Investing in your employees can pay your company back in major dividends. Thinking of them beyond their titles, quotas, and successes can add value to them as individual employees and as a strong employee team. Here are some effective methods to improve and sustain your low employee morale:
Show your employees your gratitude beyond their annual reviews.
Host annual company outings, such as Spring Softball tournaments, Lunch Tailgate Parties in your parking lot to celebrate the beginning of football season, Summer Cool-Down Parties where a local ice cream company can come to your company site to make ice cream cones for everyone.
Celebrate your company’s accomplishments beyond the team that was directly involved in the success.
Spread the feeling of pride and partnership among all of your employees to let them know that your company is only strong when all employees perform. Have your company president make a speech to your entire group, praising its hard work. If your president is out of town, great alternatives are hand-written notes from the president or the employees’ managers, or uplifting face-to-face meetings with employees and their supervisors.
Another personal way to show your employees you care is to take personal, although still professional interest in their lives outside of work.
Recognize milestones in their lives. Giving birthday cards or even a half-day off from work to celebrate their birthdays will go far in strengthening both professional and personal relationships with your employees. Also, consider giving cards or small gifts for special occasions, such as weddings, births of babies, and employee anniversaries.
Help build employee camaraderie through volunteering in your local community. Habitat for Humanity works with companies to match monetary donations and also offers opportunities for volunteers to work with them on houses.
As Habitat for Humanity states, “Getting people out of their offices and into the community can be a life-changing reminder of the power of teamwork.” While building houses employees can learn skills they can use anywhere. “Employees will leave the Habitat build site more motivated than ever to work for a company that believes in giving back.” Companies are now giving employees days off annually to work at Habitat for Humanity. Not only are you supporting your local neighbors, but you are presenting your employees opportunities to give back on your time, building more company loyalty through the company’s and employees’ goodwill.
While it may be costly, corporate massages gaining popularity for their decrease in healthcare expenses.
According for Forbes, “Research on the prevalence of corporate massage is scarce, but most sources indicate its popularity is growing, and an article in the Financial Times quotes at least one company reporting a 25% decrease in time off for workplace injuries and a $200,000 decrease in compensation claims when it implemented a corporate massage program.”
Your employees’ morale dictates how much they care, and therefore, how hard they will work for your company. Let them know you care in these simple, yet effective and sincere ways to improve the mood of your company. To learn more, contact us today.
