The High Cost of Low Morale…and what to do about it

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The High Cost of Low Morale explores the underlying causes of low morale and offers field-proven, practical methods for increasing morale and reducing turnover in your organization. “The prevailing culture among business leaders throughout the world is one of acceptance; acceptance that employees will be disinterested, disconnected and (eventually) disowned. Carol Hacker stands at the gate and says ‘no.’ She believes (correctly) that morale ‘counts’ and that investing in people has far reaching and significant implications.” – Allan J. DeNiro, Corporate Vice President Human Resources, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

Summary

Carol A. Hacker, a highly respected human resources consultant and speaker, is also the author of numerous published articles on the most important asset of any company - the workforce. Her books include The Costs of Bad Hiring Decisions & How to Avoid Them and Hiring Top Performers - 350 Great Interview Questions for People Who Need People.

The High Cost of Low Morale explores the underlying causes of low morale and offers field-proven, practical methods for increasing morale and reducing turnover in your organization. Low morale, and its costly indicator, high turnover, can be a tremendous drain on a company.

How much is low morale costing you?

Pin The Tail on the Donkey (Making Good Hiring Decisions)

If companies can use only the insights given in the first chapter, they would have gone a long way towards solving the problem of low morale in the work place. To have good morale you need to bring in people who fit with your organization. Hiring the wrong people can also lead to disciplinary problems, dissatisfied customers and damage to your organization’s image.

The moral of the story is: hiring cannot be as random as “pinning the tail on the donkey.” Instead, you must learn how to identify those who are dependable, stable, honest and loyal by learning to select individuals based on facts rather than “vibes.” Hacker teaches us to evaluate applicants objectively by suggesting we rate applicants in terms of a number of general factors. They include:

· Experience – consider the applicant’s background

· Education – how relevant is their schooling?

· Job Knowledge – do they possess the practical/technical knowledge required?

· Information about General Field of Work – how familiar is the applicant with the field?

· Communication Skills – do they express their ideas effectively?

· Motivation – to what extent does the applicant exhibit a real interest in the position?

· Creativity – how innovative are they?

· Initiative – do they appear willing to seek out new responsibilities?

· Composure – does the applicant appear to be in control?

· Overall Impression – consider the applicant’s overall appearance, manner, and responsiveness

Next, ask yourself these questions to ensure you make the right hiring decisions:

ü Do I really need to fill this vacancy now or ever?

ü What am I looking for in talent and personal qualities?

ü Do I feel comfortable hiring someone better than me?

ü If I’m not involving other members of my team in the interview, how could I benefit from doing so?

ü Could I improve the process for making final hiring decisions? What am I doing now that doesn’t work?

This process provides a framework for making sound and defensible hiring decisions so you can select employees who will stick with you and contribute to positive moral.

Up Your Attitude (A Good Attitude = High Morale)

Hiring suitable candidates is just step one. You must foster a positive atmosphere that challenges employees to be creative and take calculated risks. In order to establish a productive environment you must learn to manage with a positive attitude.

Attitude is one of the few things that each of us can control about ourselves, Hacker believes. However, sometimes it’s pretty challenging to manage our attitude successfully and she suggests some ideas you may want to try even “when you don’t feel like it”:

· Accept the idea that you alone are responsible for your happiness

· Picture yourself in control of your environment

· Look for the best in people and life

· Take on an attitude of self-confidence

· Treat everyone like a VIP

Pygmalion's Fair Lady (The Power of Expectation)

As George Bernard Shaw's Eliza Doolittle explains in the play Pygmalion, "the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she's treated."

The "Pygmalion effect" occurs when "a false definition of the situation evokes a new behavior which makes the original false conception come true," according to Robert Merton, a professor of sociology at Columbia University.

Hacker cites powerful examples of how managers can use this to elevate workplace performance. "Learn how to create high expectations," she says, "and the 'Pygmalion effect' will work in helping you become a better manager."

To extend this power of expectation even further, Hacker lists five key principles that summarize the concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy:

1. Managers form certain expectations of people or events.

2. They communicate these expectations with various cues.

3. People tend to respond to these cues by adjusting their behavior to match them.

4. The result is that the original expectation becomes fulfilled.

5. This creates a circle of self-fulfilling prophecies.

One positive result encourages and spawns another, and another. Once “Pygmalions” have demonstrated what's expected to their employees, they then get out of the way to let them excel on their own.

Ma Bell Did it (Communicate)

Everyone can agree that good communication skills are imperative to winning teams. Some managers are naturally better communicators than others are, but Hacker gives some suggestions to help all managers improve their skills.

She instructs us to give criticism in the helping spirit. Often it’s not what you say, but how you say it. All criticism should be encouraging with the goal of improvement.

