Improving employee morale

Improving employee morale benefits everyone involved in a work place. Boosting employee morale means that people will take more pride in their work, call in sick less often and be more productive. Happier employees mean happier employers, since the employer will not lose money due to inefficiency and lost time. Improving employee morale can be accomplished fairly easily.

Most people thrive on feeling appreciated. You can improve employee morale by showing your appreciation in simple ways, such as rewarding an employee by saying, "job well done," or, "thank you for the good work." It is a grave mistake on the part of employers to only interact with their workers when there is a problem.

Another way to show appreciation and boost employee morale is by being friendly and interested in your employees. A warm smile and a sincere query about how one is doing will in turn motivate employees. Knowing people’s names and personalizing the work environment inspires employees to want to help you.

Encouraging social interaction between employees and immediately resolving conflict is another way to improve employee morale. Social events such as office picnics and softball games create a sense of camaraderie between employees. Social interaction positively influences cooperation and a general enthusiasm about coming to work everyday. Isolation, on the other hand, causes depression and a lack of motivation.

Another way to improve employee morale is by offering reward incentives. A job well done might be rewarded with a gift card or a cash bonus. This reward can come as a surprise to the employees who earn it, or it can be announced as a sort of game or contest. Having a goal to work towards that directly benefits the employee can help create enthusiasm, which tends to be contagious.

A very important factor in improving employee morale is the work environment. Psychological research shows that atmosphere greatly and directly affects the motivation level and feeling of well being of the employees in a workplace. When possible, providing comfortable and aesthetically pleasing furniture is one way that researchers suggest to motivate people. Lighting, flowers and artwork can also help improve employee morale.

Obviously, providing a pleasant atmosphere is not always possible, for instance in factories or repair shops. In these types of environments, offering a pleasant break room or relaxation area helps to improve morale. In any work environment, safe and comfortable conditions improve employee morale by giving workers a reasonable sense of security.

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How to increase self esteem of your employees

The ways to increase your staff self-esteem.

• Act as if you have high self-esteem. Your behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, and example are a powerful role model for staff members. How you look, talk, present yourself, and act send the most powerful message possible to all staff members.

• Practice personal integrity and fairness. Model it and expect it from others. People who feel they can tell the truth, without fear of reprisal, grow as they experiment and experience success and failure.

• Provide frequent feedback that reinforces what people do well and corrects the approaches that need improvement.

• Learn what staff members feel good and positive about doing. Maximize their opportunity to contribute in these activities.

• Provide assignments that stimulate growth. Ask people to stretch beyond what you have observed them doing in the past. Challenge staff members. Negotiate goals which are realistic, yet a stretch.

• Provide positive reinforcement, rewards, and recognition to reinforce the standards and practices you believe your staff members are capable of achieving.

• Create an environment in which people practice self-responsibility. Show that you trust them to report production numbers, deal with employees who are not contributing to the team effort, and succeed and/or fail at implementing new ideas.

• Demonstrate that it is okay to disagree with the supervisor. Allow the implementation of new ideas, even if they are different than yours. Praise when the approach works and ask the employee to implement more good ideas.

• Provide clear expectations about performance standards to all employees and express your sincere belief that they can meet or exceed these standards.

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Find Your Strengths

How well do you really know yourself? Do you know your strengths? The combination of talents which is the core of your individuality?

When your abilities are really being used in your life and work, you're fulfilled. Happy. You have an enthusiasm and dynamism which is attractive and inspirational to others. You go to work with excited anticipation, not a leaden heart.

When they aren't, you're bored, frustrated, dulled and deadened, maybe feeling life is pointless and purposeless. You're one of the 80% of people who, research suggests, find work is unsatisfying. You don't feel stretched, challenged or appreciated.

So how do you find your personal strengths? You may feel you don't have any. You're just not that good at anything. Maybe so, if you're thinking of things like knowing a foreign language or playing the violin. But these are skills, not talents. The strengths I'm talking about are things which may not be easily described, which you may not have thought of as talents at all.

For instance, you may have good empathy, the ability to sense other people's emotions and understand their point of view. You could be a great arranger and organiser. You could be good at bargaining and making deals. You could be driven by the need to find out why things happen.

