Eliminating Low Morale Before it Spreads

Your organization depends on the ability of employees to work to their fullest potential and strive for continual growth. As long as you have a great company culture with positive employees, they usually put forth this effort. However, when negativity creeps into your workplace it causes low morale, derails productivity, and can decrease cooperation among even your most productive workers.  Because low morale has the potential to move from one worker to another like the common cold, it’s important that you speak to unmotivated employees as soon as you notice their behavior.  Minimize the potential for office-wide negativity by using these tips to speak with employees that aren’t giving 100%.

Clearly Communicate What They Should be Accomplishing and Why.
Often the underlying issue of a demotivated employee is that they are uninformed.  Being in a management role, it’s easy to assume that all of your employees share the same goals and intentions as you do.  You discuss your goals among your peers and supervisors in management meetings, but remember that your whole team isn’t at those meetings.  If you feel that an employee seems disconnected, take the time to have a talk with them and make sure they know what tasks you need them to accomplish and why.  The “why” is key here.  “Why” enables people to make educated choices in how to accomplish their day to day work because they can see how it effects the organization as a whole.  If employees can see the big picture, they’ll set goals and can measure their effort.

Get them Involved.
A person is more motivated to succeed at the things they personally choose to attempt.  Knowing this, you should make sure employees are involved in choosing team goals and making decisions.  At very least, you should involve them in the decision plan on how to achieve the goals.  Involvement in decisions will generate personal buy-in and positivity.  This technique is often used by NFL coaches.  Even though they spend countless hours watching game films and looking for both their team and competitors’ weaknesses, they also involve their team in deciding the best way to win.  They know that no matter how much film they watch, they aren’t the ones on the field playing the game.  This relates back to the office in that the employees who are in the midst of the day to day action can have different perspectives than their managers who are merely near the action.  If you don’t take their perspectives into account, they’ll feel like nobody is listening to them and low morale will ensue.

Explain the Rules.
Giving employees a task without rules or parameters can be the main ingredient in the recipe for low office morale.  Ever spent countless hours working on a project only to be told you need to change direction because of guidelines you were never informed about?  If so, you know how frustrating and demoralizing it feels.  If you find out this is the cause of an employee’s frustration, be upfront and apologetic with them.  Don’t lie and try to act like they should have known the rules.  Lying will place a burden on your relationship with the employee and cause distrust not only between you and that employee, but among the entire team.  If you find out parameters weren’t clearly communicated in the beginning, communicate them now and offer any assistance you can to get the project back on track as quickly as possible. This may mean bringing on more team members or getting an extension on the project deadline.

Ask the Employee About their Personal Goals.
Successful leaders know what keeps each person that works for them coming to work each day.  They make sure those reasons are fulfilled and help employees articulate their future goals.  If an employee isn’t giving 100% effort, it usually means there is a disconnection in the work they’re doing and their personal goals.  Have a chat with the employee and try to find out what the underlying cause is.  Understanding what the disconnect is enables you, as a manager, to see things in the same perspective as the employee.  You’ll be able to talk their language and realign responsibilities to the person’s area of interest.  It’s as simple as finding links between the employee’s goals and the organization’s goals, and matching them up.

When All Else Fails, Move Negative People off the Team.
Sometimes no matter how much time you spend talking to the employee and trying to understand what they need to feel motivated, you still don’t see improvement.  Under-performing employees can drain morale if the issues aren’t resolved.  If you’ve monitored their progress with regular meetings, and you’re still having issues with the employee being unmotivated, it may be time to move them off the team. You can’t risk a problem employee draining energy from other coworkers and causing low morale to spread like wildfire.

 

It’s important to remember that low morale is an emotional issue and needs to be dealt with immediately.  Don’t let poor leadership or management be the reason if effects your whole office.  Employees must feel that they are a valuable asset to the team, so make sure you’re encouraging the right attitude.

 

The first step to making sure your employees are motivated is hiring the right employees for your business.  Whether you need to find the ideal candidate for an open position, or match labor to production needs, Area Temps is the answer for all your staffing needs in the Greater Cleveland market.  Contact us today to see how we can help find your next star employee.

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