With a slow recovery and an impending double-dip recession in some sectors of the economy, employee morale and performance is plummeting. Workers are increasingly dealing with difficult family and budget issues at home, and supervisors struggle to keep employees focused, happy and productive. Managers at all levels experience decreased employee performance, lack of focus and sub-standard work products. The key to empowering any organization in these tough economic times is improved employee communication and appreciation.
Regular Email Appreciation Messages
Once a month, send a short email message to employees summarizing milestones and accomplishments. Include numbers and statistics of products sold, customers assisted, or other relevant metrics.
Regular All-staff Meetings
Hold division-wide meetings once a month with upper management and employees. Devote at least half of the time to an open forum, or question and answer session. Always begin the meeting with announcing the most recent accomplishment, award or employee recognition. If there are no notable organization or employee accomplishments to report, take the time to recognize an employee's non-work related achievements. Do not cancel the monthly meeting due to uncertainty about upcoming events. Employees need to be reassured during times of trouble that management is listening, even if the answers are unknown at the time.
Celebrate Employee Accomplishments Outside the Office
Encourage employees who have recently traveled or accomplished something of value outside the office to share their experiences in lunchtime brown bag meetings. Employees and managers who learn more about their coworkers personality and accomplishments outside the office can do a better job of understanding and encouraging them in the work environment during stressful times.
Quarterly Potlucks
Hold four potlucks per year. This low-cost, team building get-together keeps things light, encourages social interaction and increases overall productivity. Rotate which units or sections bring the food, and have some breakfast potlucks, as well as lunch and dessert potlucks. Have a pie making contest or other fun theme, which employees help choose. Have managers cook dishes and staff guess who brought which item.
Hire a Professional Team Builder or Counselor
Know when your organization has reached its limit on in-house resources for employee communication and morale. Hire an outside professional to help lead team building or counseling sessions, if needed. Realize that not all employees will be equally motivated to participate, but if even a few employees have a positive experience, that positivity will spread throughout the organization.
Maintaining an organization's consistency is critical to success in tough economic times. Employee morale is a huge factor in the organization's performance and those who feel underappreciated, even in a bad economy, will be looking for other opportunities. Making employees feel appreciated requires regular celebrations of accomplishments in and out of the office, chances to interact between management and employees, and in some cases hiring a professional to help.
Jule Rizzardo - Jule Rizzardo is a freelance writer, specializing in small business advertising and management skill development.
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