Boost Morale and Watch Performance Soar

Are your employees performing at the level you expect? If not the issue may not be what you think.

Many of my corporate clients often ask about ideas to boost the productivity of their team, to which I always respond with the same question.

“How strong would you say the morale is within your team today?”

Am I trying to avoid their question? Absolutely not.

What I am trying to do is point to the what is most often the fundamental cause of low productivity within teams.

The answer may come as much of a surprise.

Through my work with Fortune 500 companies and Privately held enterprises alike, I’ve found repeatedly that the level of productivity experienced by an organization is directly proportional to the morale level within the business and it’s teams.

More specifically, high levels of productivity only exist when the following four factors are present and in play:

1. Employees have both trust and confidence in the senior executives and front line leaders within the business.

2. Employees are equipped with the right tools, resources and knowledge to do their jobs independently of their leadership team. The environment is not conducive to micro-management.

3. Encouragement and recognition of employee performance is both formal and informal, but never automated (i.e. online rewards systems). People want appreciation, and gifts have a limited lifespan.

4. The environment is one of consistent feedback and coaching. Employees understand where they stand as it pertains to their performance, and management is clear on their accountabilities in order to continually improve employee performance.

So, what are the levels of performance and productivity within your business? If they aren’t what you expect, then take the temperature of employee morale by measuring your performance within each of these four areas.

© Shawn Casemore 2015. All rights reserved.