Editor’s Note: Here at Dispatches, we are always looking for ways to help our readers do things. For some of our readers, that means helping navigate the working world, for others, it means assisting in the ever challenging question,“what’s for dinner?” For still others, it means figuring out how to balance family life with everything else. In an effort to aid in all of these endeavors, we have collaborated on this article written specifically for our readers.
A happy workforce with high morale is a productive workforce. Low morale spreads as fast as office gossip and can make even the happiest employee question their commitment to the organization, which could lead to that person leaving the company and if enough people leave, the business can fail. The following are a few suggestions for keeping morale up.
- Regular Conversations With Employees
Most businesses have a system where an employee’s direct manager provides feedback formally and informally. This may happen once a week or less frequently, and involve going over specific performance indicators. In some businesses, this kind of more formal feedback could involve sampling a call that the employee has made or taken that week. During this discussion, supervisor and employee may go over positives and identify areas for improvement. Morale tip: focus on as many positives as negatives. Reinforce what the employees is doing well before focusing on what needs improvement.
- Analysis: Statistics As A Guide
Many businesses take customer calls. Some organizations have the ability to take a statistical breakdown of all calls made and taken by the company. This can be broken down by department and even by employee. When an organization uses a program to track calls, it means the business has an objective way to review how many calls each employee takes and makes and the length of those calls. the statistics can help identify outliers and allow for conversations about what caused the discrepancies. Morale tip: Ask what caused an outlier, without making assumptions. Maybe there is a perfectly good reason the call took longer or shorter than the average. Let the employee have a chance to explain.
- Team Meetings
Within a business, there will be various teams led by one manager who takes responsibility for employee performance. Some teams have weekly formal meetings, others have more informal frequent meetings. In these meetings, the team manager can cascade any news from within the business and take feedback from the employees to go back up the chain as necessary. This is a good way of encouraging a two-way dialog and ensuring that people can raise an issue they’d be reluctant to share directly with senior management. Morale tip: Make sure your employees know you are taking their feedback as appropriate but not throwing them under the bus.
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