What should employers be doing right now to boost morale?

Last week on socials, we spoke about top steps employers can take to boost morale. But we’ve noticed the conversation hasn’t stopped... We’ve actually been talking about this a lot within our team at Beingworks recently, along with family and friends.

It’s amazing how much people have noticed a dip in employee motivation and morale at work right now. But it’s not just among colleagues, we’ve noticed our own work attitudes changing too.

So today, we thought it would be the perfect time to chat about this more, and get your thoughts on this.

We’re going to be talking about how employee morale can impact not just our mental health, but our outcomes at work too. And go through some further actionable steps employers should be taking right now, to help towards boosting morale at work.

So, the first question to you is... Do you feel like you’re starting to lose your way at work?

Or maybe you’ve noticed someone else’s job attitudes changing? You've noticed low motivation and feelings of unappreciation.

Well, you’re not the only one. It's really hard to keep going sometimes... Keep a positive attitude, enjoy your work and stay motivated when completing tasks. Especially when our efforts aren’t necessarily being rewarded for the amount of effort we are putting in!

Well, that’s exactly why it’s so important to recognise.

Employee morale is essentially the satisfaction, confidence, enthusiasm, and attitudes employees have towards their job. And depending on their outlook, it can really say a lot.

It can show (1) how supported employees really feel at work, (2) what the culture of their workplace is like, and even (3) how engaged employees are.

Interestingly, 26% of people in the UK are actively disengaged at work.

And what’s shocking, is that only 1 in 5 people are highly engaged with their work, and risk burnout because of it.

So, what impact can morale have on our mental health and work outcomes?🧠

Well, studies have actually found that employees who enjoy their job and like working in their role, are twice as likely to thrive overall throughout their lives. Including having good health, higher engagement and even have stronger relationships at work.

This is as well as being more focused on tasks at work, and not procrastinating to get the work done.

Shockingly, those unhappy and disengaged at work are more likely to be diagnosed with depression and are likely to be more stressed.

This is as well as employees beginning to lose interest in their tasks, and showing decreased engagement, performance levels, productivity, loyalty and innovation.

So, by taking a holistic approach and showing constant effort to boost morale at work, organisations can essentially work towards building a healthier and more positive environment for their employees.

And are more likely to see increased employee efficiency, and lower turnover rates.

But, what are the top 5 actionable steps employers should be doing right now, to increase morale in the workplace?📈

🤝Trust & Connect – Building trust with employees sets a good example at work. It helps to build relationships and essentially promotes confidence. This might be through keeping the team posted on important details of a certain task or listening to the views of other you’re working with. 

💡Autonomy – Allowing employees to work flexible hours and have more control over their job, will help to reduce burnout and even show that you value the employee's choices. 

🕔Values & Meaning – Make sure to emphasise work-life balance and provide benefits which reflect the values of your workplace. Support employees through giving appropriate time-off when needed and encourage only working the hours they should be doing. Find what’s meaningful to them. 

🧠Coping mechanisms – Encourage employees to use practices which the workplace offers, and to find coping strategies which really help to diminish feelings of stress in certain situations and decrease their job strain. 

🗣️Discuss & Feedback – Regularly have one-to-one discussions with employees to understand their concerns. Listen to suggestions and improvements and show they matter through working on career development plans and providing opportunities to move forward. 

And a big topic which we wanted to talk about to round up, is positive psychology...

Positive psychology is essentially an approach which focuses on strengths and positive aspect of life. Such as promotion of wellbeing and flourishing of individuals.

It explores topics such as character strengths, optimism, compassion and self-esteem, and many more! And looks at the processes which contribute towards the optimal functioning of both individuals and workplaces.

So, with morale seen as an indicator of subjective wellbeing, promotion of not only individual psychological wellness, but also group-level interventions can be powerful.

Positive psychology can help towards understanding the psychological characteristics, which affect different components of positive morale. Such as happiness and engagement.

And our work environment can impact whether we are experiencing positive or negative emotions. So, being aware and managing morale is highly encouraged, to ensure a working culture which is supportive and is one which works smarter.