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David
Lee
Consultant
Speaker
Author |
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For
More Information:
David Lee, Principal
HumanNature@Work
P.O. Box 430
Bar Mills, Maine 04004
Tel: 207-929-3344
E-mail: info@HumanNatureAtWork.com |
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AR
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Are
You Really Serious About Improving Morale? |
| By
David Lee |
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| Reprinted
from The Employment Times, January 19, 2004 |
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One of the questions I’m
most frequently asked is “How can we
improve morale?” Because morale affects
every aspect of a company’s competitive
advantage, it’s an important question
to ask.
Business objectives that relate to your company’s
success, such as increasing quality, productivity,
and customer loyalty, while reducing turnover,
absenteeism, and safety related costs, are
all influenced by employee morale. Therefore,
keeping morale high should be on every manager’s
radar screen.
Are You Asking the Wrong Question?
Here’s the problem, though: most managers
and HR professionals start off their quest
to improve morale on the wrong foot. They doom
their morale building efforts from the beginning
by asking the wrong question. It usually goes
something like this: “We need to improve
morale. What program would you recommend that
doesn’t cost much (or anything)?” The
way they frame this critical issue reveals
two serious errors in perspective and it offers
a clue why morale might be a problem in the
first place.
Are You “Being Penny Wise and Dollar
Foolish” … or Just Plain Delusional?
The fact that the request includes the qualifier “doesn’t
cost much (or anything)” reveals the
first perspective error. Not being willing
to invest in a factor – employee morale
- that so powerfully affects their organization’s
success is simply being “penny wise and
dollar foolish.”
Approaching the issue of improving employee
morale from the perspective of “We want
to improve this critical driver of our success,
but we don’t want to invest time and
money in making it happen” makes as much
sense as saying “We want to deliver world
class customer service, but we don’t
want to invest in hiring the best people or
taking the time and money to train them well.” It’s
beyond illogical; it’s delusional. People
who say they want to improve morale, but aren’t
willing to invest in it, need to examine both
their sincerity and their logic.
Are You Trying to Solve an Experiential Problem
With a Goodies, Gimmicks, and Gala Events?
Besides the “penny wise, dollar foolish” perspective
error, such a request reveals a second perspective
error: trying to solve an experiential problem
with a material solution. In the typical request,
the person sees the solution in the form of
a program, as if just the right event, award
ceremony, or fun little program will make a
lasting change in morale.
It won’t. Goodies, gimmicks, and gala
events, on their own, don’t lead to high
morale. Nor do any quick fix “solutions.” In
fact, when such events and programs contradict
workers’ daily experience of not being
respected, valued, or appreciated; these approaches
have just the opposite effect. They lead to
an even more cynical, distrustful, and disengaged
workforce.
What does lead to high morale is an intrinsically
rewarding work experience: a work experience
where employees feel respected, valued, and
appreciated; a work experience where employees
get to be players and not just hired hands,
a work experience where they get to make a
difference. With such a work experience, employees
don’t need to be bribed, they don’t
have to be plied with goodies to make them
want to come to work and do their best.
Thus, the second critical perspective error
that dooms the goodies, gimmicks, and gala
events approach to failure is trying to solve
what is fundamentally an experiential issue
with material “solutions” (i.e.
goodies) and events. Morale problems are experiential
problems, they’re a result of a negative
or dissatisfying work experience, whether due
to the actual job itself, one’s relationship
with one’s boss, not having adequate
training, or the myriad of other factors that
affect morale. Because morale is a problem
of a unsatisfying work experience, the answer
is in changing the work experience. More specifically,
the answer is in creating an intrinsically
rewarding work experience, a work experience
that itself is rewarding (not always fun, but
rewarding).
You don’t create such a work experience
with one time events or material perks. Holding
an Employee Appreciation Day, having Dress
Down Fridays, or giving employees company logo
doesn’t create an intrinsically rewarding
work experience. What does? Designing a work
experience based on the plethora of research
about which organizational factors, managerial
practices, and human needs lead to an inspired,
engaged workforce.
Would You Use This Approach In Your Personal
Life?
Because the goodies, gimmicks and gala events
approach to improving morale is so prevalent,
I want to risk belaboring this point by using
an analogy that I hope makes it even more evident
why this approach doesn’t work.
