Boosting Employee Morale

Keeping your employees engaged can be a struggle, especially if you’re trying to get back to pre-COVID levels of morale. Higher morale often leads to increased output from your workers, higher employee retention, and an overall happier environment to work in. There are a few ways that you can boost morale in your small business:

• Treat employees fairly and consistently and with respect
• Provide frequent employee recognition
• Let employees be in charge of their actions and make decisions about their jobs and how to solve customer problems
• Offer fair— even above average — compensation and benefits

To get started, try focusing on these areas below.

 

Communication is Key

One of the best ways to both find out what isn’t working and what is working is with good and regular communication. Be sure to share company announcements and anything else that would pertain to your employees or their work. Ask their input on co-workers, any challenges they are facing, and whether or not they are happy at work.

Additionally, always be transparent in communications sent out to employees. Get employee feedback often as studies have shown that a disengaged workforce can lose a company lots of business. A way to keep them engaged is offering a way to climb the ladder or some other form of employee growth.

 

Don’t Skip on Continued Training

Train managers in emotional intelligence, communication, and all other different leadership styles. Managers or leadership can have the greatest impact on morale and engagement, so investing time into them is a good way to curb low enthusiasm. If employees can trust and rely on leadership, morale will often be higher. Managers can organize team building activities by getting people together, being a problem-solver, and enhancing creativity — all of which can be more conducive to high morale. The Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network regularly offers training on leadership and other topics and provides those recordings for future viewing here: https://wyomingsbdc.org/training/.

 

Avoid Burnout

Another good way to keep the innovations and creativity coming is to encourage breaks for your employees. Staying inside and at the same location is not great for creative thinking. Encourage employees to use break time — whether it be lunch time or little breaks here and there — to keep those creative juices flowing. It is recommended that there be a specific place designated for breaks, or at least a place where the employee can get away from the desk.

 

Help is Available

If you are looking for help with implementing some of the aforementioned ideas, the Wyoming SBDC Network is available at no cost to entrepreneurs in our state. We can help you come up with ways to improve morale that are tailored to your workforce. Contact your local Wyoming SBDC Network advisor for no-cost, confidential assistance with this topics and many others by clicking here.

 

About the Author: Rob has experience in commercial banking, Accounting Systems, and he speaks Spanish. As someone who loves seeing small businesses succeed, Rob enjoys the journey a small business takes from start to finish. When he is not on the road or meeting with clients, Rob enjoys spending time with his family and enjoying the outdoors, hunting, or fishing.