Boosting employee morale is an important part of every executive’s day. There are many, many articles about tricks or techniques for increasing morale. Suggestions range anywhere from having company outings to providing bonuses and rewards.
While there are a variety of ways to create an upturn in morale among your employees, there is one simple and easy method that is often overlooked. That is: Do what you can to enable employees to get their jobs done.
This technique may sound too simple - and it is simple. That’s why it is so commonly overlooked. A recent study indicated that 20% of motivated employees whose work goals align with their company’s goals are yet frustrated. Another study shows that employee frustration and dissatisfaction will cause 20% of employees to move to a different company.
This pattern can be stopped in its tracks simply by providing employees with the right support so they can do their jobs efficiently.
How to Prevent Employee Frustration
There can be multiple reasons for employee frustration. You may have hired a new person who doesn’t meld with the team or their boss may be micromanaging them. However, the most commonly voiced irritations are incredibly easy to fix. These are: Overuse of Email How do you feel when your email isn’t helping you get work done, but actually hindering production? As an executive, you likely delegate the resolution of many back-and-forth, time-wasting emails to other employees. However, when the person who is getting all of that back-and-forth is an employee with no ability to delegate, they can feel as if email is hindering their production and making them unable to do their job. Fortunately, you can help prevent unnecessary and time-sucking emails from happening in your company. Here are just a few ways you can support your employees and assist them to do the work enjoy:- Create a company-wide email policy everyone must follow. For example, if you have a non-urgent communique, say so in the subject line.
- Set up a company-wide “email answering hour” during which emails will be addressed. Any email answered outside of the hour is reserved for client emails or emails marked “urgent.”
- Ask employees to provide suggestions on how to successfully manage their email loads. You may get some people who love answering emails - but you will likely get some excellent ideas that are pertinent to your industry and company culture out of this open call for suggestions.
- Define job expectations upon hiring. If you will need the person to be “on call,” note what that actually means. There’s a difference between being on call by getting an email when something needs resolution and allowing the employee to resolve it from home and being on call where the employee must monitor their email and texts 24/7 and must not be more than five minutes from the nearest internet connection at all times.
- Create and enforce company schedule policies. If you don’t want employees working late, be sure that your policies are implemented from the top down. Many employees don’t want to leave before the boss - so don’t let the boss set a bad example.
