10 No or Low Cost Employee Morale Boosters

Simple Management Steps

In difficult times all managers are challenged with keeping staff engaged and morale high (or even up!). “Boosters” are activities that can have short term but duplicable results in lifting morale in individuals and teams. Morale boosters can take the form of recognition, compensation or special perks or privileges.
Here are 10 no or low cost morale boosters to get you started:

1. Ideas – Employee morale often improves when staff feel they are valued and listened to. Implement their ideas where practical and tell people who’s idea it was
2. Listen to your people – Provide regular open forums to allow employees to express their concerns and feelings can be an easy means to boost morale (company or team level)
3. Public recognition – Put a large score board in the workplace to show top performers and to motivate those towards the bottom of the list
4. Focus & clear goals – clarity and checking understanding of expectations on a regular basis. Firms with a lack of focus can confuse employees and this often leads to reduced morale
5. Show charity – Encourage your employees to get involved in a local cause to help them see there is more to life than work
6. Thank you notes – Send a special thank you letter to your employees’s family or spouse, praising their (specific) good work and efforts
7. Have fun – Special events and outside work activities can take the pressure off the day-to-day grind in the workplace
8. Add playfulness – Use low cost items such as a football table in rest rooms/ staff lounges
9. Measure it –  Keep tabs on the levels of engagement and satisfaction in your business by regularly measuring employee satisfaction
10. Fire people – Sometimes the root cause of low morale can be an employee whose negativity brings down the group. Even a high performer can bring down employees behind your back

When it comes to employee morale and motivation there are 3 important factors we need to remember:

1. People are different
2. People are different
3. People are different

What motivates one will not necessarily motivate another – as managers we need to know our people and work with them appropriately.

The success of any organisation or business resides in the attitudes, productivity and output of your employees. Those companies who are sensitive to the signs of low morale and who focus on improving morale can minimise the impact of a low morale workplace.