How can we improve morale?

[Higgledee]

DH runs a small business; he’s had it for years. Some staff have been with him for decades, some are newer.
I work there part time.

Morale seems quite low at the moment.

Everyone has had a pay rise in the last 12 months; either because of promotion or as a pay review/cost of living adjustment.

Perks are good; holidays, flexible working, on site facilities etc.

We had a bash this summer, all paid for, that was moderately well attended.

Will a Christmas party do the trick do you think?
Or are there other perks /morale boosters that you have found work well?

If you are an employee, what would you like to happen at your place of work?

What would give you a boost? Other than a pay rise 😊

TIA

What is wrong with the morale at the moment?

Please dont do things like pizza etc

Do you run ANONYMOUS feedback surveys/pulse surveys. Get to the bottom of it.
Host 121s with team members asj them why they choose to work here. Tell them you actively want to make it a good place to work

Have you asked them why morale is low? That would be my first point of call. Speak to them - usually bad morale is from poor management or not being listened to and an Xmas party or pay rise won’t fix that

If pay and perks are good and morale is still low then more perks won't fix it.

Are people feeling valued and recognised for what they do? Are they micromanaged or do they have autonomy and authority appropriate for their positions. Do they feel like they're contributing something worth doing? So they like each other and get on? Are they remote or in person?

So, so many other factors to look into. Some sort of survey or frank discussions definitely needed as a first step.

Yeah it depends on why morale is low tbh.

My previous reasons for having low morale at work:
-Excessive workload
-No recognition for good work
-Shit manager who doesn’t know what they are doing
-External newbies being paid more than me

what are the dynamics of the team? if there is one person in the team who makes people miserable / complains / is petty / acts like a dictator / bullies people, then that will impact the whole team.

You need to understand why morale is low. Some of this may be because of things within the business itself (which you can address) but some may be a general malaise.
At the moment, a lot of my 40- and 50-something friends are just feeling a bit fed up of relentless working life.

Run an anonymous (make sure its absolutely anonymous and that people know) survey to understand what's happening. If the company has the money, DH could bring in external agencies to hold interviews and focus groups to dig into the details.

Will a Christmas party do the trick do you think?
Absolutely not. You already know people are fucked off with work, colleagues, the job etc. Don't organise something that forces people to give up more of their precious time for it. A couple of drinks and maybe a no-pressure meal after work for those who want to is enough.

Or are there other perks /morale boosters that you have found work well?
A company I worked for years ago did a random prize draw every six months for people with long service. I won £1K once. That was nice.

If you are an employee, what would you like to happen at your place of work?
Reduction of expectations - both volume and quality of work. Stopping ridiculous restructures and reorganisations dreamt up my management that make actual work much harder and much shitter. Reduction in the number of fucking bullshit meetings - only absolutely necessary meetings, all meetings are 1hour max and must have an action point/resolution.

Decision making not taking ages will help.
Not having allegedly urgent things that proper planning would avoid.
A level of wfh if the business does not need to be in an office to function.

I generally think that most of the things companies come up with to boost morale do not work.

People don’t want a pizza lunch, or team building day, or a party, if they hate their job.

In what way does morale seem low, how does that show itself?
You must have some sense of why it might be?

Whats giving you the sense that morale is low?

I wouldn't bother with a survey. Most people don't believe they're anonymous and in a small business they rarely are, in practice.

Just talk to people.

It might not be to do with the company, it might just be life in the UK in general at the moment, and what is going on in the world. If people are paid well, and already have flexible working, all you can offer is early doors on a Friday, or more work/life balance somehow. Teambuilding and activities and all that nonsense is rarely appreciated by anybody imo.

Will a Christmas party do the trick do you think?
Absolutely not. You already know people are fucked off with work, colleagues, the job etc. Don't organise something that forces people to give up more of their precious time for it. A couple of drinks and maybe a no-pressure meal after work for those who want to is enough.

Or give them cash or a voucher to have a nice meal or drinks with their friends or family instead.

