Have you noticed a decrease in your employees’ energy and excitement? Are you hearing more sighs and seeing more frowns than usual? If so, your team may be experiencing a passing bad mood. Or it may be suffering from low morale, a chronic and more serious problem. Low morale stems from a waning sense of job satisfaction and can be due to one or a combination of factors such as increased pressure, a big disappointment, downsizing and layoffs, difficult patients, staff cliquishness, bullying, loss of a coworker, or a new employee who isn’t fitting in. You may be tempted to give your low-morale employee time and space to work things out on his own. However, low morale is a problem that requires your intervention. As Half(1) explains, “When employee morale is low, work output and outcomes can suffer, and trying to motivate your staff members can feel like pushing boulders uphill.” As well, a single employee suffering from low morale can poison your entire team. As Bell(2) warns, “Low employee morale is contagious.”
As the healthcare executive, it’s up to you to take proactive and decisive action. And while you may not be able to reverse the clock and eliminate the initial cause of the decline in morale, you may be able to raise employee morale by fostering an environment that’s more productive and rewarding for your team.
The High Cost of Low Morale
Morale can be the fuel that drives your healthcare organization forward, or it can be the fuel that feeds the fires of employee discontent, poor performance, illness, and absenteeism. As Holt(3) explains, “Good workplace morale is the state of mind of employees displayed through hard work, cordiality, confidence and discipline.” Unfortunately, low morale comes with a high price tag. According to Blankenship,(4) there are 22 million actively disengaged employees working in U.S. organizations. In total, low employee morale costs the American economy as much as $350 billion per year in lost productivity, Blankenship says.
It’s not surprising that the more unhappy employees are, the more reasons they’ll find not to come to work. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business(5) found in its CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey that lower morale leads to higher unscheduled absences. Morale influences the reasons people call in sick at the last minute, the survey found, with 70% of unscheduled absences attributed to reasons other than personal illness. Specifically, organizations with poor or fair morale were more likely to experience unscheduled absenteeism because of entitlement mentality and stress than organizations reporting higher morale. And as we all know, increased absenteeism can be costly for healthcare organizations. According to Folger,(6) the total costs of absenteeism include:
Wages paid to absent employees;
High-cost replacement staff (overtime pay for other employees and temporary employees);
Administrative costs associated with managing the absenteeism;
Lower quality of services resulting from understaffing and fatigue;
Reduced productivity;
Increased manager time (finding suitable replacements);
Increased safety issues stemming from increased pressure when understaffed; and
Poor morale among employees who must fill in or do extra work to cover absent coworkers.
While increased absenteeism is easy to track and quantify, Dorsett(7) suggests that there are “invisible” costs associated with low morale and the employee turnover that often accompanies it. Five of these are:
A higher learning curve: In most organizations, it will take more than 13 months before a new hire will reach 100% efficiency.
Loss of team efficiency: Helping a new hire get up to speed drains significant time and energy from managers and coworkers. Turnover is the time when a team is reduced to its least productive state, Dorsett warns.
Reduced productivity from the outgoing employee: An outgoing employee is generally not as productive as those who remain in the organization. This problem is exacerbated when the employee who is leaving has poor morale.
Domino effect: Coworkers are to a departing employee what rubberneckers are to an accident site, Dorsett suggests. They divert their attention away from what they’re doing to see what’s going on, slowing down their work in the process. Coworkers distracted by the departing employee will often see their own productivity plummet.
Position vacancy: The cost of a vacant position varies depending upon the position’s complexity. Dorsett warns that up to 50% of the efficiency reached in a position is challenged during this time.
The cost of low morale becomes excessive when it leads to employee dissatisfaction and ultimately the employee’s decision to leave. The cost is even higher when termination is required, Dorsett warns.
Twenty-Five Warning Signs of Low Morale
There are many reasons that employees may be experiencing low morale. These include poor communication, micromanagement, under-employment and wasted potential, layoffs and cutbacks, unclear and misunderstood expectations, incivility in the workplace, understaffing, misemployment (doing the wrong job), lack of personal growth, and poor leadership. Extremely low morale is usually easy to spot. However, moderately low morale may be more subtle and therefore, much harder to detect. As ADP(8) warns, “When employee morale begins to suffer, the signs aren’t always obvious.” In fact, Bell says that low employee morale is often a “silent killer” of workplace productivity and performance. As well, in most cases, morale doesn’t drop from good to terrible in a heartbeat. Rather, it more often spirals slowly downward, like a slow poison. Here are 25 warning signs that your employee’s morale is beginning to slip; as when managing most problem employees, early intervention will give you the best chance of turning things around:
Increase in tardiness and absenteeism
Staff conflicts
Increase in errors and the need to re-do work
Jealousy among employees
Patient complaints
Uncooperative attitude
Low affect
Lack of enthusiasm
Fault-finding.
