e.LLIANCE TBA eNewsletter

By Carla Lane, President and CEO, Lane Staffing, Inc.

Talk With Your Employees and Improve Employee Morale

How do you maintain employee morale in a time of decreasing budgets and increasing demands?
Communicate! Awareness of the larger picture can reduce those unpleasant surprises that erode morale. Additionally, time spent building strong relationships with your employees pays dividends in the long run. The unstable nature of our current economy can translate into high stress levels but also affords high opportunity levels. Help your staff see the cup as half full, and do it with a sense of humor.

Communication is the key to helping your staff members feel good about themselves and their jobs. I have found that an improvement in morale and a reduction in the stress level among my staff naturally follow when communication is used effectively.
No matter what our job descriptions say, those of us who manage people really have two important tasks: to help our staff do their jobs and to make our companies shine. I have found that if you do the former, the latter will follow. These tips will assist you in doing just that!

Keep everyone talking

Share news as you hear it. This gives staff members a view of the big picture and, more importantly, lets them see how important their contributions are to that picture. Showing people how their jobs tie into company goals and how their performance has a ripple effect throughout the organization fosters a sense of belonging to the whole and helps reduce the sense of isolation.
Building relationships with your employees is important. Keep everyone talking; staff meetings, brown bag lunches, e-mail, professional memberships and good, old-fashioned socializing are great ways to involve the group.

Let your staff solve the problems

Why did you hire the people who work for you? Most likely, it was because they had the expertise to do the job or could learn it. If you try to solve all problems and resolve all issues, at the very least you will become a bottleneck. Even worse, you will undermine the self-esteem of your staff. Your role is to help when asked and to give general direction when necessary. Your staff members are closest to the issue and they will come up with the best answer. Once the work is completed, always give credit to those who deserve it. If you are praised for work performed by a staff member, make sure the individual understands who actually did the work, and equally as important, pass on the compliment to your staff member.

Invest in your staff

Invest both time and effort in your staff members. Human nature and office politics will always create problems; be there to listen and try to defuse the situation. Always strive to have all parties leave the conversation feeling they've gained something, even if it was just an ear to hear them out.

Ask questions and learn your staff members' personal goals. It's a little like asking, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" Help define their goals, if necessary, and work to align them with company goals. Then invest the time and effort to help your staff attain those goals. People work better when they are doing something they like.

Employees are people, too

Your employees are your colleagues and must be treated with respect. My version of Robert Fulghum's book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, is, "Do what your mother told you." She taught us to say "please" and "thank you." This holds true when speaking to employees as well as others. For managers, this means making requests rather than barking commands.

Own up to mistakes and apologize. At the same time, be tolerant of others' mistakes. Errors are not signs of weakness, but proof that we are all human. A bad situation can only get worse if your staff hides their mistakes from you out of fear.

Recognize that your employees have personal lives outside of the office. Be flexible without inviting employees to abuse the system. Allow staff members to occasionally leave a little early or take a long lunch for personal reasons. Be careful about being a clock-watcher, or you will get a clock-watcher in return. Most of my employees have put in much more overtime than they ever take in compensatory time.

Don't sweat the small stuff

If you want to set a good example for your employees, you must first reduce your own stress level. When you are uptight and ready for combat, the general stress level of your staff will skyrocket and morale will plummet. Avoid conditioned responses; instead, think about what is really important. Everyone will do something that annoys you at some point. Don't sweat it. Concentrate on the good and the annoyances will pale by comparison.

When you find yourself under stress and ready to explode, go for a walk. Visit someone unrelated to the stress. Exercise naturally lightens your mood and visiting gets your mind off of the problem. If a walk won't do it for you, close your door and take some time to compose yourself. It is better to be out of touch for a little while than to lash out at someone or say something you will regret.

Just smile

As managers and business owners, we will always face stressful situations. That is why it is so important to maintain a sense of humor. Remember, you set the tone for your staff. Learn to laugh at yourself. My employees joke about my lack of both height and memory, because I do.

Be aware of your facial expressions. (I am notorious for making faces!) You don't always know what impression you are giving others. Make it a rule to smile at everyone who enters your office. When a staff member comes in with bad news, a smile puts the person at ease. And smiling automatically lightens your mood. If someone has come in with good news or just to talk, you've set a light tone. So make it a habit to smile at everyone.

Always look for the humor in things, and encourage your staff to do the same. Even when you are fuming and ranting, you can always find something to laugh about. Make it a goal to laugh at least once in every meeting, even if it's at your own expense.

Conclusion

Of course, my staff doesn't work in a constant state of bliss just because we have implemented these six points. And I don't profess to have all of the answers. But I have seen effective communication turn people around. It won't stop the overtime, it won't increase the paycheck, and it won't completely stop the griping. It can, however, make a job more enjoyable; build self-esteem, resulting in an overall positive attitude. And maybe next time, the griping will be done with a smile. To empower and engage your employees, maintain open communication which includes an ongoing dialogue and continuing feedback. These things need to occur on a daily basis, not just in times of crisis.

jboney