How to boost morale and employee efficiency

Starting up a business, making it grow, appointing the right people and keeping them happy… it’s a never ending to do list! But it’s worth making the effort: high morale and employee efficiency means your business will maximise its money making potential, your customers will report higher satisfaction and you won’t be wasting your time and resources by constantly hiring new recruits. Here are some easy ways to boost morale and employee efficiency.  

Make sure everyone shares the company vision

Telling your employees that they’re part of something bigger than themselves will get them motivated and inspired to work towards a common cause. We all have busy workloads and the occasional stressful day, but sharing the business’ values and goals will act like a safety net to fall back on – if they believe in the cause, they’re going to pull harder. Reiterate it as many times as necessary and encourage a culture of talking about the business' core values.

Give employees the tools they need to get the job done

Nothing is more frustrating for your employees than having their talent and ideas scuppered by inadequate infrastructure. Consider investing in management tools such as UpRaise to make processes efficient, purposeful and connected, and check everyone has the technology they need. It can be as simple as providing a comfortable office chair, or as specific as having budgets set aside for essential software. Keeping an eye on the details like this will get the work done in the best way possible and remind your employees that you acknowledge them as skilled individuals that need the right toolkit to do their finest work. 

Set SMART goals

How would you feel about being set a goal you know you’ve a slim chance of reaching? What if your salary increase depended on it? Goals are useful for employees as they need to know what they’re working towards and what is expected of them, but it’s very important that these goals are SMART, which means they need to be specific, measurable, agreed-upon, realistic and timely. By writing SMART goals rather than plucking them out of thin air, employee morale will heighten and efficiency will increase as staff work towards targets they agree with. Even challenging goals will be better received if employees feel you’ve talked it through with them and believe there’s a way to achieve it!

Give praise and recognition

Praise is an obvious morale booster: people who feel appreciated and respected are more motivated than those who think their efforts are going unnoticed. Research shows that dopamine is released in our brains when we hear something we like: so shower deserving employees with positive feedback if you want to increase an overall sense of pride, satisfaction and wellbeing! The best way to give praise is to be specific, sincere and sensitive. Some personalities and cultural nuances might lend your style of praise to a quiet ‘thank you’ in private, whereas others will prefer the limelight of a round of applause. Whatever the case, keep dishing it out wherever it’s worthy!