Chronic long faces
Deterioration in the appearance of the work area and/or employees
Lack of commitment
Breakdown in discipline
Gripe sessions
Complaints about seemingly small matters
Zombie-like behavior
High turnover
Social reluctance (unwillingness to participate)
Opposition to authority
Use of phrases like “What’s the point?” and “Nobody cares”
Complaints of conflicting demands
“Us” versus “them” talk
Covert conversations and exclusionary behavior
Complaints of team members not carrying their load
Deadly silence at meetings
Twenty-Five Strategies to Boost Employee Morale
Morale doesn’t usually plummet in a single moment, and it usually isn’t improved in a single moment either. Think in terms of boosting your staff’s morale incrementally. Implementing even one of the 25 strategies below should help you to get things moving in the right direction.
Lead by example. Of course, it’s not possible for you to be cheery 100% of the time, and no reasonable person will expect that of you. However, stress and negativity are highly contagious, especially if they’re coming from you. Be mindful of your attitude and behavior, especially when you’re headed into a busy day or a challenging project. Exude confidence and calm, and try to smile more. Resist the temptation to complain or badmouth. It’s your job as a healthcare executive not to panic and to model the behavior you want to see from your staff, especially in challenging and tense situations.
Respect and accommodate your staff’s outside-of-work schedules. Morale suffers when employees can’t meet their personal, social, and family obligations. Do whatever you can to accommodate your employees’ schedules. For example, if an employee tells you that she’s taking a class and needs to leave a half hour early on Wednesdays, do your best to work around that schedule so she leaves on time. If you help your employees to maintain a happy life outside of work, they’ll bring a better attitude to your healthcare organization each day.
Reinforce positive behavior. Taking a moment to recognize your employees for a job well done is the easiest, cheapest, and most effective way to boost morale. That said, it’s important to recognize your employees meaningfully. Recognize your employees when they have improved or gone above and beyond expectations. Tell them that you were genuinely impressed with the good work they did. Seize opportunities to highlight the contributions of your employees in front of their coworkers. That can go a long way toward making them feel valued.
Surprise your employees with random acts of kindness. When new hires join your healthcare organization, ask them to fill out a short questionnaire about their “favorites” (favorite candy, flower, magazine, sports team, restaurant, animal, song, movie, vacation place, color, ice cream flavor, hobby, book, movie star, etc.). Keep this information on file and use it when your staff needs a pick-me-up. For example, when an employee has been working late all week, surprise him with his favorite candy on Friday or play her favorite song. Everyone appreciates surprises, but morale boosters such as these pack more wallop if you remember personal favorites.
Establish short-term goals. Ambitious long-term goals have a big payoff but require sustained effort. Be sure to establish some short-term goals for your staff, too. Build excitement and keep your staff motivated. Small successes will add up to larger ones and keep morale high.
Address low morale head-on. Ask your employees why they’re feeling down and what you can do to improve things. Encourage them to open up to you by safeguarding and honoring confidences.
Organize a rotating skill share. Encourage your employees to share their talents and interests with one another, perhaps at a monthly meeting. This will give your employees opportunities to share their gifts and interests and for them to bond with one another.
Delegate. Show your employees that you trust them and that you’re confident in their knowledge, skills, and abilities by delegating responsibilities to them. The added responsibility can boost their self-esteem and morale.
Feed them. It’s hard to feel chipper when you’re hungry. If you suspect that your employees are getting testy because they’re not eating properly, offer them healthy breakfast, lunch, or snack options that they can enjoy at the office. Healthy food can increase productivity, creativity, and mood. Employees will also be thankful if they don’t have to rush in the morning to make breakfast or leave the office to buy a piece of fruit.
Join together for a cause. Organize a community service project for you and your employees. Work together as a team and give back to your community. Doing so can help uplift your employees and give them a way to develop lasting bonds with their coworkers.
Help employees develop and grow. Create a career track for each employee. Help every member of your team develop a vision of personal success. Create a template for your employees to use to document skills they’ve acquired, skills they want to learn, and goals they want to reach. Then provide employees with attractive opportunities for education and training to help them sharpen their professional skills. Offer tuition reimbursement or hire a trainer to teach employees a new skill. Send your employees to a conference or enroll them in a webinar. Buy books for them to read and share, and discuss them as a group.
Nurture creativity. Go by the philosophy that there are no bad ideas, only undeveloped ones. Provide employees with room and flexibility to try out new ideas. Let them come up with new and better ways to do things and to solve problems.
Solicit suggestions. Place a secured, locked suggestion box in your office. Encourage employees to submit anonymous questions, suggestions, concerns, and comments. Use employee suggestions to uncover and resolve problems that are lowering morale.
Conduct employee satisfaction surveys. Ask questions that will help you pinpoint the reasons for low morale. Then address the issues you uncover.
