Company Morale

Managing company morale is one of the hardest things a leader can do. I had someone tell me a long time ago that positive company synergy is hard to attain and easy to lose.

Communication is the centerpiece of building great morale. You can be a company that has great compensation and benefits, a great looking work place, awesome clients, strong integrity and good job advancement. BUT, if you have poor top to bottom/bottom to top communication, inevitably a disconnect will grow and employees will not feel engaged. In survey after survey, communication is cited as a top reason that employees are dissatisfied. In the end, employees want to feel like they know what they are working towards and they want to be heard.

I think companies mistake effective communication for a loss of control. This is not the case. Companies that I have worked with that maintained great company energy have simply been lead by open minded people who were good listeners. They discussed the company’s challenges with their employees . They asked (genuinely) what the company could do better and often received GREAT ideas that could be implemented. Employees and leaders felt like partners. When a company can reach that level… where management and employees are working together, great things happen.

Communication is the foundation of ANY good relationship. And it’s often the first thing that can break down when things are busy. If you are trying to improve morale at your company, start first with improving communication. You will be amazed at how far that gets you and how excited employees will be about their jobs. But show patience…it doesn’t happen overnight.