How to Manage Staff Morale
- 1). Identify any serious issues in the office by conducting an anonymous survey. When you create questions for the survey, remember that you want to identify the employees' specific needs, desires, opinions and thoughts---this is not a time to learn how you can get more customers or save money. Ask questions like "What tools would increase your productivity?" For survey questions like "I feel respected in the workplace," allow the employees to answer on a standard scale of one to five (strongly disagree to strongly agree).
- 2). Implement changes to address the most urgent and widespread issues as identified by the survey. For instance, if most of your staff members list a software program as a significant need, buy it for the team. Conduct new surveys every six months to a year to see the progress of making those changes.
- 3). Implement employee recognition programs to help increase staff morale. Explain the terms of the program to your employees at a meeting or via email. Reward employees who display improvement or exceptional performance overall with either a monetary prize (such as a bonus, gift certificate, or day off with pay) or non-monetary recognition (like an office party or a plaque).
- 4). Appoint an assistant to help you manage your staff morale. This person will organize your recognition programs, suggest new initiatives and help you analyze the results of surveys. If possible, ask a well-respected team member to take on this job, as he may have a closer connection to the issues amongst the staff.
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