Sociologist Alexander Leighton stated “Morale is the capacity of a group of people to pull together persistently and consistently in pursuit of a common purpose” so it’s critical to invest time in developing good morale for your organisation to flourish, those that do experience much higher productivity, profitability and staff retention, decreased level of absenteeism and turnover of employee numbers as well as producing an amazing place to ‘want’ to come and work in!
With all the positive talk about the economic climate, let’s insure or teams also buy into this lift in morale while avoiding the common factors I often see causing it to dip:
- Difficult co-workers.
- Heavy workloads and/or stress.
- No recognition or reward/gratitude.
- Restructure or Layoffs
- Deplorable leadership.
- Inflexible working conditions.
- Cancellation of team benefits.
- Lack of enablement or autonomy. opposite
How frequently do you see managers turning a blind eye, or not even realising the state of morale by blaming workload pressure? Don’t wait for others, lead from the front and build your own positive attitude or outlook. ‘Positive’ thinking encourages positivity around you (negative has the same contrasting effect).
So I’ve put together some tips for you to consider:
- CONNECT WITH YOUR TEAM – Avoid hiding behind a desk or closed doors. Get out there, speak to the team, find out about personal as well as work subjects and show interest. Show presence by walking around and being approachable. Remember my earlier comment ‘No recognition’? Reward your team and this doesn’t have to cost a penny, simply making an announcement to all how well a member/team have done builds positive feelings but physical rewards work well when they’re due.
- CLARITY OF DIRECTION – Set ‘Clear’ goals. This way members ‘know’ what they should be doing or aiming for. SMART goals, yeah, I know, business spiel but it works!
- COMMUNICATION –Without clarity, rumours start, so it’s imperative that timely and accurate information is given. If there are changes being made, keep those around up to date so they can’t make their own ‘assumptions’. Remember to ‘Receive’ as well… after all, communication means “the activity of conveying information through the exchange of information”
- MAINTAIN MOTIVATION – All too often there’s a positive ‘get up and go’ approach and the following month, life’s back to normal! Know what makes your team members tick! (look into Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs). Keep up with SMART goals and stay ‘Connected’ with your team(s).
Coaching to Success understands how to help those leaders develop a positive environment and keep motivated to succeed through these times as well as supporting you along this path. If this is an area you feel you, your team or firm/company would benefit from, take that first step by speaking to someone who can help you improve morale whilst keeping you on track to reach them, after all, that’s what coaching is all about so pick up the phone to arrange a free consultation on how we can help, contact Neil (07761 187238) or throw us an email at info@coachingtosuccess.co.uk… We’re here to help.
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