HR and Recruiting

What businesses can do to improve employee morale

What-businesses-can-do-to-improve-employee-morale
Written by Guest Contributor

Any good business prides themselves on the great talent that they attract to their company. New hires are eager for success and the hard work that they put in reflects that willingness to go the extra mile. However, the glow of a new job can fade and employees can find themselves feeling burnt out, which can lead to disengagement and dissatisfaction in their role. Keeping employees engaged and motivated is important because it not only boosts their morale but leads to higher productivity in the workplace.

Show them their value

When looking to manage employee performance in the workplace, the first and arguably most important step in keeping employees engaged is to show them that they are valued within the company. By praising an employee’s accomplishments both inside and outside of the workplace, employers show that they have a vested interest in their continued success. This also helps employees to feel like they are an active, important part of a larger system instead of simply feeling like a replaceable cog in a machine.

Showing employees their value to the company goes far beyond just telling them that they are doing a good job when warranted. Employers can also recognize their staff in more personal ways such as taking the time to congratulate them on their anniversary with the company, making a point to celebrate their birthday and even offering them a day off if they have achieved a momentous goal outside of work. The idea that a business is a family is thrown around quite often, but if employers actually take the time to show their staff that they see them as people and not just employees, it starts to become the reality.

One of the best ways to show employees that their skills and work within the company are highly valued is through compensation. Employees that feel like they are being fairly compensated are far more engaged than employees that feel underpaid. Obviously, employers need to be judicious when determining wages, but exemplary employees should be rewarded monetarily for a job well done lest they start looking at other employment opportunities where the grass seems a bit greener.

Keep communication open

Another fantastic way to keep employees engaged at work is to ensure that the company promotes honest and open internal communication. When employees feel comfortable coming to management with ideas, questions, or even complaints, knowing that they will actually be heard and acknowledged, it can completely change their outlook on their workday. Employees remain far more engaged when they feel like they are an active participant in their workplace and that their opinions and ideas are seen as valid.

Employers should also recognize that not all employees like to communicate the same way. Improving communication at work means having multiple avenues for employees to reach their supervisors and managers, whether that be in person through the implementation of an open-door policy or simply being available through email, text, or a work-based messaging service. This increases engagement and productivity by allowing the employee to have any of their concerns or ideas addressed promptly instead of being shelved or told that they will be brought up in a meeting at a later date.

Keeping communications within a business open and consistent not only increases engagement but fosters the development of stronger company culture. Strong company culture in many ways revolves around good communication, and both serve to increase employee engagement through inclusion. Employees that know that they can come forward and communicate without any issue are more likely to develop pride and a sense of ownership of their position within a company, increasing their engagement, job satisfaction, and overall productivity.

Encourage cooperative work

While open communication and showing an employee their value to a business are fantastic ways to keep staff engages at work, it should also be noted that developing a strong sense of camaraderie and community in the workplace is also the key to increased engagement. Employees spend a huge amount of time at work and if they don’t feel as though they belong there in a social sense then they can take a huge hit to their engagement.

Employees that have a solid relationship with their coworkers tend to be more collaborative, produce better work, and are less likely to accept an outside job offer. When employees feel socially accepted in their workplace and are encouraged to collaborate and work together, they have resources outside of HR to help them manage stress and can feel as though they have someone that has their back at work. This bolsters the company culture overall and increases engagement as it creates a work environment that employees actually look forward to because they have legitimate social relationships within it.

However, it is important that while employers do encourage their staff to cooperate and intermingle socially that they still encourage independent thought within the group dynamic. It can be far too easy for workgroups to enter a positive feedback loop with one another without stepping up and making sure that their individual opinions are heard. Successful businesses are able to find a balance between collaborative efforts and individual accomplishments, both of which work to prevent employee disengagement in their own way.

Employee disengagement can put a serious damper on businesses. All of the hard work that a business does in acquiring talented workers goes out the window if those workers then become disengaged and disaffected at work. The solution is to make work a place that they genuinely enjoy by recognizing their value, ensuring that they know that they can communicate with their supervisors, and to encourage and foster a company culture that inspires employees to develop social relationships.

About the Author:
Maggie Potter is a blogger from the Pacific Northwest. She loves writing on a variety of topics from technology to lifestyle. When she isn’t writing you can find her traveling far and wide or reading a good book.

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Guest Contributor