You would be surprised at how low morale can affect a business, and if yours is struggling, you are going to want to try everything that you can in order to save it. Working on your employee’s morale can improve production rates and quality standards, which in itself can improve both your reputation and profit margins.
There are some very simple methods that you can use to increase your employee’s morale, and you may be able to turn your failing business into a successful one with just a few changes to the way in which your employees work.
Invest in training
If you are finding that your employees are suffering from low morale, then showing that you are looking out for them is certainly a positive move. Investing in their training can boost morale and increase employee confidence in themselves and each other’s capabilities. Mentoring and buddying can also improve the general mood of your employees as they will feel like they have someone to turn to rather than being left to fend for themselves or panic that they don’t know what they are doing.
While training should be an ongoing part of your business, it is important to make sure that the job roles move in tandem with the information or knowledge that has been gained. Learning additional information that will never be required or used by that particular member of staff is pointless and can make the employee feel like they are not performing well enough to progress any further.
On the other hand, having them apply and use the knowledge that they have gained and improving their user provisioning is likely to not only imprint the knowledge firmly in their brain but also improve their own self-image and importance within your business.
Offer remote and hybrid working to office staff
In order to make your office employees happier, you could offer them the opportunity to work either on a remote or hybrid basis. This will allow them to redefine a work/life balance that could suit them rather than them having to be on site every working day. Allowing your office workers to work in this way can mean that they get more rest, which will certainly improve their moods while removing them from a negative environment could encourage them to focus on their work rather than unhelpful gossip.
Of course, you will have to make sure that there are communication links for them to take advantage of to ensure that they have all of the information that they require to perform their working roles, regardless of whether they are working in the office or at home.
Offer personal working patterns for on site workers
Having the majority of your office workers working remotely or even as hybrid workers is not going to do much for the morale of those workers who have to work on site, so you will need to address their needs as well. You can do this in a number of different ways.
Shift work
For instance, you can offer the many benefits of shift work. This could help employees that have dependants at home or need to work around a spouse or partner. Some people are naturally early birds, and working a 6 am to 2 pm shift would sit better with them than a more regular 8 am to 4 pm working day.
Flexitime
As an alternative to this, you could offer them the chance to work flexible hours. This could help with those that have to perform school runs either in the morning or the afternoon, as they will be able to start at a time that suits them and finish when they have completed their working hours for that day or week, depending on how you are thinking of working your flexi hour period.
