Low office morale is usually a sign of stress, low engagement, lack of physical exercise and health issues. It’s also a big reason for eye rolls, decreased office chatter and lower performance rates.
At the same time, wellness in the office has time and again been linked to great office morale. So, when people talk of workplace wellness, office morale should be at the top of the list for discussions, according to occupational health experts.
While there are many things that managers can do to pick up the troops ““ performance rewards, days off for birthdays and the like ““ often it can be up to workers themselves to keep everyone “up.”
From the folks at Inc. magazine comes a mix of what companies can do to keep productivity and spirits up in the workplace:
Crowd-source ideas
Get everyone involved, says the publication, whether it be ideas for a new client or as simple as the venue for an (official or informal) company outing.
Eradicate email
Yes, we live in a technological world. But, a face-to-face conversation or a quick phone call is still the gold standard for communication. According to Inc., 92 percent of employees in one study suffered a spike in blood pressure and heart rate after reading a work email. Not only does it drag on productivity, sorting through emails throughout the day, but it also wears on well-being.
Encourage real lunch breaks
According to the magazine, research suggests only one in five people take lunch breaks and most that do rarely step away from their desk to eat. They suggest having managers openly suggest workers go for a quick walk as a coffee break or check out new or nearby restaurants as lunch options. As UC Davis School of Management professor Kimberly Elsbach says in the magazine’s article, “Staying inside, in the same location is really detrimental to creative thinking.”
There are also things employees themselves can do. Culled from personal experience and other office veterans:
“Office moms”
You know them. They’re the people who get cards for everybody to sign when there’s a birthday, collect money for flowers when there’s been a family death. They have a candy bowl on their desk and usually do a lion’s share of thankless tasks. OM’s add a sense of family to any office, and make the workday a little more palatable. If you’re not your office’s mom, make sure you take care of them. An occasional soda or cup of coffee wouldn’t go amiss ““ someone has to have their back, too.
The power of free food
Another great way to build the esprit de corps of an office is free food. The occasional donut run, muffin basket or cookie jar gives everyone an unexpected surprise for the day. Or, you can go do a little more to make it more of an event. A few years ago, to celebrate baseball’s opening day, I decided to mark the day in a real “peanuts and cracker jack” way. A crockpot filled with boiling hot dogs, all the dog toppings, peanuts and crackerjack in bowls at the communal table was a $25 investment for me, but for coworkers who probably would have much rather had been at the game, it added some lightness to the day. I still get occasional emails from my then-coworkers that start with “remember when you did the opening day thing? That was great!”
Attitude is everything
A collegial attitude is contagious, but so is rudeness in the workplace, according to a recent study chronicled in the Journal of Applied Psychology. Researchers from the University of Florida, reacting to a poll that claimed 98 percent of workers said they deal with a rude coworker ““ half of them “on a weekly basis” ““ did a short study with 90 graduate business school students at the university. After seven weeks in a work setting, students who rated coworkers as “rude” were often judged to rude as well. According to the study’s lead researcher, rudeness is contagious. “Anything from simple insults to ignoring a coworker, to purposely dis-including someone or withholding information” is usually repaid in kind and spreads throughout an office quickly.
