Morale… Still a Problem?

Morale… Still a Problem?

A few weeks ago, we posted a blog titled, “Is Our Company Morale Low?” Surprisingly, we received more than the usual feedback from people saying that they still can’t seem to understand how to get to the bottom of the issue in their workplace. In the blog, I cited a 3-part solution to address the problem; Repair, Revitalize and Refocus. Although the solution was directed at a systemic challenge, perhaps the real focus should be on a behavioral challenge that may exist within a company.

I was enlightened when I received a copy of a memo sent out by one of our readers to the mid-level management group in their company. I found their response to be on point and without judgement providing a reasonable and understandable solution for their staff to consider. I’ll share it with you, and we’ll continue with my thoughts thereafter.

As I had some time to reflect this past week, I came to a stark understanding of what I believe are our issues with morale.  We are suffering from a lack of respect and trust for each other.  

We’ve been tossing around words like family, but the reality of our group is we are a community.  The definition of community is “a feeling of fellowship with others as a result of sharing common attitudes, interest, and goals”.  That is what defines (our company), we should be a community of like-minded individuals, coming together to create a great product to share with world.  I think we’ve gotten off track because we have developed a lack of individual respect that has led to a chasm in our community.  For a community to exist in harmony there must be a sense of support from each other, a belief that each of us are providing something crucial to allow our community to accomplish its goals.

That said, as I watched interactions over email this past week, staying mostly out of the fray, I truly felt we are lacking that sense of community.  We are existing in an arena where it feels everyone is out for themselves not working together toward the common goal.  I believe this is why we see pockets of ‘community’, but not community as a whole.  There are teams that works well together, feel fulfilled by their roles, and therefore exhibit higher overall morale, but throughout the majority of the org I think that is lacking.  Overall,  we are certainly lacking that sense of community interdepartmentally.

 A few things I saw that can be easy fixes:

• Improved interdepartmental communication:  Email is free, cc anyone that could benefit or find value from the information that you are sharing.  If it isn’t relevant or important to their day-to-day, they can delete it, but people feel more empowered when they are armed with information.  People feel more invested and involved when they don’t feel like they are being excluded.  
• Creating a community spirit by celebrating small victories: Created a shared Slack or other channel to bring to light the ‘small victories’ that come together to create something great.  It is easy to celebrate the big wins like sales numbers, but those numbers aren’t possible without every day-to-day victory that allows us to make a product.  From the top down we need to be better at celebrating those things.  The things we may see as “part of the job” or mundane are crucial to the overall success of the organization.  Those things and the people moving those things forward should be celebrated.
• Setting the stage for greater respect:  When we fail to respond to our colleagues or provide them the information they need to complete their job, we essentially demoralize their efforts.  We need to create a culture where we have so much respect for each other that ending the day with a question unanswered is absolutely unacceptable.  I worked in an org that required all intercompany emails had to be answered within 24 hours as a sign of respect for each other, it is something that has hung with me through the years and still something I think is crucial to showing respect for my staff and my colleagues.  That should be a company mandate.

 Overall, I really do think our issues stem from a lack of community which leads to a lack respect for each other.  I see so much back-biting and information hoarding that it is creating an environment where people are choosing to silo information to “protect their job” which is ultimately hurting the organization. We should be encouraging and promoting each other’s successes, not taking personal credit for any success, but creating an environment where everyone knows that their contribution is crucial.  We should promote positivity and creativity; we should be open to trying new things regardless of where the idea stemmed.  All that starts, in my opinion, with improved communication which fosters trust.  It is so easy to doubt when you feel you are left in the dark, but when people are armed with information, they are more apt to trust the process.  Trust, Respect, and a feeling of community is what we as an organization need to strive for to be successful.

It has been my experience that groups of individuals working together should be well aware of the company’s focus and specifically their corporate goals. This suggests that at the very least the leadership within the company should make it their priority to ensure that all facets of the organization be well acquainted with them and how their individual roles and departments tie into those goals and objectives. To reference the writer of the memo, sharing your information related to your company’s product or service and having respect for others within the organization charged to do the same in another department is an essential understanding that all must have.

To reiterate the key point, trust and respect for your colleagues within the organization is essential to succeed as a community. Also, to the point, withholding information for “job security” or to “protect your idea from being stolen” is the cause of departments and individuals creating silos. For all who understand silos in a company, it is a surefire way to stunt productivity, mutual support and avoid success.

Even if you don’t agree that we’re put on this earth to be of service to each other, we are certainly being paid to do just that.  As a team we can achieve more than we can as individuals.

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