Be accessible to employees. Talk about more than just “official business,” get to know people professionally and personally. Avoid interruptions when meeting with employees, it sends the message that neither the employee nor the meeting is important.

Wherever possible, make employees decision-makers and keep them informed. Encourage feedback, you may want to survey staff to help you evaluate your department and your skills.

Hacker stresses the importance of using performance appraisals as communication tools. Performance appraisal is a basic responsibility of every manager but an astonishing 50% of appraisals are not done and of those 50% are not done on time. According to Jim Hackett, president of The Bunker Hill Consulting Group, “When managers fail to provide a timely performance appraisal, they are tell their people one thing – I don’t care about you or your future.” During the appraisal define and prioritize job goals. Make this a collaborative process to ensure that the employee’s goals are compatible with the group’s goals.

Ch-ch-ch-change (Take Charge of Change)

As with anything in life, change is a constant in the workplace. However, change brings uncertainty, complexity and stress to most people, says Hacker. When all of these factors fall on the manager's shoulders, the change or transition can be difficult - especially if the managers are also effected.

When change is inevitable, Hacker suggests that the employer take care of the "me" issues. Aside from the monetary concerns, the company should consider being totally honest about everything - even when they don't have all the answers. This tone of trust goes a long way towards smoothing out a difficult transition.

Hacker tells of how her former employer handled a potentially troublesome change of corporate location. Old timers in the company resisted a move from a comfortable 50-year-old building to a spanking new facility. Management responded by taking an unorthodox step, they let employees grieve their loss. Everyone was given a disposable camera to record their beloved old building and allowed to write out their feelings on the walls. With this important step, they came to accept the change and their new surroundings.

Get 'Em Psyched (Build Fun Into Your Organization)

The same creativity that tides over tough transitions can be used to add fun to the work environment. One noteworthy move is to reward employees when they least expect it. The usual Christmas gifts and year-end bonuses are great, but an employee who gets a special reward when not expecting it is likely to be loyal to the company for a long time.

Hacker also distinguishes between the external rewards and goodies, which she calls "extrinsic motivation" with "intrinsic motivation." The latter involves arranging the work so that it's interesting, challenging and motivating to the employee. The nature of the work is the reward. Giving out perks is an added bonus if the workforce is already content, but will count for little in a demoralized organization.

Who's On First? (Is it Leadership or Is it Management?)

Donald R. Keough, past president and COO of Coca-Cola, believes that motivated, intelligent people can be trained as managers, but they won't necessarily become leaders. A good leader is much more than a manager.

There are many ways to lead people and winning their loyalty by supporting their best interests is a great place to start. Leaders sometimes make unpopular decisions and that can make life miserable for a while. However, if employees are given respect and the authority to handle their responsibilities, they feel more like business partners and are more likely motivated to do their best.

"The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated," said William James, psychologist. Yet leaders regularly miss opportunities to satisfy this craving in their employees.

Close Encounters of The Worst Kind (Managing Difficult People)

A manager's job wouldn't be complete without the challenge of dealing with employees with problems. How you handle these challenges will partially determine your success as a manager.

Above all, don’t delay addressing problems may have serious repercussions. Jon Cartwright, vice president of sales for A.G. Sanderson, Inc., admits that he waited too long to confront a sales manager who was belligerent, consistently late and irresponsible. When he finally terminated the manager, the other employees had already lost respect for him, whom they felt had mismanaged the situation.

Most problem employees are frustrated. Managers can't eliminate all sources of frustration, but they can help reduce problems in the workplace. Hacker offers these suggestions:

· Give assignments to the right people

· Define expectations

· Ask for and answer questions before getting started (including reasons for doing something in a certain way)

· Discuss timetables

· Determine who needs “special handling”

All Aboard (Orientation and Training)

Hacker emphasizes the importance of valuing employees from day one. Orientation helps people adapt to a particular situation by establishing and sorting out relationships within their new environment. Orientation is a morale booster and helps get employees off to a good start.

Linking training to corporate initiatives can effectively help the corporation build a quality culture. Motorola links all employee education to corporate initiatives in order to provide their clients a “Best-in-Class” workforce.

It is also important to develop tomorrow’s leaders. McDonald's Corporation takes their employees through a series of training programs from their Crew Training Program, to their Management Development Program and finally on to Hamburger University where professors teach management and operations courses to owners and managers around the world. These education and training programs have allowed McDonald's to open 17,000 restaurants in 86 countries.

Conclusion

Carol Hacker teaches us that it is possible to manage morale in the workplace. Her time-tested advise can help you boost performance, increase profits and beat the negativity that saps employee’s energy. By using the insightful and low-cost applications in this book you can learn how to hire the best, weed out the worst and keep good employees motivated to do their best.