In most cases, your team’s productivity is linked to their level of motivation. When you empower them, they’ll feel obligated to reciprocate the gesture. This reciprocity can be in terms of loyalty. However, you may most likely recognize it in their overall productivity.
While you can pay generously, you can also take additional physical and intangible efforts to boost team morale. These steps can start right from your process of welcoming new employees to how you treat the most senior members of your staff. Most human resource experts note that employees remain one of the most crucial assets in any organization. Thus, if your organization has a productive team, you are halfway there. However, numerous techniques boost and sustain strong team morale and hence increase productivity.
Read on for tips and best practices for increasing employee morale and productivity.
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Have A Staff Recognition And Appreciation Program
There are financial periods when your business outperforms your competitors. In some cases, you may even get industry awards and mentions in business magazines. Such honors and awards can motivate you to try harder in your next endeavors.
This kind of recognition resonates the same with your team members. Every member of your staff contributes to your organization’s overall growth. Thus, it would only be best to recognize their efforts in this regard. Your recognition programs can vary depending on your operations and department. For instance, if you’re service-oriented, you may base the program on customer satisfaction and feedback. Alternatively, you can base it on the number of customers served during a particular period.
You might include other metrics in your appreciation and recognition program as well. For example, you can educate your operational managers on appropriate key performance indicators. Following that, you can create a reward system for employees who meet or exceed their goals. Furthermore, bonuses for a job well done can boost team motivation. This can be in the form of a percentage commission based on a specific sales target.
Keep in mind that some recognition programs may necessitate certificate awards. Therefore, when establishing your programs, you should consider which steps require monetary incentives and which require alternative forms of appreciation. If you have an internal magazine, it can be one of the best platforms to feature a team member regularly. Monthly appreciation meetings can also be beneficial.
Overall, staff-focused initiatives would be beneficial. This way, your team will feel that they are a part of the organization and valued for their contributions. As a result, these initiatives can foster employee loyalty, establish a positive work environment, and boost team productivity.
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Establish Clear Procedures And Responsibilities
Each job description has a set of duties and responsibilities. However, sometimes other duties may overlap. This can create friction within the team. Furthermore, one team member may feel they’re doing more than another. Therefore, you need to clearly define the duties whenever there seems to be an overlap.
One of the best ways to ensure clarity of duties and responsibilities is to have standard operating procedures (SOP). In addition, the SOP should also show who is responsible for every stated task. You can also produce a staff handbook for the general code of conduct. This can help ensure smooth operation and create a better team spirit. Thus, you can achieve consistent efficiency, which can help increase the overall team productivity.
Furthermore, a clear guide of responsibilities can help establish a consistent hierarchy. Therefore, the team can know what tasks they may need to escalate. A clear and constant flow can help eliminate the risk of confusion, which can affect the team’s morale.
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Plan Team Building Activities
Most motivational experts encourage organizations to incorporate team-building exercises in their staff programs. These programs can help improve communication among the team members. Thus, enabling a more cohesive work environment. In addition, it enhances the staff’s team spirit.
Therefore, while creating staff schedules, you can include several fun activities. Such activities can help foster interpersonal relationships within the team. Additionally, they can improve the team’s problem-solving skills. You can do this through thinking outside the box and some creativity. Even though the activities may not directly relate to their job, they can help encourage the team to be more open. Thus, they can approach their duties with a more open mind, improving their decision-making in the workplace.
Besides improving teamwork, team-building activities can result in a significantly happy team. Thus, boosting the overall morale at the workplace. Better decision-making can also help enhance team members’ confidence and productivity. If you have a remote team, there are various online activities you can choose from to challenge and motivate your staff.
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Develop Training And Growth Programs
Every individual has a desire to grow progressively. This growth can be vertical or horizontal. You should not be their first obstacle when your team or some of its members want to progress. This can easily create mistrust, which can quickly grow into demotivation and low productivity. Therefore, providing an environment that encourages personal and team growth is vital.
For instance, you can organize field visits to your business vendors. This will introduce your employees to a new working environment. They can also gain more excellent knowledge about the tools and products they use regularly. On the other hand, you might also support internal training initiatives. This may entail selecting a few team members to lead training sessions or implementing an interdepartmental rotation.
You might also create a sponsorship plan. This program may entail selecting a team member for a short-term career-enhancing course. Your staff can see that you care about their development, not only their task. You can incorporate promotion criteria in these programs. This can assist the team in recognizing what they need to accomplish to get promoted. As a result, you can encourage both loyalty and hard work.
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Encourage And Promote Work-Life Balance
Most workplaces can take many hours off a team member’s day. Adding up the office and commute hours can amount to a significant amount of time staff spend outside of their personal lives. Sometimes, this can take a toll and lower the team’s morale.
Therefore, it’s essential to encourage the team to ensure they take time off from their work environment. For instance, discourage the team from answering emails when they aren’t in the office. Additionally, you can prevent them from taking their work home. This can help ensure they have quality time with their families and friends.
At the workplace, you can create break rooms. These can help team members decompress and re-energize daily. It also enhances their morale by showing that you care for their well-being.
Conclusion
Employee motivation and morale are ongoing processes. A varied group could also have various job satisfaction and commitment. Therefore, having a variety of short-term, long-term, and diversified programs is essential. You can utilize some of the strategies mentioned above to improve your team’s morale and productivity.
