Morale and a sense of team spirit are essential to maintaining a happy workforce. Unless you work entirely on your own, having contended work colleagues is an integral part of keeping your business running effectively and ensuring your staff are performing at optimal levels.
Whether you’re a business owner, manager or team leader the happiness of your staff has a dramatic effect on their overall productivity and sense of contentment being at work.
It’s a well-proven fact, happy employees make for more productive and efficient workers. Here are just a few ways you can build morale in the workplace.
Be transparent, open and honest
Nobody likes feeling they’re being lied to, so be as open as possible with your colleagues. If there are problems within the workplace, let your team know – otherwise, you can be sure they’ll pick up a general vibe and sense something is wrong. It’s best to be completely honest with your team so you can address any issues head-on, together. If you’ve received customer feedback (positive or negative), discuss it with your staff and either congratulate them for a job well done or find ways to fix the problems. Your workers will be far more proactive if they have a better idea of what’s expected of them. They are also far more likely to offer you support and work together as a team if they’re aware of what the problems are.
Encourage out of work activities
Most people spend more time at their job than they do with their friends or family, so it’s a good idea to try and build in-work friendships where possible. All work and no play was never good for anyone, so think about organising fun, extra-curricular activities. It might be as simple as taking your team to lunch every fortnight – or an after-work beer on a Friday. Anything that makes them feel valued as a person rather than just an employee can work wonders on a person’s sense of belonging. Embedding a sense of team spirit in your work colleagues and encouraging team bonding through out-of-work activities will make your staff feel they’re all pulling towards the same goals. It will also widen your (and their) friendship circle and can help staff build a bond that goes way beyond just their job
Prioritise your employees – and let them see how important they are
If your staff feel valued in your company, they are much more likely to work constructively and productively for you. Moreover, if they feel they have a voice in the running of the business, they will feel as though they’re not just working for you – but rather that they’re making a positive contribution to the overall success of the company. Remember, no matter how well you feel you designed your internal processes, the people on the ground doing these tasks day in, day out will probably have their own ideas about how things could be improved. Hold regular team meetings and encourage everyone to contribute – and be sure to ask open-ended questions to encourage your staff to offer their ideas. Consider adding a suggestions box if you have particularly shy or quiet staff to ensure everyone feels like they’re contributing.
