3 Tips to Boost Employee Morale

Written by Pamela Springer

Employees form the backbone of any business, and employee morale is a critical factor to a company’s growth and success.  Happy employees work harder, are more creative and care more about the company’s overall success. Here are three tips you can follow to boost morale at your small business.

 3 Ways to Raise Morale and Promote Growth

1. Understand Employee Needs, and Invest in Them

Naturally, innovative small businesses have some of the brightest and most creative people. These employees will help grow your business, but you need to invest in them.  It’s important to understand and cater to their needs.  Train your people, and provide them with the tools they need to succeed and to move up in the company.   

At some point, every small business owner hopes to experience a period of rapid growth.  It’s important to be proactive and continuously train employees so that during growth periods, these employees are ready to be promoted, to take on more responsibility and to play a bigger role in the company.

Working with a consultant to create this structure can help.  A consultant can help build a program to prepare associates for a manager role and develop training programs that address a variety of management scenarios. This helps employees understand what it’s like to be a manager of your small business.

This initiative lays a foundation that gives the company continuity and competency across management practices.  Your employees are worth the investment, and it’s important to do whatever you can to create a successful team.   

2. Empower Your Employees  

Empower your employees to make decisions. You set objectives, boundaries and expected outcomes, and then let them determine their goals, which features they should work on, what their priorities are, and the manner in which they will achieve them. That’s their realm of expertise so give them the control.  Empowered associates tend to perform better at their jobs.

Here are a few practices to empower employees:           

  • Define the framework, communicate (clearly) and then let the associates take the reins
  • Hire smart people and hold them accountable
  •  Encourage employees to have their own voice – allow all team members the opportunity to propose the next big thing

3. Create a Culture of Teamwork

Every small business is a team, so work together to create a culture of teamwork to achieve your goals.  Keep in mind that your small business is working together to be a part of something that impacts other people, businesses and families on a daily basis and in a meaningful way. 

Every small business needs employees who genuinely care and believe in what they’re doing.  Their work matters!   Work to keep the environment upbeat and enthusiastic.  It’s motivating for everyone to work together and to achieve together, while at the same time having fun and being proud of the differences they make.   

Understand that your small business may not always get things right in the first place, but with a solid track record and working together as a team, you can always be confident that you’ll figure it out.  By creating a culture of teamwork, you’ll help everyone develop a confidence and a belief in what you do.

Though every company has its own set of unique characteristics, employee morale goes hand in hand with the success of any company.  Putting these tips into action will help employees stay positive and enthusiastic about what they do on a daily basis and help you stay on a continuous path of growth. 

Pamela Springer is CEO of Manta.

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Small Business Computing Staff
Small Business Computing Staff
Small Business Computing addresses the technology needs of small businesses, which are defined as businesses with fewer than 500 employees and/or less than $7 million in annual sales.

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