You could be fascinated by ideas or collecting facts. You could be brilliant at seeing the big picture. You could be great at communicating. You could have a talent for forming deep and lasting friendships, or for building up a good support network. You could be thrilled by learning. Or by helping others.

Some new research* has identified 34 strengths like these, powerful attributes which express themselves in almost every aspect of our lives. For most of us, there'll be four or five main ones which come together to give us our personal constellation of talents.

These talents can be hard to identify because they aren't things apart from ourselves, like speaking French or being able to ski. Almost, they are us. And because our personal talents come so naturally, we tend not to value them. We take them for granted. There's so little work, effort, learning involved that we feel they're things everyone can do.

In fact, you probably really admire other people's talents -- which you don't have -- and simply fail to recognise your own. Others may see your strong points much more clearly than you do.

Almost any strong character trait you have is a talent. Are you competitive, persistent, responsible, witty, caring, inquisitive, meticulous? What are the adjectives family and friends would use about you? These are talents and abilities which could and should be used.

Negatives can be positively used as well. Roger was a car mechanic who was obsessional about checking. He had used the right spare parts and done everything correctly. Treatment stopped him checking 20 times and encouraged him to develop an excellent system for ensuring everything was correctly done. His obsessional tendency became a strength. Everyone knew that when he fixed a car, it stayed fixed. He was happy and so were his customers.

Look at your yearnings, activities you have always been drawn to from childhood, even if you've never had time or opportunity to express them.

What activities or skills have you learned very easily and naturally, with enjoyment? For example, the world famous artist Matisse never painted till his mother gave him a paintbox when he was 21.

What things give you a real sense of inner satisfaction and achievement, make you feel fulfilled?

What do friends, family, colleagues compliment you for, or take for granted you'll do well?

Looking back, remember some moments when you felt most yourself, most alive.

What are the things you get completely absorbed in, so that you lose track of time?A friend told me that when he was at university, planning an academic career, he yawned and clock watched his way through various holiday jobs. Then he took temporary work in a film studio. On his first day, just when he became aware he was so hungry he thought it must be lunchtime, he saw that in fact everyone was going home. Time had flown, and he had found his lifetime career in a completely unexpected area.

What should you do about your weaknesses? Well, don't feel you "should" be able to do something or other. Don't worry about what people expect of you. Stand back from your weaknesses and don't identify with them. If they get in the way of your life or your talents, work out how to cope with them, manage them or delegate them. Or (very liberating) just stop doing them!

There's a great American expression, "I don't do something-or-other." No excuses, explanations, or apologies. You just don't do it.

The important thing is, don't try to work on a weakness in the hope it'll turn into a talent. It won't. We tend to spend too much time and effort trying to be what we aren't. It's easy to think that the way forward is to work on our failings, brushing up the things we're not good at.
Both school and work push us into this thinking, emphasising remedial classes and training to sharpen up weak areas, describing these as "challenges" or "opportunities for growth". We feel we need to be 'well-rounded'.

But the people you've heard of -- celebrities, achievers, artists, discoverers, creators -- are often not that well-rounded. Instead, they're exceptional in one main arena, and who knows or cares if they're hopeless at putting up shelves, can't add up, hit a ball or make friends easily -- because their energy and focus has flowed into their natural talents.

The real opportunities for growth come from working with the strengths you have got, not the ones you haven't. From identifying your talents and developing a lifestyle and work style which uses them to the maximum. So put the effort where it will really be rewarded ? in developing and training your strengths.

A problem can be if you need to feel you've fought yourself, and won. It's not a success if it hasn't been a struggle. I know someone whose life has been blighted by something his mother taught him, and no-one has ever been able to unteach him since: nothing is achieved without hard work, nothing that comes easily is worth doing. So of course he's backed off from the things he can do easily and well, because they don't feel like work. He's turned away from his talents and wasted a lifetime battering away at things which don't come naturally to him.

