In your experience, what has the greatest influence on team morale and why?
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A fundamental golden rule that I wish more people would follow is simply treating people the way you want to be treated. It sounds cliche and corny, but I don't believe anyone on my team ever woke up and said, "I can't wait to get to work, and I hope John micromanages me."
Three years of COVID has been tough on our clinicians and supply chain staff. People are burnt out. I remember many of us were approving and signing contracts and PO requisitions at 2 a.m. because if you didn't buy it now, you just couldn't get it.
The way to keep morale high is through engagement. You have to listen and provide flexibility. Post-COVID has created this need and desire for flexibility. Do I care if someone's online at 9 a.m.? No, I care that they're meeting the deliverables and our customers' needs on RFx and contract negotiations.
Leadership starts with being there to support. My philosophy is "what can I do to help my team today?" Not the other way around. As leaders, we need to be there to support and listen to our team. They have all the ideas. They know how many mouse clicks it takes to do something on their computer. Why does it have to be 10? Why can't it be two? What processes are broken? What partners are no longer partners and are becoming problems in which we need to reestablish relationships? The role is about listening and supporting.
You’ll see morale improve if you treat your team as you want to be treated, maintain engagement through listening and providing flexibility, support your team and streamline their processes along the way.
Layoffs. This impacts not only the employees laid off but those who remain. They are fearful they may be next and won’t be able to provide for their families
Trust and empowerment.
In my experience, most of the employees come in with good intent to add value to the organization. And from management perspective, the best way to keep them in high spirits and morale, is to assign tasks appropriate for their skill levels, empower them to make decisions on how to deliver, and trust them that they will deliver.