Proven Strategies for Boosting Employee Morale and Productivity

In today’s competitive employment field, employees are always on the lookout for the next best thing. As a business leader, incorporating proven tactics to boost employee morale and productivity is essential to keeping them satisfied in their role in the company and happy enough to stay.

Schedule Team-Building Activities

Help foster camaraderie and motivation amongst team members at work by organizing a successful event to bring everyone together outside of the workplace. Task your Human Resources team or hire a professional event planner like Catalyst Events to plan a team-building event at an offsite location.

Hold the event during work hours or outside of the regular work day. If doing the latter, always be respectful of employees’ work-life boundaries and personal responsibilities. Schedule activities and events that will bring everyone together like these options:

• Attend a local TED Talk and dinner together.
• Play a few rounds of laser tag or paintball at an arena.
• Rent a fun zone for the afternoon. Think: Go-karts, rope courses, skeeball, batting cages, bumper cars, and mini golf.
• Poll employees to learn more about their interests.

For any leader who deems team-building activities as frivolous or unnecessary, take note of their networking opportunities. Employees on one floor of the company may rarely interact with the management team. This extra face-time gives them a chance to connect with their boss and talk about future possibilities, which is a win for the company and deters employee turnover. Connections matter, even within the same company.

Flexible Work Arrangements

Whether the company has a policy of in-person work or a hybrid or remote option, one thing is clear – many employees want flexible work arrangements for a host of reasons. Regardless of the motivations, if your business allows for a versatile work model, it is something to take seriously. Today’s workers have experienced remote work, and many appreciate the option. If possible, designate certain days of the week when everyone comes into the office for an eyes-on day of collaborative work. Other days may be as needed or assigned as purely remote work with virtual meetings and messaging interspersed.

Another way to offer an adaptive work setting is to create a shortened workweek. Since employees know they have less time to complete the same amount of work, they will inevitably work harder to get it done and earn the reward of less time at work. This mindset is summed up in the tenets of Parkinson’s Law, which means that people tend to fill allotted work time with a project instead of finishing it early. If the time is shortened, they will finish it within that time frame.

Watch this video to learn how successful people manage their time more efficiently through the lens of Parkinson’s Law:

Increase employee morale and efficiency through tactics and strategies that work, such as creative work arrangements. Give them time together away from the office and looming deadlines to connect and learn about one another on a personal level. These moments of levity bring people together and foster a greater sense of teamwork and productivity, which is good for business.

This is a contributed post.