How to Boost Employee Morale

Employee morale is essential to the success of any company. So, it goes without saying that boosting employees’ morale will also positively impact on the company’s success. Employee morale is determined by a number of factors such as good leadership, recognition for work done, open communication, and challenging assignments.

Low morale among employees often leads to low productivity, poor customer satisfaction, lack of cooperation, and, ultimately, a drop in sales.

It is important to remember that raising employee morale is more than just offering a pay rise. Sometimes, employers need to dig deep to come up with unique ways to strengthen and improve the morale of the workforce.

How can you boost the morale of your employees if you are in a management position or team leader? In this article, you will find out some ways to improve job satisfaction for your staff.

Why Boosting Employee Morale is Important

A report by the American Psychological Association highlighted the need for lowering levels of dissatisfaction in the workplace. Employees who feel disengaged at work report higher stress levels and are at greater risk of cardiovascular problems.

Some estimates say employees who suffer from low morale at work can cost the company around $28,000 (USD) per person due to sick days. However, happy workers who had high levels of job satisfaction only cost companies on average $840 annually.

Ways to Raise Employee Morale

Here are some ways that you can boost employee job satisfaction at work.

1. Open communication

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to increase employee engagement is to communicate freely and frequently.

Communication is like the lifeblood of a company and when it flows freely, the whole company benefits. Keeping lines of communication open means speaking regularly to members of your team to get their feedback. It is also necessary to develop an environment where employees can feel free to voice their concerns.

It is also important to keep employees engaged and informed if there are any changes planned in business operations.

2. Celebrate milestones and create incentives

Celebrating milestones for employees is a great way to engage them with the company’s goals. You could celebrate work anniversaries by arranging a gift or a company event. Other employers have found it beneficial to celebrate reaching company benchmarks will all the employees, not just with those in higher management.

Creating an incentive program can also help to boost employee morale when they are rewarded for excellence or outstanding performance. In order for this to build morale, it should be something special. So, you could arrange a course for them, give extra days off, gift tickets to a show, or something else they wouldn’t normally do.

3. Invest in personal growth and skills

Another way to help boost employee morale is to provide coaching and training for specific areas of their job. Even if a member of staff is already capable, they could always benefit from additional training. Employees can be encouraged to talk about their goals in meetings with their team leader. This can give employers ideas on how to invest in the personal growth of their valued employees.

4. Reduce workplace stress

Stress is probably one of the biggest factors that can impact on an employee’s morale. Of course, it is important to make sure that the individual workload for some isn’t so great that it stresses them out. However, there are other ways that you can lower stress levels to boost morale.

For example, you could arrange for regular breaks where employees can have some fun. This could be an event in the office, a dress-down day, or, it could be an outing planned where everyone has the chance to let off some steam.

5. Use social media to commend employees

Social media is a great marketing tool that you can use to boost the morale of your staff. You can use posts on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to highlight exceptional performance. If the employee is willing, you could post a picture of them in their environment or showing off an accolade they have achieved.