These are innumerable factors contributing to high morale among workers of an industrial understanding. Employee morale-building is a continuous activity and the utmost care should be taken to build it. One best way of building morale in an organization is to have successful and sound management interested in all employees at all levels.
Morale affects human behavior, performance, and discipline. It cannot be measured directly but is reflected in productivity, employee discipline, absenteeism, turnover, etc.
How to Increase or Build Up Employee Morale in the Workplace?
Following specific steps can be adopted to improve employee morale in the organization:
1. Unity of Interests
The integration of workers’ goals with organization objectives will create employees’ confidence and build up high morale.
2. Sound Wage Structure
Workers accept a just and fair wage corresponding to their qualifications and efficiency.
This should give the workers and their families a reasonable level of subsistence including entertainment and medium of savings.
A sound wage structure based upon sound and fair incentive plans coupled with bonus earnings is conducive to high morale.
3. Working Conditions
Working conditions have an important bearing on morale. Proper working conditions create an interest in the job and lead to higher employee morale.
Under the improper conditions of work, morale is likely to fall.
Proper working conditions include the provision of health, safety, and welfare measures, regulations of working hours, proper wage policy, etc.
Related: What are the signs of Low Morale in the Workplace?
4. Incentive Schemes
Fair remuneration gives compensation to the employee for performing his job.
This, on the time, may not utilize his full capacity and skill. It is but natural that an employee may feel that hs showing more skills is not going to remunerate him and more than regular wages.
Incentive, monetary or non-monetary, is a way to motivate an employee to show more skills and utilize his unused capacity. In other words, incentives may arise his morale.
5. Job Security
An employee is given a job and a sword of his extrication hangs over his head.
Such a situation creates a mental disturbance, which leads to a decrease in his interest in the job and his satisfaction.
If this sword is removed and an employee is assured of his continuance on his job, the fear of extrication will be removed.
This will boost his interest leading to satisfaction and finally a rise in his morale.
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6. Job Enrichment
Job enlargement and job enrichment provide the opportunity to reduce fatigue, monotony, disinterest on the part of the workers, which ultimately leads to higher morale.
7. Grievance and Conflict handling
The conflict appears in many aspects of organizational behavior and it occurs to varying degrees.
Basically, conflict refers to the clash of opposing demands. It is not necessary that conflict is always dysfunctional.
The existence of conflict can be viewed as a necessary, indeed a healthy, characteristic of organizational life.
However, excessive and sustained conflict generates the potential for lo morale. Therefore, conflict resolution is an important leadership responsibility.
8. Workers Participation
Worker’s participation in management is a democratic way of managing.
Their participation in decision making creates a feeling of pride and self-importance in the minds of employees.
Such participation is more essential when some policies affecting the workers are formulated so that they can put forth their views in their interest.
This, in turn, boosts growing satisfaction and thus high morale.
9. Praise and Recognition
Praise of good and efforts helps to infuse further enthusiasm and energy in the workers.
It further increases the morale of the employees.
Achievements of the employees should be recognized by managers with an open heart.
10. Work Freedom
If a worker is treated as a cog in a wheel in the factory and is not given free hand in working, he loses interest in the job.
In order to maintain the worker’s morale at a high level, it is essential that he should be given the maximum degree of freedom that his position allows.
But freedom should not be given a that eh cost of discipline.
Related: Top 8 Methods of Knowing About Employee Grievances.
11. Delegation of Authority
Delegation of authority to different levels in the organization gives employees a sense of importance.
It also makes them responsible and raises their motivation.
12. Welfare Measures
The provision of welfare amenities like healthy recreation, good housing, proper medical facilities, and so on helps in increasing the morale of the employees.
13. Effective Communication System
Communication is the means by which the required information is polarised and made to reach the appropriate person.
As far as employees working on the floor are concerned, they require timely instruction regarding jobs. Management policy is not made known to them, they may not be able to implement it.
Rather, they will be confused. Many times the instruction given by higher authorities may create problems with the workers.
It is, therefore, required that there should be upward communication to raise the morale of the employees.
14. Sound Leadership
Top management must be genuinely interested in the employees at all levels. They must undertake sound human resource practices.
They must listen to the problems of employees patiently. They must inspire subordinates.
Their attempt must be to improve the mental health of employees.
Why is leadership important in modern business?
15. Fair Promotion Policy
Every employee desire to rise and gain better.
A sound promotion policy motivates employees to show more interest and acquire better qualifications.
Promotion opportunities in the organization keep their morale up.
16. Counselling Facilities
Companies can have the services of behaviors scientist in order to tackle important customers of poor employee morale, like, absenteeism, tardiness, turnover, etc.
The counselor’s basic function is to assist, employees with their problems and complaints and put them on the right track promptly.
Thus, counselors keep employees morale high.
17. Profit-Sharing Schemes
Employee morale can be improved by effective profit-sharing schemes.
In addition to its economic aspects, profit sharing has also psychological aspects relating to friendly moves by the management to provide the workers with an opportunity to share in the profits.
Here, the effect of the scheme on morale is more pronounced than the value of money as an incentive.
18. Human Relation Approach
The human relation approach suggests that every individual should be treated as a human being in the organization.
It is assumed that HR techniques improve morale by improving job satisfaction and reducing employee unrest.
There is an urgent need to recognize the employee as a human being and not merely as an economic factor.
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