8 Ways to Boost Employee Morale And Skyrocket Productivity

Employee morale refers to an employee’s attitude and feelings towards their employer, organization, and workplace.

Imagine a workplace where the ambiance is thick with enthusiasm, where employees come together like a symphony, creating harmonious rhythms of innovation and productivity. This magical atmosphere is a result of high employee morale.

The impalpable force propels any individual to achieve excellence, the company’s heartbeat, a rhythm that knits the team together and leads to positive attitudes, higher job satisfaction, increased productivity, better teamwork, and lower turnover rates.

Nurturing such a magical symphony of achievements requires consistent effort where employees are recognized and rewarded, where communication flows like melody, and where diversity and inclusion aren’t just buzzwords but living principles.

Common Issues Causing Low employee morale

Several reasons may cause low morale in employees: 

• Consistent negative attitudes can foster an unfavorable atmosphere and lower workplace morale.
• Poor communication and lack of clear instructions lead to misunderstandings. It can make employees feel unstable and unsure.
• An organization’s failure to build trust in employees can make them less invested in the organization, thus impacting employee morale.
• Regular leaves indicate discontent and burnout, impacting team dynamics and productivity.
• Lack of teamwork and collaboration yields a drop in productivity.
• Disengagement, unclear expectations, or feeling undervalued can lead to missed deadlines and strained relationships within the team.
• Dishonesty and engaging in gossip and rumor raise unnecessary conflicts and sap the overall vitality of the workspace.
• Lack of motivation, engagement, reward, and respect also affect employee morale.

Here are a few strategies to help boost employee morale within the organization:

Recognition

Recognizing an employee’s effort makes any individual vested in the company; it shows that their hard work is acknowledged and valued. Feeling appreciated brings a sense of self-worth and satisfaction, making employees more likely to feel engaged, committed, and driven to excel.

Actionable Steps: 

Several key steps can be taken to establish a culture of consistent recognition within a workplace, including-

• Setting clear expectations and ensuring that employees comprehend their roles in the company.
• Can have open channel communications where managers and other employees can engage in frequent discussions and performance evaluations.
• A timely acknowledgment, tailored appreciation, and coworker recognition and gratitude for noteworthy accomplishments create a feeling of inclusion that fosters employee morale.
• Encouraging employees to share opinions on recognition practices and taking measures as per their feedback.
• Evaluating all the significant and minor recognition strategies and routine commendations reinforces the notion that hard work is consistently noticed.

Follow these steps to help you get started with boosting employees’ morale by recognizing their hard work and efforts.

Efficient Communication

Efficient communication channels the workplace into an arena where honesty is the sole approach. When employees feel that their every small effort gets noticed, they feel respected and included; it energizes their morale.

Regular team gatherings, a refined and employee-friendly approach, help employees feel that their concerns matter and may spark a flame that propels morale.

Actionable Steps:

• Organizing transparent team meetings regularly where all employees can share updates, confront challenges, and propose suggestions.
• Mechanisms like suggestion boxes for giving anonymous input while providing feedback allow the employees to raise their concerns without fear, boosting morale.
• Empowering employees by considering their opinions while making important decisions.

Implement these strategies to encourage efficient communication within the organization.

Employee Gifting

Showing gratitude and recognition through tangible gifts can positively impact employees’ sense of value, satisfaction, and commitment. It can improve engagement and morale and amplify productivity. An adept execution of employee gifting isn’t just a giveaway; it fortifies their connection to the company.

Actionable Steps:

Here are a few steps to strategize ‘employee gifting’ to effectively boost employee morale

• A gift as a token of appreciation for their hard work makes them feel appreciated and acknowledged for their contributions.
• The gift can be thoughtful or personalized; it establishes an emotional connection that brings a sense of loyalty and belonging. 
• The employees’ diverse cultural and religious backgrounds should be considered before gifting.
• Open communication about the gift may add authenticity to the gesture
• Regularly review the results of employee gifting and make adjustments considering feedback
• Be aware of the tax or any other legal implications with employee gifting.
• If you want to save time and find unique ideas for employee gifting, you can use software like Snappy and SnackNation. Snappy has an extensive collection of gift ideas and always updates them according to the latest trends and data. It allows sending gifts from Amazon, BestBuy, and other popular e-commerce platforms. SnackNation allows customizing snacking for employee preferences. You can create a unique mix of snacks to meet every employee’s tastes.

Following these, employee gifting would be executed well and foster a positive workplace culture.

Employee Feedback

Feedback is often uncomfortable and challenging for the receiver, creating tension among managers and employees. But it always plays a crucial role in catching where the company falls behind internally.

When employees are given the opportunity to provide feedback, it creates a sense of inclusion. It makes them feel that their opinions matter, leading to a stronger connection to the organization and its goals.

Actionable Steps:

Several steps can be taken to build a feedback-driven culture effectively-

• Open lines of communication through regular team meetings and one-on-one discussions where employees can express their thoughts, ideas, and concerns profoundly impact organizational outcomes.
• Acknowledge and celebrate when an employee gives positive and constructive feedback that helps grow the business.
• Employees have an internal vantage point that allows them to identify issues that might not be readily apparent to leadership. These issues, even minor, must be corrected before they become significant.
• Establish a culture where positive feedback is actively encouraged and recognized, commending the employees who consistently provide valuable insights.
• Ensure that the feedback loop is closed by taking actionable steps based on the received feedback and also keep the meaningful outcomes transparent; it will encourage continued participation. 
• Documenting feedback received and actions taken can help in tracking the progress
• If the feedback is given anonymously, maintaining confidentiality is essential unless there are legal or ethical reasons to disclose it.
• You can use employee survey tools to collect feedback from your employees. SurveyMonkey is one such tool that has a library of templates and customizable surveys. The platform provides AI-driven insights and is used by brands like Uber and Harvard University.