It takes courage to fully acknowledge who you really are, not who you, your family, school, friends, colleagues think you are or should be. It takes courage to accept that there are talents you have and talents you don't have. It can take courage to stop spending time trying to strengthen your weaknesses and instead focus on perfecting your talents.

But that is the way forward for each of us. Giving time to your weaknesses can bring you up to average. Give the same time and effort to developing your talents, and you'll be exceptional .

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STORY OF -TWO POTS

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them." "For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

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Types of Training

Formal Training : Training that has a structured, formal, and defined curriculum; it may be conducted by supervisors, company training centers, businesses, schools, associations, or others. Formal training includes classroom work, seminars, lectures, workshops, and audio-visual presentations.

Informal Training: Training that is unstructured, unplanned, and easily adapted to situations or individuals. Examples include having a co-worker show you how to use a piece of equipment or having a supervisor teach you a skill related to your job.

SEPT data are used by government, private industry, and the academic community to determine the major types of training that American workers receive from their employers. Types of training include the following:
Basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills training is training in elementary reading, writing, arithmetic, and English language skills, including English as a second language.

Occupational safety training - Provides information on safety hazards, procedures, and regulations.

Employee health and wellness training -Provides information and guidance on personal health issues such as stress management, substance abuse, nutrition, and smoking cessation.

Orientation training - Introduces new employees to personnel and workplace practices and to overall company policies.

Awareness training - Provides information on policies and practices that affect employee relations or the work environment, including Equal Employment Opportunity practices (EEO), affirmative action, workplace diversity, sexual harassment, and AIDS awareness.

Communications, employee development, and quality training- Training in public speaking, conducting meetings, writing, time management, leadership, working in groups or teams, employee involvement, total quality management, and job reengineering.


Job skills training that includes:

Management training - Training in supervising employees and in implementing employment practices. Examples include training in conducting employee appraisals, managing employees, resolving conflicts, following selection/hiring practices, and implementing regulations and policies.

Professional and technical skills training- Training in professional areas such as engineering, nursing, accounting, science, law, medicine, training, education, and business; or in technical areas such as drafting, electronics, and medical technology.

Computer training - Includes training in computer literacy, security, programming, use of standard commercial and other software, and methods for developing software applications.

Clerical and administrative support skills training - Training in areas such as typing, data entry, filing, business correspondence, and administrative record keeping, including budget and payroll.

Sales and customer relations training - Training in areas ranging from how to maintain or improve customer relations to specific selling techniques. Examples include training in how to deal with angry customers and information about specific product lines.

Service-related training - Includes training in the traditional service occupations-food, cleaning, protective, or personal services. Examples include training in waiting tables, preparing food, using cleaning equipment, conducting security work, providing care for children or the elderly, tailoring, and barbering.

Production-and construction-related training - Training in areas such as operating or repairing machinery and equipment; manufacturing, assembling, distributing, installing, or inspecting goods; and constructing, altering, or maintaining buildings and other structures.

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Promote Your Personal Growth and Motivation

Are you feeling blah about your work and life? Does the experience of boredom make you unmotivated and unexcited? Are you having a mid-life crisis? You can promote your own personal growth, motivation and career development to overcome this inertia. Here are ideas and tools that will help you explore personal growth, set new goals, choose motivation and get your life and work back on a course that excites, motivates and fills your life with joy.
One person, in particular, said "I am bored, bored, bored with everything in my life - my friends, my job, my family and how I spend my time.
I don't feel any excitement and I'm not looking forward to anything in particular." These thoughts are for you. You can make this a searching time or you can do silly things. The stereotypical mid-life crisis turns a conservative businessman and family man into a gold-chain-sporting, long-haired, red-Corvette driving hedonist. It doesn't have to be this way. Mid-life crises, whether you are thirty, fifty or sixty-five years old, can be a time of awakening, self-actualization and new direction.
Guided Thinking Exercises
Take some time to do these exercises. The time invested will enable you to focus on the positive and the possible for your life. I recommended the first two exercises for your career crisis and I also recommend them for your personal growth. The rest are new.

• List everything you’d like to do in your lifetime. These lists can run several hundred items. (Mine included walk frequently on the shore of Lake Michigan, write books, travel to every country in Europe and design two additional websites.) Your chosen lifestyle must allow the accomplishment of these dreams.

