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!

Part of my job is business process improvement and, at least nine times out ten, the things that most people want (after money, the vast amount of us don't work out of the goodness of our hearts) is a) recognition by their peers and b) better communication from SLT.

Fuck the apples / yoga / mindfulness bullshit.

Sorry the point about the award is that it’s a good checklist of policies- it’s give you a steer as to what as employers you should be doing.

Autonomy. Being treated like a fully responsible adult. Ask them to implement improvements for themselves. Ask them to decide amongst themselves the teams involved in various projects.
I’m seriously experienced in my field and every new manager comes in and has this brilliant idea on how to drive the team forward and it’s not working, because it doesn’t come from the team itself, it’s some bullshit initiative spiel. I just need equipment and on time. I need to be able to go to my manager and go: I’ve got this situation, I think I can sort it this way, do you have other ideas, can you support us in this situation. Or: I foresee this issue, this is what I think would anticipate and problems we might have, can you look at the numbers, give me some parameters in which I can work etc.
HTH

Send a gift through the post on their birthday or a day off / half day off on their birthday.

Make yourself visible. I used to walk around a couple of the offices every morning with my cup of tea saying hello. At first people thought I was mad, later they still thought I was mad but knew a) they would see me b) if they had a concern I was approachable.
Thank people. Face to face, by email, with cards and give out awards on a monthly basis. Was told the staff didn’t like this but everyone who had one displayed them proudly.
Try to get all staff together at least once a year to celebrate what we had collectively achieved. I had 1000’s of staff but by running 6 sessions a day, including relevantly timed sessions for cleaners and night workers generated a lot of good will.
Try to get round all staff groups just before key times such as bank holidays to wish them a nice break, include big tins of Quality Street at Christmas.
good luck x

Love fish Thack

BuddhaAtSea thank you

omg Yes Viviennethebeautiful they're shocked that I say hello and don't stomp across the office and slam my door - they told me this is what the last person did....

Cheerfulcharlie that's such a lovely idea and so personal - thank you x

Well that’s probably the crux of it. The best managers I’ve worked with have been emotionally attuned to me, trusting my ability, asking my opinion, asking how I am and actually meaning it, taking the time to listen. Can you get your staff involved in fixing the problems and red tape etc? Delegate and them development opportunities that play to their strengths (ask questions and find out what their strengths are first and whether they want development opportunities). Ask them where they want to be in a year’s time and what they need from you to help them get there.

Just start listening to individual staff suggestions for how to improve working conditions and efficiency and act on them. Show appreciation. Trust them to manage projects. Give good feedback. Keep an eye out for quiet, brilliant workers and make sure they get put forward for promotion over the brash self-promoting ones who can ruin morale.

A breakfast run on Friday mornings to the nearest cafe was great when I was in a team.

Same for a lunch run the next week.

Maybe get food vans to come by but paid by company. Ice cream van!

Chair massage day every month.

Yes to recognition - give everyone postcards or set up an electronic system where they can reward each other too.

Trust
Appreciation
WFH
Early finish on a Friday
An acknowledgement at Xmas, if cash not possible, a gift voucher or hamper.

Set regular 1 to 1s and NEVER EVER EVER cancel or rearrange them.

Even if something seems trivial to you (in my team it was the bloody air con!) if it's important to them, you must force yourself to take it to the mgmt as if your life depended on it.

I've got something for 1-1s. If the person is happy where they are, dont push them to develop unless there is a real need.

Stuff I like about my place of work which others do to
flexible start/finish times
hybrid working
all overtime, even 10 minutes is paid.
No silly gimmicks/forced fun
clear progression and support from management as to how to get there
All professional accreditation fees paid for
No silly buggers with expenses, we send a receipt and get the money within 48 hrs
VERY good coffee machine

Why increase lunch breaks?
Aside from the myriad of legal issues, People will still need to work their contracted hours but it could create masses of problems & costs re childcare, catr of the elderly, fitting in personal time etc.

1. Make sure people actually take their lunch break & have somewhere nice away from their desk to relax for half an hour.

1. Ask people what wellbeing actions they'd like the company to consider implementing.

1. Create a wellbeing policy, one that actually impacts the company not pays lip service to staff wellbeing.

1. Wellbeing should be driven from the bottom up so have a wellbeing team and give them a budget. You should NOT be on the team.

1. It needs to be a whole company initiative not just for your depth otherwise you will create a whole host of issues between debts.

Take a look at www.wellbeingatworksouthwest.co.uk/ it is only for Local businesses but has lots of useful information, case studies and resources that might give you ideas.

Please don't do 'forced fun ' 🤢
Ask them.

That would drive down my morale 😂

Buy lunch for them once a month (even if it's just pizza). Allow early knock off's, every so often

I'd agree on being genuinely there for your staff, and prioritising 1:1s - and not just using them to talk about what you want. Be seen to be fighting their corner, and if there is something very visible you can do (like a pp said, getting the aircon fixed even if you have to go and sit in the facilities office till they give in), all the better. Ask your staff what the top 5 things you could do to improve their lives are, then commit to that and update them regularly on what you are doing.
The things that have added to poor morale have been icky things like a (unwearable as unisex) jacket, photo frame with inspiring quote, etc and though the factory guys appreciated a free ice cream it was clear that they would have rather clear communication about some issues and the changing room shower fixed.

Instead of changing their break, I'd give them flexibility over when they can take. I assume they get a half hour lunch and two tea breaks? Some people prefer an hour and some prefer lots of little breaks through the day so autonomy on when to take them could help.
Recognition is a massive element - praise people for more than performance. Attitude and behaviours go a long way to making a happy team so look out for those things.
Team night/day out - could you get a small budget from the company to do dinner/bowling/escape room followed by a few drinks etc?
In your shoes, what I would also do is have a quick one to one with each person and get some insight into why they are disengaged and go from there to put steps in place to help engage the team. A survey won't work but speaking to someone one on one will help them speak up, and is better than asking them as a team as you'll likely have one really outspoken person and a few quieter people - the quieter people are the ones who will get disenchanted and leave out of nowhere so I'd be intrigued to speak to them.

Having flexible working times has always been a massive benefit to me.

A pay rise is always nice, or a cash Christmas bonus.

Free tea, coffee, squash and a good, clean kitchen make a big difference. In fact, having a comfortable working environment and giving people autonomy over their own workspace can make a big difference.

Team building or forced fun are a definite no, particularly if they occur out of office hours. i don't want to spend my own time and often money socialising with work colleagues. If they were my friends we would already be socialising.

Things like regular free biscuits or other 'treat' food would be a no - I am trying to diet and don't really want to be obliged to stuff donuts down my face every week.

Chair massage, yoga, mindfulness sessions. Nope.

In my experience, team meetings get dominated by a small number of people and the rest of us sit there thinking about the work we could be getting on with while we're forced to listen to them. And I'm not going to start divulging my inner angst in front of a room full of people.

Agree with other posters that you need to listen to them. It does sound like they've all been left in the wind a bit which probably means 1. no recognition 2 no appreciation and 3. no support when things go wrong.

You can only change that by demonstrating it and being it. But you're just one person, so you're also going to need to figure out how to ensure that this culture changes throughout - so team leaders who are doing this should be encouraged. Those that aren't need to be replaced.

Because you can be the nicest and best boss in the world, but if you allow others not to be, you're not going to fix things.