In short, treating feedback with respect, attentiveness, and a commitment to improvement can lead to increased trust, better communication, and employee morale.

Skill Management

Skill management is a way to boost employee morale by helping them develop their skills and feel more confident and happy in their roles. Imagine you have a screwdriver tool kit where each screwdriver is different from others and made for different shapes of screws.

Using the right screwdriver (skills) for the right screw (job) for which it is built is essential. Similarly, skill management involves identifying what skills are needed, helping employees improve those skills, and recognizing their efforts.

Actionable Steps:

Here is how to do it-

• It is crucial to figure out which skill is needed for individuals to make them feel more confident in their roles.
• Provide training and resources to help employees improve their skills through workshops, online courses, or offline training.
• Set specific and achievable goals for skill improvement to have a time-bound measurement of the progress.
• Encourage employees to implement their new skills and get them to use them better.
• Giving support and guidance, offering feedback, and recognizing and rewarding their growing effort makes them feel capable and valued.
• You can use skill management platforms to empower your employees. Muchskills help organizations manage and offer valuable insights into employees’ skills, interests, certifications, etc.

Skill management boosts employees’ confidence and makes things easier for them. It makes them better at their job and more content overall.

Bridging Gap

Bridging the gap to improve employee morale means reducing the differences or misunderstandings that might be causing dissatisfaction at work. Imagine you and your friend find yourselves on opposite ends of a broken bridge.

Strengthening your relationship requires repairing the bridge to reconnect. Likewise, disparities between employees and the company can impact morale within a workplace. Bridging this gap entails resolving these disparities to enhance overall happiness and unity.

Actionable Steps:

Here are a few steps that you can follow to implement this approach effectively-

• Firstly, finding the specific gaps affecting employee morale should be the priority. Generally, this gap forms through communication, workload, recognition, career growth, or any other aspect of the workplace.
• Seek employee input using surveys, meetings, or suggestion boxes to grasp their concerns and viewpoints.
• Analyze their suggestions and feedback and identify the most common things or areas of misalignment between employee expectations and the existing workplace environment.
• Make sure employees know what’s expected of them, give clear job descriptions, guidance, and what changes you want to make
• Hold regular team meetings or newsletters to keep everyone informed about company news, keep talking to them, and update them on what is happening.
• Address the concerns genuinely and be flexible to make changes based on employees’ needs, like allowing flexible working hours. 
• Keep gathering feedback on whether the changes work well with the employees by organizing follow-up surveys.
• Offer training and mentorship, providing workshops for employees to perform their tasks better.

Bridging the gap between what employees want and what the workplace offers makes the workplace more fulfilling and more enjoyable.

Invest in Growth and Development

Like the seed needs water and sunlight to be a strong and healthy plant, investing in growth and development can significantly enhance morale in the workplace. Observing the organization’s devotion to their individual and career development, they become more immersed, content, and inspired.

Actionable Steps:

Here’s how to implement this strategy effectively:

• First, identify employees’ strengths and weaknesses through discussions, surveys, or assessments and also take suggestions from employees about what skills they want to develop.
• Provide opportunities by offering workshops, courses, seminars, or on-the-job training and create a learning culture.
• Set goals aligning with both individual career aspirations and the organization’s objectives.
• Provide mentorship, coaching, and resources like books, online courses, or videos to grow better.
• Give them regular feedback to help employees improve and reach their development goals. 
• Use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure and evaluate progress and recognize and reward those employees who have shown growth through promotions, salary increases, or any other form of special recognition.

Investing in employees’ growth and advancement represents a strategic, enduring approach that elevates morale and enhances employee retention and overall organizational prosperity.

Training Team Leaders 

Competent leadership significantly influences the formation of employees’ experiences and their overall job satisfaction.

When team leaders have the skills to manage and support their teams effectively, they can create a more positive and supportive work environment. It is another useful, valuable approach to improve employee morale, making everyone happier and more successful.

Actionable Steps:

Here are a few steps you can consider to take this approach to improve employee morale-

• Determine the skills, efficiencies, and qualities the team leader needs to lead and motivate the team throughout the journey. It may include communication, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence.
• Develop a comprehensive training initiative encompassing the recognized skills and attributes through workshops, seminars, role-playing exercises, and interactive sessions.
• The training program should be specific, practical, and tailored to the needs of the particular leaders.
• May hire qualified and experienced trainers or mentors who can add value by presenting real-world challenges other than theoretical knowledge.
• Organize group training where leaders can share their experiences, learn from other’s mistakes, and make it more participatory so that they can encourage each other.

Final Words

Boosting employee morale leads to happy and productive employees, which is a key to any business’s success. With the right tools and strategies, you can create a work culture that appreciates, engages, and promotes employee morale.

You can go through the steps mentioned in the article to implement strategies to boost employee morale. But remember, it’s an ongoing process that requires consistent effort and adjustment with time and employee feedback. 

You may also explore some best employee experience platforms for a positive workplace.