• Write down your ten favorite activities, the ones without which your life would feel bereft. (Mine included reading, writing, creating new recipes, traveling, walking and more.) No life choice is suitable unless you get to do your favorite activities at least weekly, and preferably, daily.

• Think of a time when you felt more positively about your life. What has changed between then and now? List everything that is different. Perhaps you will gain insight into what is causing your current dissatisfaction. Then, you can change the issues causing unhappiness.

• If you are like many of us, you rarely take time to be alone with yourself. In fact, many people avoid this time and prefer to fill every minute of the day with activity. Schedule quiet, thinking time for yourself every single day. Spend time alone with yourself doing nothing. Some people call this meditation; others practice yoga. The key is to spend time in your head going gently wherever your thoughts take you. If those thoughts turn negative or self-deprecating, kindly change the subject.


Take Action Exercises

You’ll want to do these daily as you explore what makes you happy.

• You have listed your favorite activities and the hundreds of items you’d like to do in your lifetime. Begin. Add one each day to your schedule. Minimally, do all ten activities you love in a week.

• Do something that is totally new to you once each week. Get out of your comfort zone and try on new people, places and activities.

• Write a journal that tracks your thoughts, the new ideas you are generating and the added life activities you schedule every day.

• See a friend at least twice a month for conversation and to maintain the supportive and caring relationship.

• Eat a balanced diet, get daily exercise, even if only for ten minutes, and sleep on a regular, refreshing schedule.


I have actually tried out the above exercise, and it really works to the extent of relieving you from those unwanted demotivate crisis situation.

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Boost your Self Esteem & Career

Are you constantly competing with the furniture to be inconspicuous around the office?

Does the thought of a presentation give you palpitations?

Then what you might be suffering from is a lack of self-esteem. It is a trait that can seriously hamper your growth, even if you have the intelligence to teach Einstein a thing or two about E=MC2 and the skill to show Bill Gates how to secure Internet Explorer.

Here's the lowdown on this problem that plagues many professionals, its identification, consequences and correction.

According to Colonel Ravi Joshi, a personality development trainer at the Indo-American Society, there are various signs that indicate a low self-esteem.

"Physical signs include poor body language and posture, guilty or apologetic expressions, a weak handshake, slow movement and low levels of energy, among several others," he says.

Behavioural signs include reluctance to call attention to oneself, to engage in a conversation, or to accept a change.

"Low self-worth individuals also avoid taking risks and perceive risks that other people fail to see. They usually lack goals and have a negative attitude," Joshi adds.

Emotional signs include being paranoid about becoming the object of ridicule. Or about having a sense of dependence on other people. Or constantly comparing oneself with others. Or doubting one's talent.

Sometimes, even seemingly smart people, with an air of confidence about them, can also have self-esteem issues. While some hide the problem well, others, especially those in high corporate positions, try to cover their lack of self-worth by being domineering and trying to act overconfident and superior.

"Such people make overbearing, untrusting and suspicious bosses and colleagues, who come across as obsessive control freaks," says Joshi.

If you have any of the above sides to your personality, it's time to give your self-esteem a much-needed shot in the arm before the consequences catch up with your career.

Facing the consequences

If not caught and corrected, low self-esteem can deeply affect your personal and professional life.

"Shunning challenges becomes a part of your personality. As a result, new responsibilities don't come your way and so promotions are also unlikely," says Joshi.

Most of the times, such people avoid communicating their ideas in a meeting with a group. Sometimes, these ideas come out in a private moment with a colleague or a boss. At other times, they just die inside the mind.

"If you are lucky, your colleague or boss will give you the credit for the idea. If not, either he or she will hog it or unintentionally forget to mention that it was your idea to begin with," he says.

Both scenarios will not contribute to your career graph, which will reach a plateau or even decline if you don't modify your personality.

The first step to getting the world to love you is to love yourself. Try these tips.

Making behavioral changes

Showing your vulnerability in a personal relationship might bring you closer to your partner> But as far as the workplace is concerned, it might backfire on you, feels Dr Tushar Guha, managing director of Nrityanjali, an institute for personality development in Mumbai.

