Whether you understand the important connection between morale and productivity or not, you need to understand it is crucial to the smooth running of your business. In fact, it has been proven that the morale of a workforce is directly linked to their productivity and, therefore, the overall success of the business that they work for.
Keeping an already happy environment buoyant is far easier than increasing the morale of one that is deflated and negative; however, with the right approach, it can be accomplished.
#1 Offer Training
There are many benefits to be had from providing training to your employees, even if they came to you with all the right qualifications and experience – it:
- Provides you with an employee who can complete designated tasks – training your employees to perform their duties within your business will enable them to do what you asked them to do according to your specifications.
- Helps your employee understand their responsibilities – training your employees provides them with the ability to succeed in their job roles and obtain confidence in their level of expertise and knowledge.
- Providing ongoing training – this is a ‘2 for 1’ advantage as it can prove to an employee that they are seen by you as worth investing in – and that their job role within your company is safe, and, of course, this also helps their knowledge and self-confidence to grow even further.
- Embracing coaching and mentoring for your employees not only enhances their skills but also builds confidence and job satisfaction. By fostering a supportive and inclusive work environment, you leverage the benefits of coaching, leading to improved performance and a more engaged, motivated workforce.
In addition to this, it means that you have a competent employee who is happy to strive to improve their knowledge to help the company and will be able to take on board more specialist tasks.
#2 Show Career Paths
Alongside this training, you should also create clear career paths for your employees to be able to follow. This can help those who wish to progress their career stay in-house so you benefit from all the training you have previously given them while ensuring that none of your employees feel that they are stuck in a dead-end job. Promoting from within also has other benefits for your company as your employees all know and understand how your business works, who everybody is, and are totally familiar with their surroundings. This means that any ‘settling in’ period that may be required for a total newbie will be very much reduced, leaving your employee to spend their first few weeks or months purely concentrating on getting to grips with the new job role instead.
#3 Provide Adequate Benefits
You should also think long and hard about how you can protect the health and well-being of your employees. Understanding benefit packages and knowing what are employment benefits should you offer to your staff? can make the decision far easier. However, it is far better to offer too much than not enough. These benefits do not just stop at healthcare, dental, or even eyecare but can also be perceived by your employees as worthwhile perks such as offering them cinema tickets, gym memberships, or discounts.
These are not only seen as a way of encouraging new employees to join your business but can also be used to heighten the morale of those employees you already have. Of course, knowing your employees can also help provide them with a valued benefits package that they will utilize.
#4 Reward Hard Work
You should certainly reward hard work, starting with a simple ‘thank you’ as you wander around your company – especially if it has been a particularly tough working week or month. However, in the long term, you will probably need to show your appreciation in other ways. Hosting party evenings or weekend days where all of your employees can relax and enjoy a drink, and maybe a barbeque in the summer months could be something that your employees look forward to, although you need to understand that spending time with the boss – or workmates – is not everyone’s idea of a good time.
Another good way of showing appreciation is to hand out seasonal hampers to your employees as a thank you for their effort over the past quarter or so; if you are not sure what kind of hamper to offer, it is a good idea to put a selection to your workforce and ask them for their feedback on which they would like. This will save wastage or employees receiving hampers filled with items they will not use or want.
#5 Increase Resource Quality
Having poor resource quality, such as old, outdated equipment or software, can cause more frustration than perhaps even you realize when it has to be used by your employees. Frustrated employees who feel they are underperforming due to the quality of the equipment, software, or materials are likely to be far from happy about their working environment. This is because it heaps more stress upon their shoulders, slows their working times down, makes deadlines harder to hit, and makes them feel like they do not matter within their job roles – even more so if they know others have access to the top-quality resources that they need.
By providing all your employees access to the tech that they need and top-quality software, you are enabling them to complete their tasks to a superior level and proving to them that their job roles are worth the additional investment. It will certainly benefit your business as deadlines will be easier for your employees to hit, and there will be less stress and, therefore, less sickness and time off.
#6 Embrace Flexible Working Conditions
You should also embrace flexible working conditions throughout your business to help your employees get the most out of their employment and you the most out of your employees. Not all employees are able to comfortably cope with the strict regular hours that you set – although they may have been when they first started working at your company. This can be due to family commitments or dependants, or it could be that some people are just better at working earlier in the morning or later in the evening than others. Changing working conditions to embrace flexible working arrangements could see your workforce’s morale soar, and their productivity also improve as a result.
