Team morale is an essential element in building any successful venture, but it is also one of the most neglected elements in smaller companies, unfortunately. An event, an activity, or a step that boosts team morale doesn’t always have to be anything that costs a lot of money or resources either, it can be something small but meaningful as well. On that note, let’s now discuss four small methods that HR can use to boost team morale effectively.
Regular Communication
Regular communication is essential between management, HR, and employees. It should also be a two-way communication, meaning that the opportunity to talk to the HR or the management should always be open for every employee, rather than the communication being one-sided. Checking in on the workforce on a fairly regular basis allows management to be aware of their individual and collective morale as a team. There’s also the added advantage of staying aware of problems before they can become big problems for the company. Additionally, if the communication is two-way, then the team members feel that they are a part of the team, rather than feeling like a nameless and replaceable cog.
Small Gifts
The HR department can work towards convincing management regarding the multiple benefits of using small gifts as a way to keep team morale high. For example, t-shirts and caps with embroidered company logos or slogans on them can help in unifying the team. There are obvious branding and marketing potentials that such gifts carry as well, so they can also be considered marketing investments as well.
There are multiple t-shirt embroidery types such as standard stitching and metallic yarn for example, but most importantly, the design should be customized to uniqueness. While the unique embroidered logos and slogans will put your company in highlight, it will also unify the workforce under one banner, which in turn, will boost team morale.
Incentivizing Through Recognition
An Employee of the Month program should be incorporated if there isn’t one in place already. Everybody loves recognition, especially if it’s for their own hard work. By incorporating an Employee of the Month Program, you are incentivizing each one of the workers to aspire towards a personal achievement; one which sets them apart from the others, by being a better team member than the others. It creates a healthy sense of competition and naturally boosts the company’s productivity as a direct result of that.
The incentivization system must be so designed, that it rewards actions taken by individuals towards being the most productive members in a team environment. If there’s recognition and a small amount of money associated with working better as a team member, the company will work like a well-oiled machine. HR should be tasked with posting achievements of the best employees on social media so that everyone concerned can know about their hard work and achievements.
Identify Office Bullies
If there are office bullies in a team then productivity and team morale will suffer. Sometimes, the personal abilities of an employee can be important enough to tolerate them to an extent, but HR should know when to identify office bullies and report them to the appropriate authorities for adequate action.
Condescending, rude teammates are not teammates at all. High team morale and excessive bullying cannot exist in the same place. When employees feel, however, that the HR is taking action against the office bullies, it makes the rest of the employees feel valued and cared for.
There are many other methods to consider as well, but these have been time tested and proven to be the best for improving and maintaining team morale. In any case, most ideas regarding team morale improvement are centered around incentivization, communication, rewarding, and recognition. However, depending on the company’s scale, budget, and the opportunities made available to the HR, the methods and their implementations will need to be fine-tuned though.
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