It's no secret that employee morale is one of those things in business that is essential to understand... but what exactly is the meaning of employee morale?
In this article, we will explain what employee morale is, why it matters, how to measure it, and how benefits can improve it.
This article is for business owners, managers, team leaders, CEOs, or anyone who wants to know how to improve employee productivity and morale.
What is Employee Morale?
To define employee morale: Employee morale or workspace morale is the morale of employees in workspace environment. It is proven to have a direct effect on productivity.
Morale is how your employees feel about coming to work every day, how they approach their assigned tasks, and their attitude about the direction the company is taking.
Put simply, employee morale is the culmination of job satisfaction, life outlook, and attitude.
Why Does Employee Morale Matter?
Morale is a vital part of your company’s culture; a positive collective attitude will create a positive environment, and a positive environment certainly can improve attitude.
If your company has poor morale and a company culture that is suffering, decreased productivity can follow.
2020 was one of the most difficult years for companies and their employees. COVID-19 caused extreme business fluctuations, including companies large and small closing their doors, layoffs and furloughs, and a huge part of our workforce being required to work remotely from home. All this summarized the ongoing health crisis, having major impacts on employee mental health, productivity, concentration and morale.
A SHRM COVID study showed that:
- 34% of employers didn't have an emergency preparedness plan for dealing with such a crisis
- 7 in 10 or employers are struggling to adapt to remote work
- 2 in 3 employers say maintaining employee morale has been a challenge (companies of over 500 employees report more of a challenge than small to medium businesses)
The biggest challenge reported by SHRM was maintaining company culture. Employees suffering from poor morale can be unmotivated, unenthused, and unengaged. Improving morale in your company can improve your productivity and company culture. Morale, productivity, and company culture are tied together and affect one another. When one suffers, they all suffer.
How Can You Tell Morale is Low and How Can You Measure Morale?
The easiest way to keep an eye on your company's morale is to maintain a relationship with each employee. You’ll notice shifts in their behaviors and attitudes if morale does begin to slip. If your company is too large to make this possible, keep in contact with direct supervisors. They should be able to give you a good indication of how things are going in their areas.
Surveying employees has proven to be a great way to keep an eye on many aspects of a business, including morale. You can get a good picture of where your employees are at, morale-wise, and monitor the direction your employees feel your company is going.
Check in often, so that if you get a few degrees off course, corrections can be more easily made.
There are mixed feelings about using turnover and absentee rates as a measure of morale. There are many other factors that can impact those rates, but they can serve as a useful measurement just don’t completely count on them.
Related: 3 Tips to Improve Morale for Hospital Staff
Morale Boosting Activities for the Workplace
Read on for some helpful tips to improve employee morale in the workplace.
1. Share a lunch together at least once per week
When working in an office together, you’d likely share a meal with your coworkers often! So, bring that culture-building activity back into the virtual workplace via video conference. Make sure to allow for 60 minutes and let them and come and go as they need.
You can also do this virtually by holding open Zoom hours for employees to come and go to chat while they are on their lunch breaks.
You can even hold a lunch and learn on wellness to take this a step further.
2. Learn together
Expanding on this idea, did you know there are many virtual classes available online? You could try a group cooking class, or even learning a new language together as a team. Your wellness program likely has some group class options; they'd be a great resource to reach out to first.
3. Try a virtual guided meditation
Taking time to clear your mind improves focus and productivity. Offering these benefits to your team with a group meditation session each week will not only be great for their minds, but for team connection as well.
4. Try virtual yoga
No matter your level of flexibility, online yoga classes can be a fun way to connect with your team! Plus, they make a great workday break.
5. Provide more effective training
Trained employees are happy employees because knowing how to complete tasks assigned to them (and know what is expected of them) prevents misunderstandings and workplace tension. Make sure everyone is trained and give them the tools they need to complete their jobs. Don’t repeat the same, boring, basic tutorials at every meeting. Find a new angle to tackle work trainings from.
The bottom line is to find what works for your company in monitoring and improving staff morale.
6. Gather feedback
Your first best bet to improving employee morale is to have a read on your company's pulse. The feelings employees have towards a company can be very different in the c-suite compared to workers on the front lines.
Make sure to keep things in perspective by interacting with employees regularly, sending surveys, and getting a general read on how things are working (or not) for everyone in the company.
For more on employee morale, check out these articles:
Disclaimer
By participating in/reading the service/website/blog/email series on this website, you acknowledge that this is a personal website/blog and is for informational purposes and should not be seen as mental health care advice. You should consult with a licensed professional before you rely on this website/blog’s information. All things written on this website should not be seen as therapy treatment and should not take the place of therapy or any other health care or mental health advice. Always seek the advice of a mental health care professional or physician. The content on this blog is not meant to and does not substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
