Drive, Motivation and Innovation

Drive, Motivation and Innovation

Low Morale at Work.

It is difficult to quantify morale. Just how to you quantify low morale with hard data? We know whether if we have good morale or not. We can sense it when something is not right. But how do you tell the boss that employee morale is down?

Taking surveys, questioning people surely would provide you some insights, but sometimes these surveys can be misleading when people tell us what we want to hear. I find that by measuring and analyzing employee complaints, employee grievances and concerns, safety or accident rates and even customer complaints can be good indicators of employee morale. I listed some other symptoms of low morale that are known to cause management headaches and frustration.

Low productivity and poor workmanship
Frequent absenteeism
Unhealthy relationship with the employer or immediate boss and colleagues.
Lack of concentration on work.
Frequent breaks, or long break hours.
Coming frequently late to office.
High attrition rate.
Hostile environment on floor
Not meeting deadlines
Poor target achievement.
Disinterest in the job profile
Discrimination and Favoritism among employees.
Dissatisfaction with the work and organization.

Low morale happens when an employee’s job performance is misaligned with the organizations aim. This misalignment of company aims and what you want from your people causes frustrations, poor communication and an unfulfilling workplace. Often times, we expect employees to do their jobs without the right direction, proper tools, know-how or and most importantly, proper aim.

How do you deal with low morale?