Five Tips For Boosting Employee Morale

The research that positively correlates workplace morale with employee efficiency is extensive and well documented. Any business consultant will tell you that a happy workforce is a more productive one. Despite the trend being near common knowledge many employers still neglect to employ morale boosting techniques and encourage a more productive workplace.

The fact is an expensive business consultant isn’t necessary to raise employee morale and neither are grand gestures or costly schemes. Here are five simple, inexpensive techniques instead – perhaps give them a try in your workplace!

1. Food

They say a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. In fact, there aren’t many people who’d be upset by an offering of free food! A round of pastries on a Friday to round the week off or a business lunch to break up those arduous Mondays can really give staff a lift.

2. Stash

Free clothing is another simple way to keep people in high spirits. By giving out a t-shirt every few months emblazoned with the company logo, not only are staff getting something for nothing, they can also wander round advertising your firm to whoever they come into contact with outside of work!

3. Engage In Conversation

If an employee feels undervalued, forgotten or out of place he or she is unlikely to perform to their potential. As a firm’s director try to speak with as many employees as possible, not only to keep them interested and let them know they are valued but to gauge their opinions on how the place is run. Moreover, act on these opinions, particularly if there is a common theme. If everyone feels the office is too warm, for example, turn the heating down!

4. Team Work

Left to their own devices, most people will slowly dwindle until they are moving at snail’s pace. By encouraging team work and collaboration, employees almost become self-regulating, keeping each other on their toes. Organise workloads in such a way that encourages collaboration and gets active minds exchanging ideas.

5. Competitions

Most people have an element of competition in them, some even a burning desire to win. By running competitions every so often not only are you allowing employees a break from their daily tasks, you are stoking their willingness to succeed.

The competitions could be charitable – ‘who can raise the most money?’ for example, or work related – ‘come up with a new slogan for our next ad campaign’. Who wins isn’t always important, but encouraging participation keeps staff on their toes and encourages competitiveness – something essential to success.

So there we have it. Five simple morale boosting techniques that you might like to try in the office next week. You might be surprised at how effective they are!