One Key Approach You’re Missing to Elevate Your Leadership

In the management world, morale is a word you have probably come across a time or two, but what the heck is it? By definition, morale is the confidence, enthusiasm, and discipline of a person or a group at a particular time. 

Morale has become vastly important in the workplace these days. This is because when employees feel like they aren't appreciated or valued, they start to dislike their work environment. Without morale and making employees feel appreciated, you risk creating a toxic culture that can lead to more negative outcomes. 

It’s easy to feel like a good leader when your employees are hitting all their marks, and the business is successful. And yes, you are doing a good job as a leader, but theres a chance you could be doing better. There are many qualities of a good leader, but one could argue that keeping morale high is one of the better qualities for a leader to possess. 

Understanding who you are as a leader is important. This 5 Voices quiz can help you discover your voice as a manager which can help you be a better leader. The five voices can also be beneficial for your employees to take so you may have a better understanding of who they are as workers and allow you to work together better once you understand them. 

Now let's dig deeper into morale, and learn exactly what morale is, and what it can look like. We are going to discuss three different types of morale with examples of how you can use them in the workplace.

The most common type of morale is gifts. Now this doesn't mean buying every employee an expensive and personal gift, it's more generalized. Bringing something in for the team is an easy way to show you care. This could mean bringing in donuts on a Monday morning since its the first day of the work week. It could mean buying pizza for your team since they have to stay late one evening. Maybe even buckets of candy around the office for Halloween. These little things can make a whole difference. 

Now to take this a step further, showing that you know your employees personal needs can make an even bigger impact. This might mean getting gluten free donuts or pizza for the employee who has a gluten allergy. This could mean avoiding peanuts or other common allergens if an employee on your team has the allergy. This makes them feel recognized and cared for. 

To take the morale ideas up a notch, the next example is parties! This could mean pizza parties at the end of the quarter to celebrate your sales mark, or meeting your goal. Get them pizza, cheesy bread, soda, and all the things, but also let them know how much you appreciate their hard work this quarter, that you are proud of them, or you are lucky to have them on your team. 

You could also do birthday parties! Select a time period and have a party for everyone who has birthdays in that time period. Bring in cake, little party hats, some decorations. This shows a personal touch, that you remember their birthday and you are simply celebrating them being here. 

The third morale booster idea is employee recognition. The most common example of this is employee of the month, but we can take this a step further! An example would be an employee highlight board. Whether you do this weekly, biweekly, or monthly, you can create personal interest for your employees. You could have a photo of them, information about who they are, and their strengths in the company!

However, recognition could also be something as simple as telling them that how good they did that day, that you're glad to have them on your team, any positive comment that stands alone. This helps them know that everytime you talk to them won't be something negative, which can help boost morale too. 

The biggest benefit of boosting morale is it can increase productivity and decrease other negative issues, such as turnover and quiet quitting. When employees feel undervalued, or when they feel their work environment is toxic, it makes them not want to come to work. This can lead to more callouts, longer or more consistent breaks, quiet quitting and even higher turnover.  

If your employees feel valued and have that positive morale, they are more likely to want to come to work. Employees who don't like their working environment are more likely to call out, show up late, etc. Employees may also be tempted to take longer breaks, or constantly go to the bathroom, outside to smoke, etc., just to get away from the office if they feel undervalued. There is also the idea of quiet quitting. This term is making its round in the business world but it's nothing new. Low morale can lead to employees doing the bare minimum required to meet their goals. However, if you show them you care, you are more likely to get your employees to go above and beyond for their role. 

If you want to create a better working environment for your employees, boosting morale is a great approach to start with! Building a positive environment where your employees feel valued and cared for will have a bigger impact than you might realize. If you liked this approach and want to learn other ways to elevate your leadership, check out this altitude course! Being a great leader is just on the horizon, you got this!