You, too, have probably heard the quote: “The beatings will continue until morale improves.” And how true it can seem at times, right? Especially in our fast-paced, high-expectation profession. Add in an economic downturn, delayed raises/bonuses, maybe layoffs, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for the rapid downward spiral of employee morale.
Over the past few years, our agency, like many others, has encountered tremendous change. We’ve survived everything from a self-induced rebranding to the natural course of client and employee turnover—a significant recession after unprecedented growth.
And while change is sometimes a breath of fresh air, even positive changes can create anxiety, which can have a dramatic impact on everything from the mailroom to the boardroom. A negative shift in morale can cause paralysis and the inability for employees to do their best work (or even the bare minimum, for that matter).
For managers, when change is invited or cannot be avoided, the challenge of maintaining employee morale can become a very hot topic. I have had some successes—and an equal number of constructive failures—in my efforts to address morale in the workplace over the course of my career. The learnings I’ve walked away with have proven invaluable in my agency’s current effort to transition employee morale from negativity, martyrdom and cynicism to energy, enthusiasm and productivity. Following are lessons from the trenches on salvaging the spirit of your brand champions:
• Sometimes, wasting time can be the best remedy for a lack of productivity. Ironically, decreasing pressure you put on employees to “get back to work” can translate into a more productive workforce. Particularly if business is a little slow, take half the time you’d otherwise use stressing about the lull and apply it to something fun and not necessarily work-related.
Last October, in the midst of one of our busiest planning seasons, we celebrated our agency’s annual “Halloween Overreaction.” This event, which started nearly half a decade ago as a meager after-work party, has morphed into an all-day, inter-departmental skit competition. Though it halts any signs of progress for client work, it has proven to reignite a sense of internal camaraderie and company pride—two things that can do wonders for employee morale.
• Make it personal. No one likes to feel like “Employee #71.” But in the normal course of doing business, they can be made to feel like that. Make a point to publicly recognize examples of work well done and give specific kudos to those who made it all possible. A brief company-wide e-mail or a personal thank-you cupcake will do wonders.
• Share the road map for the future of the company. Disclosing your executive team’s vision for the future helps provide employees with a sense of security and purpose and allows them to envision where they fit in. Take the time to walk employees through your company’s’ five-year business plan (or whatever sort of plan you might have in place). This will make them feel engaged and more likely to become ambassadors of that plan versus complacent toward it. Though it sounds like internal communications 101, we often forget to practice what we preach.
• Let the prisoners run the prison. Share some power with employees. I’m not saying you have to consult with them on major decisions impacting the company. But when you surrender some control, you allow employees to take more ownership of how the company functions.
• Back to basics: keep your door open. Not only figuratively, but literally. Nothing deflates employee morale more than seeing the office doors of upper management closed for hours on end. Speculation starts. Rumors ignite. You get the drift.
• Create the opportunity to “do good.” Nothing makes you feel better than helping someone else, so give employees the chance to volunteer or otherwise give back…on your watch. We’ve received tremendous feedback from employees taking advantage of the yearly day off for volunteering that we launched in 2009.
• Install a venue for employee communication and bonding. Whether this be a potluck or a blog with commenting functionality, consider creating a medium for employees to interact and connect, ultimately creating a sense of community. Participate in the dialogue—you can learn a lot about the state of morale by simply piping in now and again.
• Build in some structure. When things are tough and people feel a sense of hopelessness, that dread can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Make sure there is a sense of structure to the day-in/day-out efforts of your staff, and that standard reporting, procedures, etc., are maintained. Though this might sound remedial, it gives people a sense of purpose and belonging.
• Encourage cross-training. Create the chance for employees to learn tips and skills from people who do something different from themselves within your organization. This can sometimes reenergize an employee and, in many cases, allows them to gain new skills that help them with their core job. Similarly, make sure that management is in the habit of inviting more junior team members to planning/strategy sessions (when appropriate). Ask for their input —you never know where a good idea might come from. Even if they don’t contribute, it’s still great to feel a part of the team.
• And remember, now is not the time to change for change’s sake. When employee morale—and, consequently, productivity—is low, it’s not the time for unnecessary changes, like those to a benefits plan, office hours, teams, etc. This runs the risk of causing a ripple in an employee’s sense of security and for their foundation to be rocked even more. PRN
CONTACT:
Meredith Vaughan is president of Colorado Springs, CO-based integrated communications firm Vladimir Jones (formerly PRACO). She can be reached at [email protected].