Employees become extremely frustrated when they are unsure of what is expected of them in the workplace. There are, however, several steps you can take to clearly define expectations.

An employee begins to develop a notion of what is expected of him/her from the initial job interview. At the outset of employment, an employee can receive a job description, which outlines (in fairly specific detail) that employee?s duties/responsibilities, any challenges which that employee is likely to encounter in the course of his/her duties, the degree of autonomy which he/she maintains, and the reporting structure. Expectations, however, should not only be clearly defined at the beginning of the employment relationship, but should continue to be clarified and reinforced throughout the employee?s tenure.

Annual staff meetings to review corporate goals and achievements are one way to stress the ?big picture goal? in terms of what your employees are working to accomplish. Smaller businesses can also hold brief weekly meetings to review weekly sales or other marketing milestones, communicate upcoming initiatives, announce new projects, note employee birthdays, etc. If you hold these meetings in the morning, provide your employees with free bagels and coffee. Such a gesture, while small, will nevertheless be appreciated.

While these ?meetings? may only take up several minutes from the day, such group encounters are valuable in that they help publicize corporate or organizational goals, and provide an overriding sense of mission to your employees.

Showing your appreciation for a ?job well-done? can be accomplished in any number of ways, and goes miles in improving the morale of your employees.

One of the simplest and most effective ways of showing your appreciation is by openly acknowledging your employees when they do something well. Make an effort to stop by their offices and tell them ?thank you for the good work.?

Leaving a ?thank you note? can achieve the same goal, as your employees will see that you appreciate their hard work, making it more likely that their hard work will continue. Furthermore, by not limiting the dialogue between you and your employees to times when there are problems, your employees will look at you in a more positive light, making it more likely that they will work harder for your continued approval.

You can also reinforce positive job performance in conjunction with reinforcing job expectations. For example, during your ?staff meetings,? take a minute to point out certain employees who performed above and beyond expectations on a particular project.

Finally, reward incentives can be offered to employees who perform exceptionally on certain tasks/projects. Such incentives could include anything from monthly cash bonuses to gift cards to free trips with their families. Whether it?s a reward or a verbal ?pat on the back,? showing your appreciation will motivate your employees to continue doing quality work.

Maintaining an ?open door policy? means that your (or any manager?s) door is always open for employees, and that your employees are always free to come to you with any questions and/or concerns which they may have. While such a policy might seem inconvenient in light of the modern day ?e-mail obsession,? talking is still the most effective form of communication in the workplace. Utilizing an open door policy fosters an open and fresh work environment which welcomes ideas and comments from employees. The best ideas come from employees themselves!

While keeping your office door open is another in a long list of ways in which to boost employee morale, leaving your office altogether can also be an effective strategy. Don?t sit in your office all day if it?s not necessary ? walk the floors and find out what?s on your employees? minds. You can keep better tabs on morale and workflow and prevent negative attitudes from spreading, by simply observing what goes on in your workplace and reacting accordingly.

It should be noted that an important theme runs throughout these suggestions ? while all effective, the majority of the aforementioned ideas cost you and your business next to nothing to implement, yet yield great rewards. Take advantage of them, and always be on the look out for new methods of improving your workplace atmosphere.

These are only a few of the many ways in which to improve employee morale.

We welcome your thoughts regarding what has worked in your organizations, and will share these proven methods with our readers in a future newsletter.