Things to actually improve morale?

[Royalbloo]

So, I've just started a new job and am responsible for a significant amount of people. Not showing off - I'm incredibly lucky to have found this role, and take my responsibility to these people very seriously.

Does anyone have any long-lasting ideas to improve morale as they are all a bit fed up? I've held meetings with them all to hear them out as I felt they needed a vent, but there's WAY more to do.

I'm considering things like:

Increasing their lunch break from 30 mins to an hour, so they can actually do something meaningful/have a break and eat lunch in a proper time frame

We have fruit delivered on a Wednesday but it's a bit of a gimmick and we have billions of apples left over ALL the time...

I don't want to put in a pool table or have some forced fun quiz on a Friday, but do any of you lovely women (or people) have any examples of things that weren't massively costly, but made a real different to peoples lives?

Thank you!

Ask them, don’t guess. I hate it when workplaces assume I want a specific benefit when I bet 99% of them would take a pay rise over some more fruit basket type gimmick.

It's funny but the one thing they are happy with is pay - it's process, systems, red tape etc that they hate, which I'm tackling.

I'm only on day 4, but after some more innovative ideas.

Flexible start/finish times if possible. Allow some WFH again if possible.

Actual recognition - i.e. not just "Employee of the Month is... Sarah!" like it could have just been spun in a big bingo wheel. Be specific e.g. "thank you for doing X and spending more time to make sure Y was correct. It really made a difference to Z" - this also helps them build their CV/further job applications.

Liking the recognition aspect and keeping a record of everyone who goes above and beyond. Maybe give them a voucher and public thanks? Catch then doing the right thing?

they have flexible working and lots start at 7 and finish at 3, and they can also wfh

They've just been completely ignored up until now by management

Regardless of the pay aspect, I would still ask them. Whether it’s one to one or some kind of anonymous survey, the best initiatives implemented are the ones the staff actually want.

Being heard is the best morale booster imo

Flexitime with the ability to take a half day every month or a full day every 2nd month.
wfh days
Goody cupboard - staff get to choose a treat as a ‘reward’.
Depends why they are fed up though. Is it boredom, lack of progression, not enough appreciation or heavy work loads?

A business local to me has a reward scheme for their staff. They have a small wheel they spin and they can win things like lunch being provided for them, or being able to leave an hour early, or a £10 voucher.

Can you hold a development afternoon where you could coach them in writing competencies for applying for promotion? Or they can apply to shadow someone in a different department to see if it’s a job they’d be interested in applying for in the future?

How much would it cost to offer job related NVQ qualifications if that’s still a thing?

Flexi time working is always a good thing.

A good vending machine/tuck shop/sandwich van

Get the managers to organise a buffet lunch for the staff

Sincere praise, appreciation for hard work, make them feel their role matters

Listen to their suggestions of how the company could operate more smoothly. Agree to try some things on a trial basis

Team bonding events in or near the office. Cocktail making, scavenger hunt, which team can build the highest tower out of junk, etc. Anything that gets colleagues laughing together.

You can't just increase their lunch breaks from 30 minutes to an hour. Just some of The consequences might be...

• A contractual change to their employment terms and conditions for which you may need to do a full 30 day consultation.
• Reducing their pay by 30 minutes per day (they won't thank you for that!)
• Delaying their finish time by 30 minutes per day (they won't thank you for that!)

If you're not asking staff to working later or make up those extra 30 minutes, they will have 30 minutes less every day to do their job. So can you afford to lose 2.5 hours per person per week from your teams productivity?

• Some staff asking to remain in 30 minutes so they can leave early.
• Some staff wanting the new 60 minutes so they can have a longer lunch break
• some staff going off sick because the new manager has come in changed everything and they find it stressful.
• asking staff to rearrange childcare because they have to work half an hour earlier or later every day.

I know you mean well but the best thing to do is ask them. Don't make any promises and see what comes back.

I expect Flexible/ agile / hybrid working would be popular and costs nothing. But would still probably need a consultation.

