April 19, 2018 Having low morale at work is a major reason why a person may decide it’s time to leave. Many different factors can cause a decline in morale such as: bad management, lack of motivation, no career path, demanding expectations, etc. Once you identify your team has low morale, it’s important you do something about it quickly. This post offers some clever ideas you can use to motivate your team.
How To Determine Your Team Is Suffering From Low Morale
Sometimes, it can be difficult to identify your team has low morale. Some employees will voice their problems and concerns while there might be others who prefer to keep their head down and continue with work. This lack of open atmosphere can make your job harder as you might not know a staff member is unhappy until it’s too late.
You can determine whether your team has low morale by:
- Assessing teamwork performance: has there been a decline in production or overall performance?
- Checking workplace attitude: is your team eager to impress and perform to a high standard or are people dragging their feet?
- Highlighting an increase in employee resignations: if more employees are deciding to leave then there could be a factor responsible for causing it.
- Having one-to-one meetings between manager and employees: one on one meetings give the employee a quiet and confidential place to talk and inform the manager if there are any problems.
How To Motivate A Team With Low Morale
If your team is suffering from low mood in the office, then here is how to motivate a team and make an incredible improvement to overall morale.
- Provide Perks
- Bring Some Colour Into The Office
- Introduce Team Building Activities
- Improve The Office Layout
- Offer A Breakout Area
Below, we explore these in more depth.
Provide Perks
Feeling like you’re not being rewarded for your hard work can be damaging to your morale and how you feel about work. To help ensure every employee feels valued and appreciated, more companies are investing in perks and extras for their staff. Nowadays, it’s becoming more expected for businesses to offer extra incentives to attract talented people to work for them.
Incentives such as:
- Discounts at local gyms and shops
- Maternity and paternity leave
- Free fruit and drinks
- Shop vouchers
Companies like Perkbox provide lots of different perks and treats for employees. By giving extra incentives to your team, they will feel appreciated and valued.
Bring Some Colour Into The Office
A dark office is not an inspiring place to work. When an employee has to work at the same desk from 9 to 5, in the same dark office, it can have a negative influence on morale. Studies show that colour can negatively and positively impact performance and attitude at work. Bright and complex colour patterns can make it hard for employees to concentrate. White is bland and uninspiring while green is earthy and relaxing. Changing the colour palette of the office can have lots of benefits.
Just adding some plants into the office can boost morale. If you want inspiration, look at some of these eco-friendly offices.
Introduce Team Building Activities
Team building exercises like days out, office games and competitions, can motivate people to get involved. These kind of activities inspire people to work together, bond and build friendships. Having friends at work can do wonders for morale but it can be hard to make friends when they have work to do. Team building activities give employees the chance to socialise with each other during working hours and improve motivation.
Improve The Office Layout
An office design can significantly benefit morale and happiness. As recent studies have found, office design and layout is considered important in relation to how employees feel at work. Just by making some minor improvements, you can motivate your team and improve morale.
Reorganising desk spaces so people are sitting together means they can collaborate easily. It may be difficult to reorganise desks if you are limited on floor space but there are ways you can create productive work areas in small offices.
Consider whether you actually need to have desk screens between tables. While these can help people feel more focused, it can also make employees feel isolated. Today, more people want to have a choice where they work. Providing options for quiet and collaborative work areas means your team can decide where they want to work.
Office refurbishments can significantly impact employee motivation and morale. However, if you’re limited on a budget then reorganising desk spaces, removing clutter and even introducing some new pieces of furniture can still have a major difference.
Offer A Breakout Area
It can be difficult to motivate a team when they feel exhausted. Breakout rooms give people a quiet space to rest and recharge during their breaks. Sitting at the same desk in the same office, everyday, can gnaw at an employee’s morale. Providing a breakout area where people can take a break shows that the company is willing to invest in creating areas and environments that will benefit their employees.
