Five Easy Ways to Boost Employee Morale

Celebrate the achievements of your team members to boost morale and retain key employees. The happiness and well being of your employees corresponds directly with productivity, absenteeism costs, turnover and the overall culture of your workplace. Do you find that your employees become easily unmotivated or have low spirits? Sometimes the day-to-day grind can become monotonous. It is important for your company to make sure your employees are interested and appreciated for their work. To avoid losing key employees, and incurring mental health related absence costs, we would like to share 5 tips to boost employee morale in your workplace.

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1. Make the workplace comfortable

Comfort goes beyond aesthetics and ergonomic furniture. Making small adjustments to your lighting scheme or opening blinds to let in some natural light can make a huge impact on employee's energy levels.  Try to avoid having desks face walls and instead have employees facing windows if possible, or another co-worker to encourage teamwork throughout the day.  Be sure to keep the temperature at a comfortable level, and ensure that your employees have the tools they need to do their job. A bonus comfort idea would be to have a supply of coffee and tea's available for consumption, in case someone is struggling with fatigue in the mornings.  They will be grateful for the caffeine boost, and less likely to be absent or unproductive.

2. Encourage Work Breaks

Sometimes people might think the work day will go faster, or they will get more done if they work through their breaks. On the contrary, taking breaks helps avoid burnout and work goes by quicker when you are feeling refreshed and can come back to an assignment with a fresh perspective. If the weather is nice, encourage a walk around the block, or taking a lunch outside if you have outdoor eating areas available. Breaks encourage stepping away from the computer screen and interacting with fellow employees.

3. Recognize and reward employees for good work

It is commonly misconceived that a raise is the only way to show recognition for a "job well done". While employees most certainly appreciate raises there are other ways to ensure your employees are aware you appreciate their work on a regular basis.  If you are particularly impressed with an employee's good work, write a hand written note or verbally acknowledge in person. If you hold monthly team meetings, be sure to highlight individual accomplishments as well as team accomplishments. Not only is it important for employees to receive recognition from their superiors, but their co-workers as well.  In larger organizations an employee of the month recognition or "wall of fame" program offers incentives to other staff members to increase their productivity.

4. Celebrate birthdays and special accomplishments

When employees know that their manager is aware that they have lives outside of work, it makes them feel like a valued member of the team rather than just an anonymous worker.  Most employees appreciate it when their managers, supervisors and co-workers remember their birthdays or acknowledge events such as having a child, weddings and accomplishments of the employee or employee's children. If you have a reason to celebrate-do it!  Bring in coffee or a treat to celebrate, have co-workers sign greeting cards to celebrate occasions or have monthly celebrations gathering employees for a company lunch(i.e. ordering in pizza, Swiss Chalet, Chinese Food, Sandwiches etc).If you are a smaller business consider stepping out of the office for a couple hours to have lunch elsewhere.

5. Encourage Connection

Employees want to work with people that they can relate to, and feel comfortable spending the workday with.  Encourage short discussions, and ask about family, weekend plans, hobbies, interests, TV shows that you watched last night etc.  Taking the time to have a casual one-on-one to ask how someone is doing is a great way to have a brief check in with your employees.  It's less formal and shows you really care.  We also recommend conducting the Clifton's Strength Finder exercise. This activity is a great way to discover one another's strengths and learn from one another. The test is done individually but you can chart the results after to showcase each employee's top 5 strengths.  This is a positive motivator and the results help employee's understand their coworkers' behaviours and personalities.

Bonus Tip!--Have fun!

At Clear Path we believe "that what is fun gets done".  We view life as a journey to be enjoyed and appreciated.  Once in a while throw an office celebration to get everyone together outside of the workplace. Whether it is a holiday party at the end of the year, summer BBQ, celebrating a corporate milestone or potluck lunches. This gives an opportunity for employees to socialize with their coworkers outside of the office.  Employee's participating as a group and fundraising for a charity is also a great way to have fun and work together.

Looking for more information on boosting employee morale? Check out 8 things your employees need most via Inc.com.

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