Morale and productivity are two concepts that, on first glance, are uneasy bedfellows. It is, for instance, difficult to envisage an ultra-target orientated, time-squeezed workforce building high levels of morale.
Equally, it appears impossible for a laissez-faire, happy-go-lucky business culture ever delivering the sort of consistent, target-smashing results necessary to rapidly grow a business.
However, while these two concepts appear mutually exclusive, nothing could be further from the truth.
They can feed off one another to create a positive, hard-working culture of staff members who have purpose and security, without pulling all-nighters or feeling under adverse pressure.
This is how you can boost staff morale, without sacrificing productivity:
Strong communication is the most powerful morale booster
Productivity is impossible without strong levels of communication. It is imperative that clear, concise and honest communication is practiced throughout a business, from the top down. Establishing clear two-way channels of communication between management and general staff members is one way you can achieve this, and so are regular meetings where problems can be voiced freely and constructively, by both staff and management.
By implementing effective communication techniques in the workplace, such as those explained by Simpplr, you can boost both morale and productivity levels.
Work to the strengths of your staff
This is an underused method of maximizing both productivity and morale. While generalized ways of working – including using a standardized office space and delegating positions with wide job descriptions (such as a digital marketing executive role, for instance) – it is imperative that each staff member is regularly assessed on their relative strengths and weaknesses, how they work and in what environment they work best in.
Thanks to the increasing adoption of remote working technology and more specific job roles, you can ensure you get the best out of your employees while ensuring they are at their most comfortable. Use your newfound communication skills to regularly hold conversations with them and find out what is working and what is not.
Mix up your work force and never let it become stagnant
Similarly, it is important to not to let your business become bereft of new and creative ways of thinking. Sadly, thanks to stringent office protocols, many businesses regularly risk this by not allowing employees to work with different people from time to time.
While this does not have to mean your office turns into a game of musical chairs, simply holding regular team building events and shaking up the members of teams on large projects can have a transformative effect on staff morale and productivity, as new ideas start to flow.
Always have a clear target and always communicate it
Target-led businesses tend to garner bad reputations. It is easy to believe that keeping employees strictly on track with regular (and ambitious) targets only creates unnecessary stress and leads to a pressure cooker work environment, but it does not have to be this way.
In fact, setting clear, transparent targets and making them easily explainable can massively boost morale, as well as productivity. This is because humans are naturally target-led creatures, who feel adrift and lost when they are not working towards a relevant goal. The same is true in business.
Some business leaders get this wrong by setting these targets in an aggressive, hostile manner, or doing the opposite and letting their staff work every day with little understanding of the wider business targets they are all supposed to be working towards.
Both approaches lead to waning morale and poor productivity levels. Instead, lay out your plans for the week, the month and the year with your colleagues, ensuring they fully understand the target that is fueling their work.
