The GirlAlive Blog

Morale is an abstract idea that is difficult to grasp or define. But at the same time, we all know when morale has declined. Turnover rates sky-rocket. Sick leave increases. In some cases, people even end up taking time off for mental illness. Everyone can tell when a team is disgruntled, but most of the time managers have no idea why. They see that staff are angry and leaving for other jobs, and are quick to blame the workers for being "disloyal".

The first reaction of most managers when morale has declined is to try to do something to raise morale. This is not the right reaction because it does not address the root of the morale decline. Morale did not decline because of something management didn't do. Your team didn't become surly because you haven't brought them paintballing lately. The fact is, 9 times out of 10, a decline in morale is due to something management did.

What new policies have you enacted lately? What do these policies communicate to your team? These are the questions you need to answer to address a decline in morale. In every work situation I have seen that had a serious decline in morale -- the kind that leads to high turnover rates and the remaining staff doing only the "bare minimum" to get by -- the key to improving morale is asking the staff to complete this statement: "I would have worked harder if you hadn't..."

You see, most lower level staff like data entry clerks and data processors have dead-end jobs. Managers may not see it that way, but the employees do. There are few places to go from there, and only one in ten of them will ever rise into management. Therefore, the only motivation they have to put in extra work and go the extra mile to get things done beyond the bare minimum necessary to stay employed is if they genuinely like and respect their manager and they want to see their manager succeed. And most managers would be surprised at how quickly they can destroy that respect and trust.

So let's look at some of the answers to the statement I mentioned. These are all real examples from real jobs where I or someone I know has worked.

I would have worked harder if you hadn't:

* waited until the last minute to give me an assignment you knew about for months.
* stood behind me and nit-picked while I worked.
* banned food/coffee at my desk, without any attempt at logical compromise.
* ignored your own rules while expecting me to follow them.
* talked to me like I was a 5-year-old, including the phrase, "That's a no-no."
* yelled at me for visiting the company's own web site.
* banned talking during certain hours.
* forced me to work overtime, without giving the option of doing it voluntarily.
* timed my tea breaks to the minute.
* monitored my toilet breaks.
* refused vacation requests for no reason.
* paid me less than the new trainees, after I had worked there for two years.
* given me unrealistic goals and quotas.
* refused to listen when I told you an idea wouldn't work.
* yelled at me for "being late" when I work flexi-time.

What do all these policies and actions have in common? They show a lack of respect and understanding for the employees. They are managers showing off how important they are and how they can be pro-active with new policies, without any regard for their staff as people. Remember, if staff isn't happy and isn't producing good work, their manager will fail much harder because of it than the staff will. At the end of the day a manager will be judged by the productivity of the staff. Enacting policies that disrespect staff may look like a way of increasing productivity on the surface, but in the end, if morale falls, productivity falls. Policies that respect your staff as the intelligent adults that they are is the best way to increase productivity.

If you're a line manager, you're probably thinking, "That's not fair. I'm just passing down the policies and instructions I've been given." It doesn't matter to the people under you. If you tell them that you are only passing down instructions from above, they will not respect your manager for coming up with the idea, and they will not respect you for failing to stand up for them against a bad idea.

At the end of the day, the "golden rule" applies in the office as much as anywhere. Do to your employees only what you would want your boss to do to you. Do you want to be monitored like a prison inmate? Do you want to be scolded like a school child? Then do not do those things to your staff.

Before you enact a new rule or a new office policy, ask yourself what that policy communicates to your staff. Does it communicate trust and respect? Or does it just communicate that you want them to know that you are the boss? Keeping these things in mind are key to morale and productivity. Remember that you cannot get the best quality of work from a team that hates working under you. When you abuse your staff, you are sabotaging your own career, and reducing the value of your stock options. Nice managers are successful managers.