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Tips for Managing Employee Morale in a Down Economy
Be transparent! Don’t try to hide the fact that we are in a recession. Profits are down and businesses are suffering. Talk about the company performance. Don’t sugar coat or spin it in ways that aren’t accurate. Your employees are smart – they are watching the news and hear the same stories you are.
Over-share with your staff, even more so than you would in a good economy. If they know that you understand and are feeling the same pains that they are feeling, they are more likely to figure out ways to help.
Reinforce your core values and your mission. Remind them of why you are in the business you are in and how important and vital their roles are to the organization. Help them to remember why they do the job that they do for you.
Do not do anything to affect your quality. Quality should remain key.
Don’t take advantage of your employees. It’s never a good thing when you have employees who are only working to save their jobs. Reaffirm that you are behind them and support them.
Use this time to find extra talent in your team. If they are less busy, don’t fill up their day with busy-work. Find meaningful tasks and ways they can contribute that may be outside of their regular job functions.
Don’t drag things out. Nothing is more demoralizing than taking too long to make decisions. Make decisions quickly and move forward.
Find reasons to celebrate successes on a daily or weekly basis. Even small successes have a huge impact on morale.
Deliver a message of hope. Tell your team how you specifically plan to help move the company through this recession and encourage ideas and suggestions that will make them feel part of the solution.
Keep goals real and achievable. Lofty goals and expectations demoralize in troubling times.
LISTEN! Listen to what you team is saying. Recognize their concerns and their pains. Don’t trivialize their feelings.
Be fair. Don’t cut the benefits and compensation of the junior staff while the senior staff continues to benefit.
Don’t brag. You may be able to afford a nice new car or a great vacation, but not all of your staff can. Keep this type of information to yourself.
Make yourself available! As a leader it is your job to serve your people and during the tough times is when they need you the most. Take the time to stop and see how they are doing and mingle with your employees. Learn who they are and what motivates them.
Humanize yourself. Make sure they know that you feel the same pains that they are feeling.
Energize your staff in a way that is specific to each employee. A cookie cutter approach won’t work, you must find out how each person gets re-energized and help them with it.
Energize yourself! Being a leader can be pretty lonely. Find ways to remind yourself on a regular basis why you do what you do.
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