How can you tell that your team needs a morale boost? Unfortunately, low morale can quickly lead to burnout and toxicity among employees. In fact, it often takes just one dissatisfied employee to get the gears of discontentment spinning through an entire department. It happens much faster than most employers can anticipate! A poor attitude can easily spread from employee to employee if an employer isn’t taking time to gauge satisfaction levels around the office. There’s no need to wait until you’ve lost your top workers to start making improvements. Here are three telltale signs that your office is ready for a morale intervention now!
1. You’re Noticing an Increase in Absenteeism
Have you noticed an uptick in absences and sick days among employees? While it’s understandable that employees would want to use their allotted time off when they’re ill, a sudden surge in absences can be a sign that morale is low. Absences often increase when workers develop feelings of dread or anxiety about showing up for work. Absenteeism is harmful to organizations because it can cost the average employer several thousand dollars per employee annually. It also has the potential to reduce profit margins by causing teams to miss goals and targets. As an entrepreneur or franchise owner, you know that the doors can’t stay open unless your employees are there to do their jobs. That’s why getting to the bottom of low employee morale is essential.
2. Employee Gossip is Circulating
When workers feel insecure or fatigued, it’s common for workplace gossip to begin circulating. In many cases, gossip revolves around topics that are causing employees to experience the most confusion or distress. Gossip has a toxic effect on a workplace by creating lost productivity stemming from distractions, hostility between managers and employees, increased anxiety, and loss of loyalty.
The good news is that gossip can often be prevented by simply being more open and transparent with employees. In addition, helping them to feel like they have more of a “voice” in decisions can also help to stifle the urge to gossip. It’s important to remember that employees won’t feel the need to fill in the gaps with gossip if they are being given clear, direct information from you!
3. Top Performers are Leaving
Unfortunately, this last sign that it’s time to improve employee morale actually shows you that morale has been low for much longer than you’ve realized. By the time top performers are resigning for other opportunities, the situation has become so bleak that even the employees who were the most committed have decided not to put in the effort to bring their concerns to you. People who are “hanging on” may only be doing so at this point because they don’t believe that they are in a position to find a better job. Without the help of “powerhouse employees” doing much of the heavy lifting around the office, the situation may only get worse for the employees who have chosen to remain.
High employee morale is vital in an office environment because it affects employee performance and, ultimately, a company’s success. It’s best to be proactive and notice the signs that employee morale needs to be improved.
