5 Ways To Improve Employee Morale in 2022

Your employees are quite literally the backbone of your business – whether they are designing new products or interacting face-to-face with your customers. As a result, if you want to be successful, you need to do whatever it takes to keep your employees happy. This is due to the simple fact that happy employees are more focused, more productive and generally more successful in their day to day activities. 

When employees are unhappy, the quality of their work dips considerably. However, this doesn’t mean you should instantly look to replace them when things get tough. In fact, you need to consider whether or not this dip in morale is down to poor workplace culture and management and whether or not any changes can be made to resolve this.

Finding new and creative ways to boost employee morale will do wonders for your workplace, your business and your employee retention rate. With that in mind, here are five easy ways in which you can lift their spirits in 2022! 

Treat them with kindness.

As a company owner, you’ve probably spent a great deal of time lecturing your employees on the merits of being nice to customers and clients, even when they aren’t being particularly friendly themselves. This is due to the fact that treating people with kindness often goes a long way – and you must extend this gratitude to your staff. After all, your business wouldn’t stay afloat without them. This is particularly important when you consider the fact that remote employee morale has been said to have dipped significantly in recent months. However, there are plenty of ways to combat this. For example, you could: 

• Have an ‘open door’ policy, where employees can reach out if necessary. If you’re working remotely, set aside a small amount of time each week where employees can video call you with any questions or concerns they might have.
• Put together a system where employees can anonymously voice any complaints they may have and work to resolve them quickly. While you may prefer to speak to them directly, many staff members will not feel comfortable with the idea of confronting their boss/someone in a senior position. Anonymous feedback allows them to be honest without the anxiety of potential consequences further down the line. 
• Provide employees with external support when necessary, such as access to therapy and counselling. 
• Allow (and encourage) employees to take time off when needed without making them feel guilty.
• Allocate work fairly, ensuring that no staff are overburdened or overworked. 

Implement a mentoring program.

There are many different reasons why employees leave their jobs – however, one of the major contributors is feeling that they are not properly supported in the workplace. This tends to be a significant issue with new hires or those that are new to your chosen industry (i.e. the people who may require more support). While you may already have a training scheme in place, you might also want to consider implementing a mentoring program where a new hire is paired with a more experienced member of your team. This will help them forge strong working relationships, receive career guidance, and help them feel more comfortable. Furthemore, partnering mentors and mentees has never been easier, thanks to PushFar’s Mentoring Platform, which includes software that enables you to track your employees’ progression through the mentoring scheme. Companies with strong mentoring programs in place are often more successful as they give employees someone to turn to when things go wrong – as a result, they are much less likely to struggle in silence. This means fewer mistakes are made, and employees don’t feel too awkward about having to turn to their boss for help. 

Give them a reason to stick around.

If you find that employees are leaving every passing day, then it might be that you are not giving them a good reason to stick around. For example, it could be that they are overburdened or feel as though they are underpaid for the amount of work they are churning out. Conversely, they could feel as though they are underutilised, and their skills would be better appreciated elsewhere. In short, if you want to improve employee morale – you have to give them a reason to stick around. For example, you should always ensure that employees receive fair and competitive salaries. You should also provide them with plenty of employee benefits that make working for your company seem more attractive. 

Invest in their development.

Employees lose motivation (and morale) when they feel stuck in a certain position. As a result, you should also ensure that you invest in their development during their time at your company. Remember, the more skilled your employees are, the easier it will be for your company to grow, especially as this means it will improve the efficiency of your business. As a result, employee development is a worthwhile investment as it is beneficial to both parties involved. Furthemore, there are plenty of ways in which you can achieve this goal. For example, you could: 

• Cover the cost of online courses & training programs related to your chosen industry or career progression. For example, this could include leadership courses for those with managerial aspirations.
• Provide them with further on the job training. For instance, you could help them gain additional certifications in health and safety or first aid. 
• Fund their personal development by asking them what skills they’d like to work on instead of making the decision for them. 
• Allow them to take a few days of a year to focus on personal or professional development. For example, they might want to attend a training program or lectures at a local university. 
• Invest in software that saves them time and energy when at work so that they can focus on the job at hand. This will help them get better at their job as they are no longer wasting hours trying to complete routine administrative tasks. 

Curate a positive working environment.

One of the biggest ways in which you can go about improving employee morale, however, is by ensuring that you curate a positive working environment. While friendly competition between employees can be instrumental in enhancing productivity rates, it can also breed negativity. This is due to the fact that staff will begin to view their colleagues as their opposition, as opposed to someone who is on their team. Therefore, if you want to curate a positive working environment, you must focus on collaboration, not competition. Don’t pit employees against each other for the sake of a quicker turnaround. 

You should also ensure that you celebrate the small wins within your company and praise your employees when they’ve done something well. Even a passing comment such as ‘well done’ can go a long way towards lifting someone’s spirits, and it also lets them know they’re on the right track. You should also ensure that you respond appropriately when mistakes are made. While it can be frustrating (especially if these mistakes cost you a lot of time and money), overreacting does not resolve the issue. Instead, think calmly and practically about what can be done to move forward and put plans in place that reduce the chances of this happening again. Remember, your employees are only human, and as a result, they’re going to make mistakes from time to time. Lashing out when this happens will not help your employees respect you more; in fact, it’s much more likely to lead to them disliking you altogether.