Happy employees equal productive employees. Corporations invest millions each year into human resource programs that promise increased employee satisfaction.
How can you improve the emotional health and wellbeing of your team without breaking the bank? Here are 8 dynamic workplace morale boosters that’ll bring a total transformation to your company culture.
1. Post-It Note Wars
Fun in the workplace is a gift that keeps on giving. You not only help employees ease much-needed stress, but you also provide an atmosphere that encourages team building.
Post-It Note Wars involves creating clever designs on office walls or windows using post-it notes. The team with the most imaginative design wins.
Divide teams by department or based on projects. Encourage teams to think outside the box by offering top-notch prizes like extra vacation days or gift cards.
Team building is one of the top ways to capitalize on the talents of your employees. When they blend their skills and strengths, productivity is increased tenfold.
The only way for employees to know one another’s strengths is to feel comfortable sharing ideas and information.
2. Take a Trip
When you’re looking for workplace morale boosters that take your team out of the office, consider a retreat in a vacation destination. Offsite retreats take employees out of their stressful environment into more relaxing scenery.
This strategy for boosting morale is helpful when it’s impossible to separate your workspace from the harsh stressors of work. Some environments, like call centers, are constantly in motion making it difficult for anyone to concentrate on anything except work.
Take your employees out of the office and on a trip where they can focus on team building. Vacations provide a reset button on workplace conflicts and give you a chance to offer everyone a fresh start.
3. Celebrate Successes
Don’t be shy about celebrating the successes of your employees. Have a monthly meeting where you recognize the efforts of team members that did extraordinary work that month.
The work might not always be job-related. Commend employees that contribute to a more positive or healthy workplace.
Provide incentives that encourage other team members to follow their example. When possible, reward employees in groups so that they recognize the importance of teamwork.
4. Offer Forgiveness
Few adults learn through punishment. When your employee messes up, it’s important to communicate your expectations but to also show grace.
An environment where supervisors yell and berate employees is toxic. Those employees are more likely to yell and berate their subordinates creating a vicious cycle.
If you want a respectful workplace, make sure you offer forgiveness for employee mistakes. It’s a way of showing you care about them as people which helps to boost morale.
5. Explore Career Planning Workshops
Ambitious employees need a path forward. Career planning workshops are one of the workplace morale boosters that take the least amount of time.
You can simply explore the employee’s goals during an annual performance review. Find out their expectations of success and help them set goals within the organization.
This method helps them view the company as a place where they can invest more time and effort because their goals appear more attainable. A company that invests in the success of its employees reaps the benefits by creating a more energized team.
Because the employees now stand to make personal gains, they’ll be more interested in making sure their performance is top-notch.
6. Personalize Swag
No two employees are alike. When you host awards ceremonies, give away personalized swag.
These one-of-a-kind gifts show employees you recognize them as individuals. The investment is only slightly higher than buying plaques in bulk.
Think humor when looking for gifts to personalize as workplace morale boosters. Giant glasses with your company logo might be given to an employee that demonstrates exceptional vision.
Get creative in your gift-giving to show thoughtfulness to your team.
7. Volunteer
Workplace morale boosters aren’t always related to work. Consider doing a service project together as a team.
Allow your employees to choose their favorite charity as the recipient of your volunteer hours. Get t-shirts printed to show your solidarity in working as a team.
T-shirts are also helping in identifying other people if you’re participating in a large event like a marathon. If getting out an volunteering isn’t an option, you can also collect donations for the organization.
The company should match each employee’s donation to maximize fundraising efforts.
8. Encourage Peer to Peer Recognition
Most employers agree that healthy competition is good for productivity. Employees racing forward to meet deadlines and goals first means more completed projects and happier clients.
But the bottom line isn’t everything. Workplaces that allow cutthroat behavior sabotage their own success.
Encourage employees to collaborate rather than compete. Set up peer to peer recognition programs that melt away the need to have only one ‘winner’ on a project.
When you allow employees to advance based on their morale, it helps lessen the pressure on your team. Recognition software help you implement these ideas publicly without the need for staff meetings.
Finding Workplace Morale Boosters
Workplace morale boosters can be lavish or charitable. It doesn’t matter which approach you choose if the effort is authentic.
Always be the first to participate in a morale-boosting initiative. It’s much easier to teach by example when you notice your workplace morale falling short.
Many people are wary of taking time off work when their supervisor is working long hours or weekends. Be the first to compliment and offer resources to coworkers.
When employees notice the change in your behavior, it helps take the edge off a stressful work environment. For more information and tips, visit our blog for updates.