To dramatize the folly of trying to solve an
experiential issue with a material solution
or an event, let’s translate this approach
into a personal life application. Imagine the
following scenario: a co-worker tells you his
wife just told him she’s unhappy with
their relationship. He doesn’t remember
the exact reasons she stated, but he does remember
her saying she’s not satisfied. He tells
you he’s been thinking about what to
do about this, and has come up with two possible
solutions. He wants your feedback on which
is better. His solutions? Either buy her a
Miata or take her on a Caribbean cruise. Now,
if those are his solutions, might you have
some clues about why his wife isn’t happy?
Although his level of cluelessness might seem
absurd, it does illustrate the same thought
process underlying the request for a morale-building
program. In our marital example, instead of
learning what relationship needs of hers aren’t
being met and working with his wife to create
a marital experience where they are being met,
he thinks his salvation lies in a material
solution, either the perfect material object
- the Miata - or the perfect event - the Caribbean
cruise. But, material solutions or events don’t
satisfy experiential needs. In this example,
such experiential needs might include spending
more time together, being listened to rather
than being talked at or ignored, being treated
with respect and caring, etc. In the workplace,
the need to matter, the need to be proud of
your work and your employer, and the need for
autonomy[1] are a few of the experiential needs
that impact morale and productivity. If these
experiential needs aren’t met, no material “solution” or
event will make a difference.
Four Points To Guide Your Morale Building Efforts
Let’s move on to four thoughts for you
and your management team to keep in mind as
you explore this issue of improving morale
by creating an intrinsically rewarding work
experience. Consider these four points:
Remember That Goodies,
Gimmicks, and Gala Events Are The Frosting,
Not The Cake – Although
goodies, gimmicks, and gala events aren’t
the solution to improved morale, they do have
a place in the overall approach. They’re
appropriate when done as part of a larger effort
and when they’re not done instead of
the hard work that needs to take place.
Organizations known for having a great workplace
frequently put on a variety of fun events and
special programs, and often shower employees
with various “goodies.” These programs
and perks work for them because they’re
an honest representation of how management
feels about, and treats, employees day in and
day out. Managers in these companies recognize
that such programs and perks are the frosting
on the cake, they’re not the cake. They
understand that the “cake” is the
work experience.
For these organizations, their generous perks,
gala events, fun programs are a congruent manifestation
of the ongoing relationship between labor and
management, and a congruent extension of their
employees’ work experience. Returning
to the example of giving a partner a special
gift, if the relationship isn’t good,
such a gift is seen as missing the point (“I
don’t want an expensive gift, I want
to spend time together!”) and perhaps
even a transparent manipulation. But, if that
special gift is a natural expression of a special
relationship, it both communicates and strengthens
the specialness of that relationship.
Therefore, as you develop a strategy to improve
morale, don’t make goodies, gimmicks,
and gala events the centerpiece or the foundation
of your strategy. See them for what they are:
the frosting and not the cake.
Make Sure All Managers
Understand “It’s
the Little Things, and Every Little Thing Matters” – Morale
is not improved by a one time, dramatic display
of appreciation. Morale is improved - or damaged
- one interaction at a time. Every time employees
interact with their manager, it’s a Moment
of Truth. Every time they interact with their
employer, whether in the form of a company-wide
policy or communication, it’s a Moment
of Truth.
Just as in customer service, each moment of
truth affects how the organization is perceived.
The sum total of these moments of truth determine
how the employee feels about his or employer.
Thus, each moment of truth matters.
Thus, instead of focusing on one time events
and dramatic displays of concern and appreciation,
your management team needs to “think
small.” They need to focus on those simple
day to day encounters that might seem insignificant,
but which through their cumulative effect,
determine morale. In the words of branding
expert Scott Bedbury, you want your managers
to understand that “Everything Matters”.
It matters whether a manager notices the good
things an employee does or just notices their
mistakes. It matters whether a manager asks
employees for their input before making a decision
that impacts their daily work or just goes
ahead and makes the change, expecting employees
to “just deal with it.”
It matters whether managers get back to employees
promptly about their requests or have to be
repeatedly pursued for an answer. It matters
whether managers say “Thank you” when
employees go the extra mile or take it for
granted. In short: ”Everything Matters.” Therefore,
all managers need to be more focused on the
many moments of truth that build or destroy
morale.