"If you are a sensitive person by nature, try not to show it in front of colleagues. Emotions do have a place in the work space but you have to learn where which emotion should be used," he says.

Compassion and surprisingly, anger, if used correctly, can impact your work life positively. "Anger can help assertiveness. Blowing your top and going out of control when angry will only aggravate the problem. But if you put your anger down in black and white, that is, list the reasons for your anger, it can help you put your point across more effectively," says Guha.

Many believe that compassion at the workspace undermines your authority. But looking into a person's life beyond the office can help you identify the root of the problem and hence, eliminate it. "For example, a person might be efficient but may be showing signs of inefficiency lately. This might be because a personal problem is dogging him or her. If a colleague senses it, it lightens the emotional burden on the person who is going through the bad patch," Guha adds. Ever notice how a boss sharing his or her lunch with subordinates increases comfort levels?

Some emotions can harm your career graph. Jealousy and a superiority complex are the fastest ways to alienate your colleagues. "Belittling other people won't show you in a good light. It will just make your insecurity obvious," say Guha.

Body beautiful

One of the main reasons for low self-esteem is a dislike for one's body. This is why you will rarely find a fashion model lacking in the self-confidence department.

Dr Guha advocates examining yourself closely in the mirror and taking note of your pluses and minuses.

“See which of your features are your best. And highlight them. Project yourself the way you think you look best,” he elaborates. According to Guha, this technique is used extensively by showbiz folks, who are known to possess oodles of confidence.

Being positive about your physical appearance can translate into mental confidence. Taking a trip to the parlour, shedding that extra weight, and overhauling your wardrobe are some things that can do the trick.

Keep track of your progress

Write down your thoughts. It will help you deal with behavioural issues better.

"You will find it easy to look at your thoughts objectively once they are down on paper to check if your fears and concerns are unfounded," says Dr Guha.

To build on this, make note of your everyday successes. "It can be as little as saying no to a chocolate pastry when you are trying to lose weight.

Gradually, a positive picture will emerge and you will start seeing your potential," Joshi adds.

Set weekly goals and try to reach them. This is help to give your life a sense of purpose.

Get a life

Don't make your career the be all and end all of your existence. Growing in other spheres of your life can also boost confidence levels.

"See that your colleagues are not your only friends. Make friends outside of office and seek emotional support from your family. This way, you will be able to offset a bad experience in office with a good experience outside," says Mumbai psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty.

Don't abandon your hobbies either. "This is a common thing once we start pursuing our careers. It isolates us from what we enjoy doing and keeps us away from like-minded people," says Dr Guha. However, take care not to stick to only hobbies that make you a loner.

If painting is your hobby, seek out other painters and visit exhibitions where you can meet more people.

The purpose of your hobby should be to meet like-minded people and discuss subjects that you are comfortable with.

Get a social life

This one is an introvert's nightmare. But developing social skills is of supreme importance. This doesn't mean you need to randomly attend parties.

"Find a group of people at a party or a social event, who you are comfortable with and make an effort to talk to them. Once you open up you will find it easier to meet strangers and forge bonds," Guha says.

All you need to do is look around. There might be others who are sitting around alone. Approach them, they may be more receptive to company.

Your body language while talking to people is also important. There's nothing to get nervous about. "Look into the eyes of the person you are speaking to," says Shetty.

Developing a sense of humour can help you score brownie points with co-workers and new people you meet, says Joshi. This does not mean that you need to reel off witty one-liners.

You should learn to see the humour in a situation as well as be able to laugh at yourself.

Upgrade your skills

Upgrading your workplace skills can go a long way in giving yourself that extra dose of confidence.

"Upgrade them by way of a course or teach yourself and compete with yourself," he advises.

Work on your communication skills, as self-esteem increases or decreases depending on other people's perceptions of you.

"The 'how' is as important as the 'what'. So work on effectively communicating with people," says Guha emphatically.

Seek professional help

If you can't get it together, despite all your efforts, get in touch with a psychiatrist or attend a personality development class.

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