Employee morale is an area that’s often overlooked by so many businesses. Yet, there are astounding documented benefits to be had from putting in the work to increase it.
It’s so powerful that it can improve your employees’ performance, reduce sick time and absenteeism, increase quality, and boost low retention numbers. However, you do need to go about it the right way.
1. Give praise when it’s due
You should make sure that you give your employees praise when it’s due. Making your workforce feel valued is the least you can do, and it often doesn’t take a lot.
Take the time to press the flesh and say thank you to each of your employees in turn. If you feel a bit embarrassed about doing this, then offer them a company swag item at the same time.
Make sure that the item you choose will be well received and used, eaten, or drunk by the recipient. Do this on a regular basis and your workforce will soon start pulling behind you and will feel more content when they’re at work.
2. Ensure payroll is correct and on time
With your workforce putting themselves out for you and your business, you really need to make sure that they’re paid correctly and on time.
The payroll time of the month is never as happy as it could be due to the stress of getting all the paperwork completed and figures checked on time. However, this can be made far easier with specialized software for HR.
This software will help keep track of any pay increases, overtime worked, vacations, or sick time taken, as well as taxes that are due, and will certainly provide your HR team with welcomed assurance that they can do their job a lot faster than they could without it.
3. Keep everyone well informed
Communication can be the key to everything, so it’s important that you free up information about your company to your employees.
Your employees dedicate a lot of their time to your business, so passing on information, even if it’s via your managers rather than directly from you, will be gladly received.
This information should be about how the business is doing, what work is coming up, any issues that have been raised, and most importantly, how your workforce has performed.
You should make sure that you remove the stigma of employees being too far down the payroll to know about things as every decision taken within a business ultimately affects every single one of them, and possibly more so than it does you.
So, to wrap it all up
It doesn’t take much effort or investment to increase the morale of a workforce, but it may take time. For the sake of your business, you should take this time and embrace the workforce that you have.
Encourage them to feel good about themselves and about the work that they do for your business.
Fill them with pride, and make them feel like they’re a valuable part of your business, because, at the end of the day, you need to think what your business would be without them.
