Workplace morale can have a huge influence on the performance of your employees. This year has dealt a major blow to worker morale in organisations across Australia. In addition to people’s concerns about their health, many are worried about their job security, income, lost holidays and reduced social opportunities. All this can weigh on a person’s mindset which they take with them to the workplace.
But there are things employers can do to improve morale and reap the benefits of a happy workforce. They don’t need to be expensive if you use a dash of creativity.
#1 Game Day
It’s a great team building exercise to enjoy each other’s company around a ping pong or pool table, air hockey or outdoor games like lawn bowls or finska. If there’s no room for games, you can dress up the organisation with a theme such as Grand Final Day or Christmas. Award a prize to the most creative team with the best dressed workstations. If working in lockdown, then online meetings and games can be a real mood improver. Set up trivia quizzes or riddles to engage your team.
#2 Unlimited Leave
In recent years, a small number of companies have trialled unlimited leave and their employees are loving it. This means they get the standard paid 20 days per year, but can add to this with unlimited unpaid leave. Taking the amount of holiday leave an employee feels they need is paying dividends for some organisations. They are reporting happier staff doing more productive work in a workplace with strengthened culture.
If unlimited leave is a stretch for some organisations, they can offer a day off to enjoy their birthday, doona days if staff feel they need a rest or a few days above the minimum 20 days.
Extra days of leave holidays can be expensive, so it may be a better alternative to give staff the option to buy extra days leave. This allows employees to spend more time with kids on their school holidays or take longer trips away.
#3 Get to Know Your Colleagues
Most people spend more time with colleagues than they do with friends and extended family members. Colleagues often know considerable amounts about each other’s personal life, but these events are rarely recognised.
Organisations could spend more time recognising personal milestones to make an employee feel valued. Something as simple as a handwritten note can make someone’s day. Congratulate staff on a milestone wedding anniversary or send a good luck note if their child is sitting the end of school exams, a special birthday, a big holiday. Often it’s the little, kind gestures that mean a lot.
#4 Bring Your Family to Work Day
So many children don’t know where mum or dad go every day. Young children understand they leave home to go to work, but they have no concept of what a workplace looks like. By having a family day, children and grandchildren can come in for a tour and to sit in mum or dad’s chair. You can include children’s entertainment and lunch. It gives staff an opportunity to introduce family members to their colleagues.
#5 Ask Employees What they Want
Some companies have management teams that think they know what their employees want in their workplace. Or management’s perception of the workplace culture is vastly different to reality. And the gaping disconnect can hurt morale.
By sending a survey or putting up a suggestion box, you’re giving employees the opportunity to have a say or make a difference to their workplace. Empowering staff to provide their opinion and suggestions can escalate staff morale.
#6 Celebrate Work Anniversaries
A person’s commitment to an organisation should be celebrated. You don’t need to wait until a staff member has been there for a decade to show your appreciation. A note from a manager at the end of a probation period, a certificate after 12 months and an organisation wide event each year to celebrate long term anniversaries shows staff you care about the commitment and contributions they’ve made.
The type of initiatives your workplace implements will depend on several factors. Take into account the age and personality type of your employees. If the majority of your staff are millennials, they will want to do different activities to older team members.
If you aren’t sure what staff might like to do, set up a small committee of employees to get their assistance and buy-in. Ask them to talk to their colleagues or gain the feedback more formally with a survey and request ideas. The time spent improving staff morale today can pay dividends now and well into the future.
If you need assistance to help boost morale in your workplace, contact one of the experts at PeopleSense by Altius on 1300 307 912 or (08) 9388 9000, or contact us online.