As a manager or employer, you need to learn strategies to improve employee morale and increase productivity. Even the best company will occasionally suffer from a drop in employee morale. It is then necessary to use cost-effective means to make employees happy again as quickly as possible so that they work more productively and constructively. Only a satisfied employee is a motivated worker.

 

Tips for improving employee morale

 

- All employees want to be treated with respect, even if they behave disrespectfully towards their superiors. Impatience, anger and reprimanding the employee in front of his colleagues leads to even more dissatisfaction, because basically every worker feels misunderstood and treated unfairly, even if he himself is in the wrong. In addition, anyone who sees their superior losing their patience will have less respect.

- Managers should show interest in their employees and give them the feeling that each employee's personal background is important. As a manager, you should take an interest in losses in the family as well as new additions to the family or milestones in the employee's life.

- Every employee should be given responsibility for making decisions within their area of responsibility, no matter how small. This makes them feel that they are taken seriously and see their job as "their workplace".

- The working environment should be pleasant. Sufficient lighting, the right room temperature and cleanliness are just the minimum. Employees should be given the opportunity to personalise their workspace. Where appropriate, employees should also be allowed to listen to the radio, perhaps even donating it themselves as a manager to earn points.

- Even the lowest-ranking employee has a right to politeness, which includes "please" and "thank you" as well as holding the door open, etc.

- A relaxed meeting should be organised at regular intervals to thank the workers for their commitment and efforts.

- Christmas is usually a good opportunity for a joint dinner in a restaurant for all employees. This can be seen as a personal thank you from the company.

- As a manager, you should always represent the interests of your employees and stand behind them. Even though customer satisfaction is important, the employee needs to know that the company is on their side. If necessary, the manager should act as a buffer between the customer and the employee.

- Clear instructions and prioritisation are important for satisfaction so that no misunderstandings arise and the worker has the opportunity to meet their boss's expectations.

- The worst thing for morale is retrenchment and redundancies. If there is no other choice, the reasons should be discussed with the employees together with sincere regret. The manager can convey that by cutting jobs as a necessity, the remaining jobs will be saved.

 

Motivating your employees basically only requires empathy, empathising with their position and good manners; all qualities that a good manager should have anyway. Experience has shown that a salary increase has little effect as a motivating factor. The salary increase usually achieves its desired effect to a particularly productive phase of work as a reward.