@Higgledee

Will a Christmas party do the trick do you think?

Nope. Gimmicks like that don't work, nor do "team building" days, pub nights, etc. They're just sticking plasters over a broken leg.

You need to get to the bottom of it. Is there a "negative" employee impacting on the rest of them, i.e. someone not pulling their weight, someone bullying, etc (including your OH and even yourself - you may need to look at the owners/management, i.e. yourselves!).

I've worked in two places with low morale.

One was where there was an incompetent/bullying middle manager who the owners thought the sun shone out of his arse as he was an arse licker, but the staff could see right through him. Morale improved almost immediately when he left!

The other was where the owners decided to start employing "quantity instead of quality" i.e. school leavers and inexperienced older people, who they expected us to train, supervise and manage (none of "us" were at manager level), and some of them always has "Monday morning itis" and often off far more than anyone else yet the management/owners showed no interest, didn't discipline lateness/absence etc just expecting the rest of us to pick up the slack! We'd been there years (qualified/experienced, little management/supervision needed, we just got on with the work), but within a couple of years of the owners deciding cheap was best, literally all of us experienced/qualified staff had left with the owners not understanding their mistake!

So in both cases, bad management/ownership. In neither firm, would I have stayed for something as trivial as a Christmas party, pub nights, pizza lunches etc.

I agree parties aren’t the answer. It could just be things you are not in control of - anxiety about the state of the world, worry about increasing cost of living. Can you get together a small group of reps from the workforce and talk it through?

I'd suggest 121s. Find out what if any issues there are. Sometimes people just need to feel valued and that they are listened to. Ask them what would make the workplace/job better. Find out if they have difficulty with school holiday cover etc. Can you increase holidays?

The world is actually quite depressing at the moment. Perhaps they all feel like they might lose their job.

This is very personal to the individual. Some people will love the idea of a Christmas bash, especially if the company is paying, other will feel under pressure to attend when they'd rather stick pins in their eyes.

Things I have found that help are extra leave e.g. a "free" half day to be used for attending a nativity play etc, or just allowing flexibility for those kinds of things - be sure to do it for everyone, not juat parents though.

Free fruit in the staff room was very popular.

Weirdly one of the best was jigsaws in the staff room - a few minutes of mindfulness.

A healthcare plan is good. My school does one, so it can't be expensive to the employer, and enables me to claim back things like dentistry, optician, physio and flu jab.

Will a Christmas party do the trick 🤣🤣

Thank you all so much for the responses. I really appreciate it.

I was told today by a department manager that he considers morale is low and some staff are critical of each other.

This manager mentioned the Christmas Party hence my mentioning it. Like most of you, I don't think it is the answer at all. Knowing how much it's cost in previous years, I imagine most staff would rather have a share of the cost as cash in their own pockets to spend as they wished, with friends and family.

If perks are good …. Very likely they feel they’re not listened to

do you have a good picture of their struggles, have they raised anything throughout the year , and did you have a forum for them to express what’s working or not ?

@Higgledee Some people do get a funny idea about part-timers sometimes, and resent the fact that 'they can swan in and out when they feel like it'. Now I'm not saying that is happening here, but it is possible that one or two people might be carrying that resentment.

Have either you or your DH recently bought expensive cars or been on any exotic holidays? Some staff don't take kindly to that if their own pay rise hasn't been what they hoped. They aren't happy that the boss takes loads of money out of the business (money the employee helped to earn).

My guess is that you have one or two staff who have an attitude problem, and are causing it to spread like a rash.

In a small business, nobody is going to complain to the boss for fear of a negative impact on their own career, and they are certainly not going to confide in his wife for the same reason. Get your most loyal and trusted employee to put their ear to the ground and find out for you.

Once you know what the problem is, you can fix it.

You do need to have a systematic way to capture feedback ….. and to give them a chance to be part of any changes

to be told by one of your DRs that moral is low, which is as generic, non explicit statement as you can get, does highlight you’re potentially on different levels (or planets) with rest of staff