We arranged for a local ice cream van to come round and treated all our staff earlier this week -went down really well.

Our office recently bought us all a fancy coffee machine. They bought loads of pods too and when they are used we can buy our own. Everyone was pleased with that. They also do random free food events- if it’s sunny they’ll bring in loads of ice lollies, if it’s cold then treacle pudding and custard. Everyone gets an extra 30 minute break to enjoy it. During the jubilee they hid little queens in random places and whoever found it got a costa voucher. They’ve also put out deck chairs this week if you want to work outside for a bit. It’s silly little things but it does boost morale.

One place I worked had a wall of gratitude where people wrote a post it and stuck it on, so eg.

Sarah, for covering the phones when I had to pick my sick child up

Dave for bringing cakes in on his birthday

Emma, for her excellent work getting the project finished on time

Etc. It sounds corny, but it was quite lovely

Sorry, hit send too soon. There was also a jar of gratitude where people dropped their gratitudes in and they were read out in the weekly meeting

We had a monthly chair massage (head, neck, shoulders) from a visiting masseuse. It was subsidised and very popular.

OP first of all it’s good you have seen that morale is low and want to do something. You are only 4 days in though so I would give it a bit of time for you to bed in and start to see everything and everyone ‘in the round’ so to speak.

Don’t rush in all at once and promise things or make too many plans - at first just talk, really listen and establish what are the real concerns people have and above all show you are committed to listening but don’t promise the earth until you know you can deliver!!

As others have said - you can start the ball rolling by talking to people and asking what would help them.

Not everyone will want the same things / and also sadly some will ‘take’ ( the piss!) but not necessarily give back to you in the same way iykwim - so take some time to see what you can and cannot deliver .
Do you know why morale is low - you could start by tacking that if it’s possible.

just in my opinion ….if increasing lunch time to an hour means they have to work the 30 minutes at the end of the day ( which I assume so they’ll get their contracted hrs in) then I don’t think that will work - for many the shorter lunch will be what they want to do.
Good luck - it’s great you want to improve the wellbeing of your team.

Lovely perks I have experienced in different jobs (not all in the same job!):

• compressed hours (eg work 5 days in 4 for same pay), even only during off peak periods.
• early finish 3pm on Fridays in the summer
• long team lunches (esp at xmas) rather than evening drinks, that way everyone gets to leave on time
• drinks and crisps trolley starting at 4pm on a Friday - so nice to have a drink at your desk as you finish up for the week
• a discretionary Christmas shopping day - everyone on the team covers so everyone gets an extra free day off
• mini bonuses at Christmas paid in supermarket vouchers

Clearly food and time off are the great motivators for me :D

Not increasing the lunch time but proper flexible working. So they can choose to take just twenty minutes for lunch or 3 hours if they so choose. I know it’s not possible everywhere but if it is it’s amazing. Likewise home/office working. DH can now basically pick if he wants to go in and when he works. He goes in for meetings that can’t be zoomed for whatever reason and when at home he has the flex to get his head down and do hours and hours if he wants or to drop work and come for a walk with the kids if that fits his calendar. It’s worth so much to us. I’d say he’d need at least 10-20% more money to trade that benefit.

and god no to enforced fun team building. Nothing says tick box exercise and we don’t really care about the team like a trip to build a raft when everyone is drowning in work/red tape/etc.

Make sure you credit them:bring their successes up the food chain.

a wellbeing hour

4 days in you should still be observing....

People who come in and want to put their stamp on things by, well of often doesn't go well.

Surely you need to understand why morale is low first. But people hate surveys
If pay is good and you have flexi working wfh etc. is it workload? Bullying culture?

All the ice creams and monthly massages in the world won’t compensate for unrealistic targets and unfair performance plans.

I work for a large American corp

This year we have free gym membership
Free massages. However these are hard to get as super popular
Free online streaming service

Also coffee cake cards (these apparat to be rigged)
Staff Member of Month etc ( still rigged as won by me members of cliques etc)