significantly due to low morale, simple tasks can be finished sloppily rather than as expected, and employees would rather be anywhere else. This is due to a lack of job satisfaction caused by any number of reasons: management, workload, lay-offs, and so on. If your business is experiencing a drop in morale, here are four ways you can go about fixing it.
Acknowledgment
How often do you acknowledge the work your employees are doing each day? Life can become very busy while at work, and often the acknowledgment of a job well done gets forgotten in favor of jumping to the next task at hand. Take a moment to remember compliments go a long way in improving a person’s day, and do so when the moment calls for it. Don’t hand them out willy-nilly, though—meaningless compliments are no better than giving no compliments at all. Instead, tell someone they’re doing a good job when they go above and beyond or improve on a skill they’ve been struggling with. Recognition is essential for employee happiness and success.
Problems
An issue in the workplace can drastically bring down your team’s morale, and ignoring it won’t make the problem go away. If there are frustrations among your team members, don’t wait for it to pass; take a moment to get feedback from your team and find solutions. Encourage your employees to speak up when there’s an issue so that it can be addressed promptly.
Learning
No one is perfect. People are constantly learning and growing, and in the workplace, that’s no exception. Each person on your team is a unique individual with their own skillsets and experiences, meaning that everyone can learn from each other through teamwork. Try setting up a time every few weeks where your team can present a skill they have to the entire group. Not only is it a great team-building activity, but it’ll help everyone learn something new.
Leading
Know that your team is following the example you lead them with. No one is meant to be happy and cheerful all the time, but letting stress and negativity seep into how you lead your team will infect everyone else’s mood considerably. If you’re heading into a busy season, keep your head held high and be optimistic about the situation at hand. Approaching things optimistically will encourage your team members to do the same, leaving everyone with high morale instead of a lowered one.
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Learn more from Hardwick Caldwell at hardwickcaldwell.com