Employee attitude and satisfaction is the key to a successful business. Maintaining a high employee morale has a range of benefits including increased productivity, improved mental health and staff retention. As many businesses start to return to a more normal way of working following lockdown, it is more important now than ever to keep morale high. In this guide, we’re going to be taking a look at some of the best ways to improve the morale of your employees both in and away from the office.
Thank God It’s Monday!
Starting Monday off right is essential in setting the tone for the rest of the week and nobody should dread going to work on a Monday morning. Creating a workplace where employees feel excited and happy about coming to work after the weekend is essential in retaining staff and reducing absences.
Of course, not everybody is going to be a morning person but there are ways to help those who aren’t quite as energised as others. Having a catch-up meeting or ‘morning huddle’ every Monday can be a great way to start the week. Once all your staff have arrived and settled in, hold a quick meeting where you all go through your tasks for the day/week and anything you might need from others.
Whilst this may seem like a waste of time or a hindrance to productivity, it’s actually a great way to get employees to think about what they’ve got to do and make the day seem less overwhelming. It also gives colleagues an opportunity to ask for help when needed or make announcements to the group whilst everyone is present.
Of course, for much larger organisations, it may not be possible to gather every member of staff in one meeting and you may require groups of smaller teams or less frequent meetings.
If some of your staff are still working from home, make sure to include them by using video conferencing tools such as Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams.
Healthy Snacks
Food gives a much needed energy boost, improving concentration and, in turn, productivity in the workplace. That’s why it’s a great idea to provide healthy snacks in the office kitchen or start an honesty box for people to get that much needed boost. Whilst unhealthy sugary snacks may be tempting, they only provide an initial short burst of energy and then result in a dip in energy just a few hours later. By providing low-sugar snacks, you can help your employees to stay more focused for longer, preventing that afternoon low.
Additionally, food not only boosts short term happiness but long term overall mental wellbeing too and studies found that 67% of employees are happier in the workplace when snacks are provided. Unfortunately, nutritional deficiencies can lead to common mental health issues such as depression and anxiety which can have a significant impact on the morale of your employees.
Be Open & Honest
Being transparent with your staff is crucial in helping them feel more secure and prepared should there be any difficult decisions when bringing them back after lockdown. The best way to approach bringing your employees back into work is to be open and honest. Over the past year, many workers have likely had concerns about the security of their job roles, so keeping them updated on what’s going on can help to reassure them or give them enough notice that allows them time to prepare just in case the worst does happen.
Make sure to avoid making false promises as false hope will only temporarily satisfy your employees, making them angry and upset when the disappointing news finally comes out.
Communicate
Make sure to regularly check in with your staff to make sure they are happy in their role and know what they’re doing. Ensure it is clear you’re checking in on them and not up on them as this may cause them to feel like you’re micromanaging them and don’t trust them to get on with their work.
For staff who are still furloughed or working from home, arranging regular calls is a good way to keep them updated and also allows you to gauge how they’re feeling. This can help you support them better when they return. Also take into account that some employees may have experienced loss, illness or been alone during this period, so ensure that you’re sensitive when discussing their return to work and offer links to any workplace mental health support networks if available.
By providing snacks in the workplace, you can also encourage employees to communicate with each other by visiting the kitchen or staff area and having a quick chat, boosting team spirit, improving office morale and building company culture.
Show Them You Care
Remember to acknowledge any milestones e.g. staff engagements, birthdays, pregnancies and births. Even something as simple as a card or a message or message online can show your employees that you care about them as people as opposed to just your employees.
Offer New Opportunities
A great way to boost their employee morale is by offering them new opportunities to help them to develop their career. Providing training courses to help build new skills and knowledge shows you care about their growth within the company and makes them more likely to stay if they feel they have the potential to go further.
If some of your staff are still furloughed, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme guidelines state that those on furlough are still able to be trained, which is a great option to consider as when furloughed employees return, they are more skilled, making them more flexible too.
Offer Different Ways of Working
Since the beginning of the Coronavirus crisis, businesses were forced to change their way of working and many staff started to work from home. At the beginning of 2021, it was expected that over 50% of the workforce would be operating remotely. Whilst the changes may not have been easy initially, many employees have reported that they find working from home to be much more beneficial and help them to save time and money on commuting to work every day.
If possible, give your employees the option to continue working from home once lockdown ends or come up with a solution that suits your business e.g. 2 days a week working from home. At DMS, we can help you to facilitate these different ways of working through a number of services.
For remote workers, the key objective is to optimise their remote productivity by ensuring their ability to print is not impacted by sub-standard equipment designed for domestic use, and is not suitable for business use. We can provide business technology for any home environment which includes a full Managed Print Service of remote support, servicing and toner.
For those working in the office, Multifunctional Devices (MFDs) that print, copy and scan are the cornerstone of most office environments. They provide rapid, reliable and high-quality printing for your teams, while being the gateway to digital document management and workflow processes.
The key objective for Hybrid workers who split their time between office and home is to provide a standardised working environment irrespective of where they are each day. We have technology that provides your employees with a consistent experience at both home and the office that can satisfy the needs of these more demanding hybrid workers as a full Managed Print Service.
