Work/Life Balance

Morale: Build a Bridge and Get Over It

By Kathryn L. Mendicki, CPA

Experts say that one employee with bad morale is a cancer to the overall company morale. What causes this? What can you do to help? Is there any recourse other than to cut out the cancer?

Many speakers on the speaking circuit will tell you that you control your own happiness. You are the master of your destiny. Your thoughts dictate your attitude; change your thoughts and you can change your attitude. If you can help your employees see this and to change their thoughts, you can improve overall company morale.

A great contributor to low morale is disparaging thoughts and commentaries on real and perceived slights. We all know the staff person who can’t let go of an issue. “They scheduled that meeting, knowing we had a deadline and it really made it difficult to get everything done.” Each and every time that employee thinks they have been slighted, up comes this example and the full list is aired again. In this way, the employee brings the other employees into the fold of perceived management lack of concern.

The person who can’t let go of old history is not only damaging the work environment but potentially damaging their health, as well. Helping them to see this can not only help company morale but may end up lengthening the employee’s life. People who harbor ill feelings and stress have been shown to be more prone to heart problems, depression, and stomach disorders. In fact, the full impact of stress on health has only begun to be studied. It is clear, however, that reductions in stress or adjustments in people’s reactions to stress can impact that person’s health.

What are some options for dealing with the stress in your company’s work atmosphere? 

·        Bring in a speaker to help with airing these issues. If everyone hears the same message, there can be a shared focus on solving the issues. 

·        Focus on the impact to the employees as well as the work environment. Negativism is shown to impact not only productivity but the negative person’s health and ability to perform on the job. As an employer, you are concerned not only with the employee at the job but with their overall well-being. 

·        Set the attitude from the top. Ensure that management buys into the issues and assists in developing and implementing the solutions. 

For management to rebuild trust with the employees, management needs to take responsibility for its actions. When misunderstandings or incidents occur, the person responsible should apologize and take responsibility for the mistake. He/she should also acknowledge that every effort will be made to not make the same mistake in the future. Management should then take steps to see that the mistakes shouldn’t happen in the future by setting new policies and procedures. 

Everyone should encourage the employees to move on if and when a new misunderstanding or incident occurs. The new situation isn’t the same as prior situations and steps were taken to correct the first episode. Now, everyone can deal with this issue and set up procedures to deal with the new situation. The mantra becomes “build a bridge and get over it”. 

Employees learn to not focus on the issues which have already been dealt with and should not have lasting impact. Gradually, the employees learn to trust that management does indeed care for their employees and to not focus on the negative aspects of one or two issues to the detriment of all that they have accomplished as a group. It doesn’t happen overnight, and in the long run, the disgruntled employee may leave the fold, but in the meantime, relationships are strengthened with all employees and overall morale and productivity will begin to increase.