By : Michael Lundberg
*Edited Version
As the workplace undergoes many kinds of dramatic transformations, leaders must learn and manage the entire situation in a different way. To increase morale and engagement within organizations, leaders have to be flexible and innovative. Do your employees drag themselves into work? Is office laughter a vague memory? Then your employee morale and engagement needs a boost. Lower morale and engagement can tax your organization with increased turnover, hindering your business and employees from reaching their goals. Since employee morale can affect any business from reaching its success, effective leaders must enlist simple and creative approaches to strengthen it.
According to a research study conducted by the State of American Workplace Report, 70% of an organization’s employees feel disenchanted at the work place. This is followed by a lack of engagement. Together, these factors are costing businesses $550 billion a year. Even if offering larger perks is not in the budget, there are still many strategies every business can utilize in order to turn the collective company frown upside down. Here are a few tactics to consider adapting to your business:
1. Satisfy the needs of your employees: According to a study conducted on understanding the behaviours of employees, every employee has his or her own set of needs and wants, depending on their age and tenure in the company. The study also states that CEOs, Managers, and Team leaders should make sure they listen to the suggestions of their employees. It is also important for them to seek out their employees’ needs, and find ways to satisfy them. There has to be a work-life balance so that employees enjoy their work and stay with the company.
2. Be clear and transparent: Employees need to feel as though they can discuss important issues with their bosses, even if it is something negative. Also, employees should be aware of the company’s policies, organizational news, team shakeups, and other matters that affect them. Managers and supervisors should clearly communicate expectations to employees, and should offer them advice on how to improve their performance if they are moving in a wrong direction. In all cases, clarity and transparency are essential in the workplace.
3. Have a daily huddle: When morale is down and people are unmotivated, keeping quiet about problems will only continue to make the situation worse. Scheduling small group meetings and team-sharing activities can help improve the office atmosphere, boost employee morale, and increase motivation. Do this through a “daily huddle” – in which employees share accomplishments, concerns, and “hurdles”, offer support, and try suggestions for improvement. This creates a natural short of energy and is more effective than your doughnuts and coffee.
4. Create a sense of community: Offices are not school rooms, and socializing is not a crime – so it should be encouraged, as long as work is getting completed. Find out different ways where more natural light can be added to office spaces. Periodically change the arrangement of furniture. Modernize office décor by investing in glass office desks and ergonomic chairs. Decorate the walls with trendy art work. If employees feel as if there is too much open space, increase privacy between cubicles; if they find cubicles to be too confining, create more open space. Be flexible and open to change. If the working environment is aesthetically pleasing, and if the employees enjoy working in the environment you create, morale and productivity will increase.
5. Switch up the schedule: When people are in a rut, it is time to break up the routine. Encourage employees to start fresh on Monday morning allowing them some time to clear up personal business from the weekend, so they can come in focused and ready to turn things around. Changing any routine – personal or professional – can increase energy, creativity, and productivity, which in turn can improve employee morale and organizational success.
6. Take one for the team: Determine what is the biggest stress point that your employees are facing, and then try resolving the problem on your own. Is it the monotony of filling out detailed time sheets? Is it an unpleasant client you don’t want to deal with? Take on the problem by yourself – on behalf of your team – and morale will increase when your employees see that you are willing to “take one for the team.”
7. Turn adversity into opportunity: When something unanticipated occurs – when confusion and chaos takes the place of organization and efficiency – it is best to remind everyone that everything will eventually return to normal and that no one is at fault. Employees often feel that they are responsible for problems that arise – especially when a seemingly small problem becomes a major issue. However, you can use this loss of control as an opportunity to regroup and reaffirm that sometimes you have to struggle in order to succeed. Adversity is simply an unavoidable fact in the world of business; but every difficulty can become an opportunity for development and growth.
8. Show your appreciation: There are many ways you can show appreciation to the employees of your organization. When they perform well, or exceed expectations, they will expect some sort of recognition in return for their hard work. As their employer, it is your responsibility to make 
sure their performance is recognized. Never wait until their annual review to let them know that you appreciate them. Some of the few ways you can show appreciation to your employees is:
Offering them a gift card
Taking them out to lunch
Providing them with a small bonus
Getting them extra paid time off
A simple card is also one of the most effective ways of letting your employees know that you appreciate their hard work to meet the needs and requirements of your company.
9. Establish an open door policy: Having an open door policy for employees – giving them an opportunity to express themselves and thereby encouraging their active participation in the communication process – is another way to boost employee morale and engagement. When your employees feel as if they have no voice – and nowhere to turn when the have problems – they may feel that they are not valued, and may become discouraged and unmotivated – which, of course, will have tangible effects on the success of the organization
10. Celebrate work anniversaries: Work anniversaries are relationship milestones – indicators of an employee’s value to the company. According to a survey conducted by Globoforce, 82% of employees feel valued when their work anniversaries are recognized by employers. Thus, it is in your best interests as an employer to recognize and honour your employees by celebrating their work anniversaries – and their birthdays. Doing so provides you with an opportunity to emphasize that your organization’s success is possible only because of the people who work for you.
11. Train employees to develop positive attitudes: During the 2009 recession, employee morale and engagement turned out to be a big issue for Imprint, an organization in Oshkosh, Wisconsin that deals with customized promotional products. The organization decided to boost their engagement and morale levels by providing its employees with training courses which provided them with the opportunity to watch and discuss videos with inspiring themes like Lance Armstrong’s comeback from cancer and the friendly culture at Southwest Airlines. Positivity encourages productivity.
12. Have a “Bring your Family to Work” day: Family is one of the most important aspects of our life. Opening the doors of your business to the spouses, children, parents, and siblings of your employees – making them feel as if they are a welcome and important part of your organization – can provide opportunities for the professional world to connect with the personal world – thus bringing the best of both worlds into the business culture. Employees feel empowered and families feel proud by this shared sense of connection – and the organization thrives.
13. Plan themed potlucks: A potluck – with or without a theme, although a themed potluck can encourage participation and provide team-building opportunities – is the most common morale-booster for businesses. You can have a potluck in a meeting room, in the parking lot behind the office building, or an end-of-the-year potluck in a park. Wherever or whenever you have one, a potluck offers a chance for all the employees of your organization to socialize, relax, and have fun. And since each person is responsible for bringing part of the meal, the cost will be minimal to the company.
14. Cultivate fun: You can have a team-building day in your office, featuring various skill-driven activities. And why not set aside a day, or half a day, of board games? Remember that your employees need a break; and perhaps a spirited game of ‘Connecting Four’ or ‘Operation’ in the breakroom is what the doctor ordered.
In conclusion, these are some tips that the CEO’s, managers, supervisors, and team leaders can employ to boost employee engagement and morale and improve productivity. When you put your employees first – when you strive to meet their needs, help resolve their problems, make them feel important and recognize and honour their achievements – you will advance and enhance the success of your organization.
Michael Lundberg is the Marketing Manager at Ampliz, specializing in email appending services and marketing database management software, editing blogs, case studies, and guides. Michael tries to make the world just a bit more pleasant enough by working on strategies that would help them prevent and eliminate spam in terms of email marketing.
(*As Edited by Jere Call)