Sometimes employees get down about their jobs. Whether it’s because they’re afraid of losing their jobs or they watch others lose their jobs every day, low morale can’t always be identified by just looking at your employees. Low morale is an unfortunate circumstance of layoffs, low profits, and lack of new ideas. It can cause a lapse in productivity and you can start to lose business. How can you identify and encourage better morale in your office?
Take a Day and Walk Their Walk
One of the easiest ways to figure out if your office is full of sad employees is to act like you’re one of them for the day. Talk to the people they talk to, listen to what they have to say about one another, and spend time with the employees around you to see what’s going on. Ask your managers to do the same once or twice a month and report back to you on what they find so you can fix low morale before it becomes destructive.
Ask Around
If you’ve got an honest, open office then you’ll be able to find out who’s feeling bad by just asking around. Communication is important in an office, and if you’ve fostered the idea that people can come to you when they need something or feel poorly, then low morale will be easy to identify. Otherwise, you may have to start asking customers about how they perceive your employees. When you can’t ask them, go online and see what they’re saying about your company in public forums, on Twitter and Facebook, and through other means of communication.
How to Start Boosting Morale
The first thing you need to start doing is having morning huddles. They may seem corny to a lot of employers, but they are often one of the most helpful tools in helping employees feel better about themselves and each other. Talk about sales and have a positive quote of the day. Recognize the hard workers and those who have done the best job this week at every meaning. End with a cheerful group chant or motivational speech.
