5 Tips for Leaders to Boost Morale in the Workplace

Leaders and managers alike set the tone for how their employees perform and the overall morale of the company. When they are disengaged, don’t give regular feedback or praise for a job well done, everyone suffers. It’s beneficial and often critical to a company’s success that leadership shift their company cultureand ongoing efforts to boost morale. According to the American Psychological Association “Psychological, sociological and economic research has shown that having happy, healthy and engaged workers is good for a company’s bottom line.”However, if you’re a leader,you likely are juggling many hats and it can be hard to dedicate time to these initiatives.Here’s five excellent ways to engage employees and boost the morale at work:

Train Your Management Teams

Boosting morale in the workplace is a long-term game. It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight and by one person alone. This philosophy needs to be engrained in your culture as a top-down approach. Just as many other initiatives won’t work unless everyone is on board, trying to change the foundation of your company culture to a positive one involves all leaders at your company. It’s important to get your management teams on board early and train them so they know what is expected of them. We’ve all likely experienced in our career when the President or CEO says one thing, yet their day-to-day actions display something different. Get buy in first and then train everyone to be on the same page – you’ll see the ripple effect throughout your company and your employees will be grateful you took the time to do so.

Give Incentives

Employees love incentives and they often boost morale in the workplace –and sometimes encourage a little friendly competition. As a leader, the opportunities can be endless but it’s important to be sure you’re offering something your teams are actually interested in. Take a poll or have an open-suggestion box to see what your teams are willing to go the extra mile for. Their suggestions might really surprise you! Maybe it’s working toward an extra vacation day or maybe it’s earning lunch catered to the office for a successful meeting. Get creative and switch things up on a quarterly basis. Employees are typically willing to go the extra mile when they know they will get rewarded for doing so – and it boots team morale!

Boost Morale

Get Out Of the Office

Sometimes forced team bonding is frowned upon but it’s up to you to make it fun! Many companies are notorious for having the same events year after year. Dedicate someone on your team who is creative and outgoing to planning the company’s outings and make it a line item in your budget. Fun ideas include taking your teams bowling, hosting a happy hour or wine tasting at the office, going to a sporting event together or even trying out the newest restaurant in town. There’s truly endless opportunity in this category, just make it happen!

Encourage Gaming During Work

Playing games at work can actually be used to encourage bonding among your teams and even  boost employee moral. Gaming during the workday –whether online or in real-life, can foster colleagues to improve their mood and lower stress levels. A recent survey reveals online gaming can actually improve productivity – and many people enjoy the sense of accomplishment and overall satisfaction they feel from winning a game. At the end of the day, a positive and fun environment (and a little competition) allows for greater efficiency in the workplace and happier employees.

Promote Health & Wellness

Promoting a mindset of health and wellness in the workplace can directly impact your teams’ morale. One of the best ways to do this is to present exercise opportunities to the group and encourage everyone to take part. Exercise has many benefits including increased productivity, better sleep, less risk of injury on the job, reduced risk of heart disease and many more. Exercise can even improve someone’s overall mental health and mood since the body releases chemicals that can make you feel more relaxed. This in turns helps people to cope with the stressors that might present themselves throughout the workday. As a leader there are endless ways to do this such as, offering lunchtime yoga classes in the office, encouraging a friendly competition to train for a 5k or even partnering with a local fitness studio to give your employees discounts. Some companies even offer financial incentives to boost healthy behaviors in the workplace.

Boosting the morale of your teams won’t happen overnight. But if there’s ever a good time to start, it’s now. Why not encourage a fun environment where people are happy to come to work and do their job? Your company will reap the benefits for years to come!