According to a recent survey from Right Management, 60% of people intend to pursue new job opportunities in 2010 and another 21% think they might leave their current position and are already busy networking.Most interesting is why they want to leave, 80% of employees surveyed said they intend to leave their current positions not because of salary, benefits, or their workload, but because of poor morale! In the grand scheme of things morale is a tricky thing to keep positive, but it's also is one of the least expensive ways to keep your employees happy and most importantly productive.
Here are three ways to increase morale and keep your employees put.
- Show your appreciation. No matter the level of the employee, EVERY employee at EVERY level deserves positive reinforcement. Openly acknowledge successes with in the team and encourage employees to do so amongst each other. 5 minutes spent recognizing accomplishments (no matter how small they are) is an investment well spent in your team. Set a goal to positively acknowledge at least one employee every day.
- Show interest in your team as individuals and allow your staff to be human. Teams should know more about each other than just their job description. Spend 20 minutes having employee’s pair up and interview each other. They may be resistant at first, but by the end of the exercise go around the room and have each person introduce one new fact they learned about the other person, I bet they will have loosened up. Knowing each other on a more personal level allows employees to build better relationships and feel like they are a part of the team.
- Welcome sharing of new ideas. People who feel their opinions are valued are more invested in the success of the company, because they feel more involved in the outcome. Obviously you cannot implement every employee’s idea but by keeping an open mind and allowing the feed back you may come across a few that positively affect not only morale, but also the bottom line.
*One last bonus tip: Keep a positive attitude no matter your mood that day. A quote I read recently really sums it all up: Attitude is Contagious - Would Anybody Want Yours?