It’s important to help managers understand
this for two reasons. First, with most people
being overloaded with work, it’s natural
for managers to sprint through the day without
taking time to consider the impact of their
interactions. “Everything Matters” helps
them remember the importance of paying attention
to each interaction and giving it their best.
Second, because most people are unlikely to
give their boss negative feedback, managers
never realize the negative impact of mishandled
moments of truth. Because they don’t
get that feedback, they don’t receive
evidence that Everything Matters.
Thus, by helping managers make “Everything
Matters” a mantra, it helps them become
more alert to, and mindful of, the many little
moments of truth each day brings, and increases
the odds that the outcome of each will be morale-building.
Most of the Answers
Are Within You and Your Workforce… So Ask – The answer
to improving morale in your company doesn’t
come from the latest management fad. It doesn’t
come from giving every employee copies of Who
Moved My Cheese or making them watch a Fish!
video. The answer comes from you and your workforce.
Because each company has a unique culture and
a unique set of problems causing diminished
morale, no off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-all,
quick fix “solution” will address
the unique challenges and needs your organization
faces.
Furthermore, trying to force a pre-packaged
solution onto employees usually backfires.
No one likes to have things forced on them;
we do like to be involved in solving problems.
Creating a “home grown” customized
solution for low morale, obviously requires
finding out the causative factors. Rather than
guess what they are, ask. Just as importantly,
make sure you don’t ask unless you are
truly willing to honestly address them. Most
managers drop the ball at this step. They ask
for input, employees give the input, and then
nothing is ever done with the input. The result?
Decreased morale and trust; increased resentment
and cynicism.
Doing this right also means involving employees
in generating solutions. Because Everything
Matters, just the fact that you involve employees
in generating solutions wins you “morale
brownie points.” Doing so shows you respect
them. It also taps into the need to matter – to
be a player and not just a hired hand, and
the innate drive to solve problems, two factors
that strongly impact morale.
Be Willing To Look
In The Mirror – Especially
If You’re At The Top – If there’s
a morale problem, there’s a leadership
problem. The problem is, when things aren’t
going well, it’s human nature to look
outside ourselves for the cause. If you’re
a manager, especially a senior manager, have
you asked yourself “What am I doing that
might be contributing to – or even driving – low
morale?”
If you are contributing to low morale, chances
are good that no one has told you this. Bosses
don’t hear these things, because most
employees realize criticizing their boss isn’t
exactly the fast track to success. Thus, most
bosses never hear about the many things they
inadvertently do that diminishes employee morale.
Thus, they continue to do things that damage
morale, and wonder why turnover is high or
employee relations issues plague their company.
Because power brings immunity from feedback,
you will need to actively seek out feedback
- if you’re truly serious about improving
morale. You will need to ask for feedback and
learn how to make it safe for people to respond
honestly. Approaches and tools that can yield
useful information include the many leadership
assessment tools available, 360 degree survey
tools, having HR or an external consultant
interview people you deal with, and executive
coaching.
Conclusion and Introduction to Part II
If you want to improve employee morale, remember
that goodies, gimmicks, and gala events are
not the answer. They’re the icing on
the cake, not the cake. The cake is an intrinsically
rewarding work experience. To find out how
you can create one, ask. Then work together
with your employees to make it a reality.
In part II, we’ll explore in more detail
what you can do to improve morale, from three
different perspectives. We’ll look at
what you can do if you’re an HR Manager,
what you can do if you’re a supervisor,
and what you can do if you’re the CEO,
President, Division Head, or business owner. |
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[1]
Regarding the need for autonomy, research
by Blessing/White showed that autonomy
was the strongest predictor of discretionary
effort. Discretionary effort is the amount
of work employees do above and beyond that
require to keep their jobs. The greater
the autonomy, the greater the discretionary
effort. |
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About the Author: David Lee is an internationally recognized authority on organizational and managerial practices that optimize employee performance. He is the author of Managing Employee Stress and Safety, as well as dozens of articles on employee and organizational performance that have been published in trade journals and books in North America, Asia, Europe, and Australia. For information on his programs and service, click here.
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