Employee morale is one of the most critical factors for any business’ success because it ties into all aspects of the business. Low employee morale can impact food prep quality, customer service and the overall customer experience. Inversely, high employee morale leads to employees who care more about where your organization is going and your guests.
While there are many things that can be done to improve the spirit of your employees, it begins with identifying issues that may be having a negative effect. There are plenty of questions you need to ask yourself in order to develop a plan for attacking potential issues. Some of the more common causes of low morale include:
- Employees not feeling recognized for their work, paralleled with managers not trained on how to recognize or foster employees
- A subset of employees who are under-performers and a subset who are over-performers
- Lack of training, experience or tools needed to position employees for success
After you recognize the issues, you can incorporate a variety of tactics to boost employee morale:
- Train managers and supervisors on employee morale and how to recognize when it is low to address issues before they become problems
- Put attainable goals in place for employees to achieve and be recognized for their achievements
- Seemingly small gestures like uniforms can create a sense of camaraderie and pride for employees, but outdated and uncomfortable uniforms can have the opposite effect
- Ensure all materials necessary to perform tasks are in place and the staff understands their roles and responsibilities
- Consider a community involvement initiative
- Create a health program – according to a survey, 77% of employees responded that “health and wellness programs positively impact the culture of work”
Most importantly, talk with employees regularly to determine their needs and what they hope to get out of their work experience. Then act quickly when possible to fulfill those requests.
Focusing on boosting your employee morale can have positive long-term effects on your business. After all, happy employees make happy guests.
