What is Employee Morale?

Employee morale is how workers feel while they are at work in combination with how they feel about their actual job. When looking at employee morale we look at the general outlook of the employees, how satisfied they are in their jobs and the type of attitude team members have.

For example, if you are having issues with workers being consistently late for work, this may indicate that their morale is low. This can impact how much work they are able to get done in a day and indicate to others that it is okay to be late for the job. These are both issues that would need to be resolved as they could become worse which would mean further issues down the line.

To improve the situation, the employee’s morale might need to be addressed which is why the morale of the workers is so important.

Why Employee Morale is Important

Having poor employee morale can eventually lead to other larger issues. Some of the areas that can be affected by poor employee morale are:

• • Employee retention: employees are less likely to stay working for an organization if they feel bad while there.
  • Work performance: when morale is low, there is less motivation to get work done in a quick and efficient manner.
  • Employee motivation: this is connected with work performance, as having bad employee morale will mean that motivation to work hard is lacking and work performance suffers.
  • Communication: when there is low employee morale, communication between workers and between management and workers will suffer. This is because there may be a lack of respect for management or coworkers.

Related: How to Create Effective Communication at the Workplace

• Productivity: when employee morale is an issue, productivity can be low as no one is motivated to work hard. The opposite is true when employee morale is high as good morale will motivate workers to work harder.
• Teamwork: if there is low morale it can be hard for employees to work together. Once employee morale issues are resolved, communication will improve and teamwork will become better.
• Employee engagement: it can be difficult to feel engaged in your work when there is low morale amongst workers. By improving employee morale you can increase how much employees engage in work.

By focusing on employee morale, you can have a positive impact on all these areas, as happy workers tend to make better employees.

What Impacts Employee Morale

There are a lot of different factors that can impact employee morale. The following are the most common factors that have a negative impact on employee morale.

Lack of Meaning

When employees are unaware of the overall goals of an organization, this can lead to a lack of meaning. For employees to feel good about their jobs, they must have shared values and goals with the company they work for or in other words, a reason to do the work they do. Having an unclear view of what the organization’s values are can cause employees to question their work and will ultimately lead to low job satisfaction.

Lack of Recognition

Everyone likes to be recognized for a job well done and if you have not been providing your employees with this, it could cause issues with employee morale. When employees are given recognition for their hard work they feel a sense of satisfaction that can make them more motivated for further projects as they know they can be successful again. Having a lack of recognition, on the other hand, can make employees question their abilities and they might start feeling bad about their job.

Negative Teammates

It can be difficult to be among people who have a negative outlook on life. Some people in life will always see the negative and if surrounded by people with these feelings, we too can become negative. When this happens at work it can bring down the morale of the entire team as it can be difficult to switch negative feelings into positive ones. Sometimes addressing the group as a whole can help increase positivity among teams, which would then have a positive impact on employee morale.

Lack of Resources

When employees are unable to access the appropriate resources or tools for their job, it can make them feel as though their jobs are too difficult. For example, if the internet provided to staff is constantly too slow or crashing, it can cause a large gap in the information staff may need to have access to. When people work hard but feel they are getting nowhere on a project, they might start to feel dissatisfied. This dissatisfaction can make it difficult to think positively about work and you will see a lack of employee morale. Making sure your employees have the proper resources/tools for their jobs can have an immediate positive effect on how they feel about work and the organization.

Poor Leadership

Having more transparency at work can increase employee morale. When leaders do not share what is going on in the organization with the workers, it can lead to mistrust and unease. Workers like knowing what the overall goals are for the company so that they can see their part in it. Leaders must be able to communicate with workers about how the company is doing and where it is going in order to keep employee morale high.

Lack of Career Advancement

Along with the future of the company, employees like knowing where their career is going within the organization. People like to be able to plan for their future and know that they will be able to grow within an organization. It can be very important to communicate with employees about their career goals so that they know you are thinking about how the organization might use them in the future. Having career stability can help workers feel job satisfaction which directly impacts employee morale.

The above examples illustrate how different factors in a job can impact employee morale; now let’s look at how to boost employee morale.

How To Boost Employee Morale

Being able to boost employee morale can be vital if you want your organization to thrive. As we have seen, there are numerous factors that can impact employee morale and it is important to keep them in mind when dealing with workers.

Implementing the following strategies can help increase employee morale:

• Do regular check-ins with employees to see how they are feeling about their job. Make changes when needed.
• Provide the proper technology so that the company and your employees can stay up to date with improved organizational systems.
• Create a growth plan with each employee so that they know their role within the company and what the future might look like.
• Work on your own leadership skills and how you interact with workers. Perhaps take a course on leadership so that you can improve the skills you might be lacking.
• Create ways to acknowledge good work. For example, during a team meeting talk about a successful project and point out an individual’s contribution to the project.
• Be transparent about the direction of the company and other issues that might come up. Employees like knowing what a company is planning, even if the goals are in the long term.
• Allow for more flexibility. Be flexible about when or where workers do their job as this will show workers that you trust them. Showing employees that you trust them to do their jobs can increase satisfaction as employees like to feel autonomous.

By using some of these strategies, you will help increase employee morale, which can improve how well your organization does.

Related: Improve Company Culture Through 360º Feedback Training

Employee morale is a central issue for organizations to be productive and successful. As we have seen, when employee morale is down, other issues can arise. It is important to take the time to boost employee morale if dealing with these issues as it might help you solve the problem.