Many business owners judge the success of their business by the incoming sales. However, it may be more accurate to judge the success of your business on the basis of employee morale. This is because when employee morale is high, you’ll find that everything in your business goes well. Marketing campaigns will be effective, sales will be high, accounting will be accurate etc.
High Employee Morale = Business Doing Well
You may get the feeling that you’ve been particularly lucky a certain quarter. The truth is probably that you weren’t lucky. It was just that employee morale was high, so everything else seemed to go well as well.
Employee Morale = Employee Happiness
When people are happy, they are more productive. They are more creative as well. And they perform well at work. When they’re unhappy, they might spend the whole day working without accomplishing anything. So employee morale is really nothing but employee happiness. It’s that feeling that employees get when they feel like they’re accomplishing something.
Employee Success ≠ Employee Happiness
Happiness, as we all know from our personal lives, is elusive. Sometimes, it shows up unexpectedly and sometimes, even when things are going well enough, it’s not there. This is because happiness cannot be measured via success. Just because someone is doing well at work doesn’t mean that they are happy. It doesn’t mean that their morale is high. And if morale is low, then it is, sooner or later, going to affect their work.
Signs of Low Employee Morale
So it’s good to spot low employee morale early, if possible. Keep an eye out for it. Is there a general feel of lassitude when you enter the office (or when you communicate with someone via phone or email)? Do people seem like they’re concentrating a bit too hard on their computer screens, as opposed to being in the flow? Do employees communicate with each other only when necessary instead of bouncing ideas off each other?
Steps to Improve Employee Morale
If you notice any of these signs or symptoms, it may be time to speak to your employees about what is bringing down their morale. If you’re lucky, they may be able to point you to a single problem which you can easily take care of. But if there’s a pervasive low feeling in the office, you might have to take some more steps, such as sprucing up the office décor, improving employee benefits, reducing employee hours so that they can maintain a work-life balance, giving employees more creative leeway etc.