As a research firm that focuses on market research, polls, and surveys, among others, we hope to bring insights to you through today’s article which illustrates the effect of employee surveys in the workplace where there is low staff morale.
Low staff morale is one of the silent factors that contribute to the downfall of businesses. If not abated, employees become less productive, consequently hampering business growth. It is imperative for businesses to implement turnaround strategies to bolster employees’ morale by addressing the identified causal factors. An example is the Employee Satisfaction Survey which enables management to gauge the levels of satisfaction of its employees.
In such surveys, it is always important to get highlights from experts to sample out indicators and factors to focus on during the survey. We spoke to a professional development coach Mompoloki Makwana, Managing Director of Prime Coaching, who highlighted the following as some of the contributing factors to low staff morale in a business.
Lack of Clear Communication
Makwana says the lack of communication and clear instruction between the management and junior employees is a big problem.
“If a task is not communicated clearly in the business, employees are not sure what to do and what is expected from them. During already depressing moments like the Covid19 pandemic, business leaders who lack effective communication skills will lead a dismally demoralised entity,” he said.
He adds that poor communication breaks the flow of ideas that could contribute to the business success in a very significant way. In confirmation, Michael Blankenship of Roberts Wesleyan College asserts that communication that lacks clarity, focus, important details, that is too infrequent, lacks meaning, and does not allow staff to respond or discuss their concerns can lead to morale problems in the workplace.
Lack of Trust
Makwana says lack of trust can break the relationship between management and staff. “If employees and subordinates don’t trust their Line Managers, they will not trust the company in general. Consequently, morale suffers, and employee performance is affected,” he said. He added that, for example, if the employees have been promised an incentive after meeting certain targets and if this promise is not fulfilled, employees will lose trust in the management and organization.
The highlights gained from experts and documented literature enable the development of the scope of the score to dig deeper into what’s causing low staff morale in your organization.
Why employee surveys?
Leaders who fail to address morale issues in the workplace face the following: decreased productivity, increased rates of absenteeism and associated costs, increased conflicts in the work environment, increased patient complaints; dissatisfied consumers of care; increased employee turnover rates and costs associated with hiring and training replacement staff.
After establishing the problem factors, management can then develop some mitigation measures that are tailor-made to address their staff’s specific needs. Such strategies include implementing a staff appreciation strategy and engaging in regular team-building exercises, among others, to boost the low staff morale.
Employee surveys, without a doubt, keep management and business leaders abreast of their workplace dynamics thereby enabling them to create a conducive working environment for employee engagement and ultimately increase productivity. Research firms like us, Data Collection and Analysis, are better placed to conduct an employee survey that will provide you with priceless insights on the staff morale in your workplace and how to get your company operating like a well-oiled machine. We hope this article was insightful and demonstrated to some extent the importance of research in business decision-making. If you need to get insights on your own market niche, we are just a call away.
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