Establish an employee recognition program. Employees want their bosses and organizations to be aware of and to appreciate their work. Create an employee-of-the-month program or a wall of fame to recognize notable staff contributions. Such programs demonstrate your appreciation.
Get to know them individually. Ask about hobbies and interests. Learn about their spouses and children, community service work, and other passions. Talk about your respective plans for the weekend. Staff members will appreciate your interest, as long as you keep the conversation appropriate and genuine.
Give them something to look forward to. Having something to look forward to relieves stress and boredom and creates healthy anticipation for the future. You might, for example, encourage your employees to bring food to share at work the last Friday of each month. Or hold a drawing for a gourmet dinner once a month. Or plan a quarterly social event outside of work hours for your entire staff. Mix it up and make it fun so your employees will truly look forward to the event.
Incorporate humor. A work atmosphere that is too strait-laced can dim the creative spirit and lower staff morale. Throw in a funny joke or story to enliven your meetings with your employees. Lighten up the atmosphere in your healthcare organization — appropriately, of course.
Focus attention on your healthcare organization’s greater purpose. Everyone wants to feel that his or her work has a higher purpose. Sometimes, though, that purpose gets lost in the day-to-day tasks of a busy healthcare organization. Inspire your employees to see the big picture by highlighting accomplishments and stories that show them the value of what they do. An employee may be more fulfilled by knowing that she has helped a patient or coworker in need than by any other rewards.
Share inspiring materials. Circulate inspiring stories and books. Watch inspiring videos and biography programs together. Then discuss them. A shared positive experience such as this can be very powerful.
Take a break from the way you usually do things. Routines are great, but a too-predictable workplace can become dull. Shake things up occasionally, especially when your staff least expects it.
Encourage a family atmosphere. Plan social events for your staff and their families. Picnics, bowling outings, and family-friendly parties can help your staff get to know one another better and boost morale.
Play games. Offer door prizes at your staff meetings. Hold weekly drawings. Play guessing games. Facilitate icebreakers. Games are fun and can keep the energy in your organization high.
Be a servant leader. When your staff is facing a tough time and morale is sinking, be the ultimate leader and take the bullet for your team. Roll up your sleeves, take on the dirty work, and do whatever you have to do to help get the job done. Show your employees with your behavior, not just your words, that you are there to help and serve them.
Make a substantive, positive, and visible change. Eliminate one annoying problem for your employees. You may not be able to solve every problem. But that one change will demonstrate very clearly that things do change and get better in your healthcare organization.
Bonus Feature: Five Games to Increase Employee Morale
Employee games can help you to keep employee morale high. As Duncan(9) explains, “Periodically playing games with your employees is a great way to build camaraderie and provide a much-needed break from the stresses of a workday, all while building team morale.” Here are five morale-building games to play with your employees:
Trivia: Choose any topic you like and create your own trivia questions about it. Just be sure to stay away from topics that are controversial or that have one or more employees who are expert in the subject. Split your staff into two groups of even size. Ask one group a question, timing 10 seconds for the answer. If they don’t answer in time, or they answer incorrectly, give the other group a chance to answer and take the point. The group that has the most points at the end of the game wins.
What If: Ask each member of your staff to write the name of either a living thing or an object on a piece of paper. Collect the papers. Read the word on the first paper, asking your staff to imagine being that object or living thing. Then have your staff describe a typical day in your organization as that thing. For example, if the word tomato were chosen, each player would describe what his or her day in your organization would be like as a tomato. Continue working through the pile of papers so your staff members imagine functioning through their day as various objects and living things.
Blindfolded Obstacle Course: Set up a space with chairs, boxes, and other obstacles that are at least knee-high. Blindfold one person, who will go through the obstacle course. The rest of your staff will guide the blindfolded coworker verbally from one end of the room to the other. To make the game even more interesting, add some activities at the end of the obstacle course such as filling water glasses from a pitcher, putting on a coat and hat, or moving objects from one table to another. Blindfold the next staff member and change the course and activities. Keep taking turns so everyone has a chance to go through the obstacle course.
Office Olympics: Break employees into groups representing different countries or planets. Set up simple activity stations throughout your office for the competition such as playing Twister, tossing objects into trash cans, throwing paper airplanes the farthest, and playing with Hula Hoops. Award gold, silver, and bronze medals. Make this an annual event with the winners returning the next year to defend their titles.
Weekly Poker: Each day, offer your employees one playing card each from a deck. At the end of the week, the staff member with the best poker hand wins a prize.
References
Half R. 3 signs of low employee morale and how to counteract them. Robert Half. April 7, 2020. https://www.roberthalf.com/blog/management-tips/5-signs-of-low-employee-morale-in-the-workplace-and-how-to-counteract-it .
Bell A. How to detect and correct low employee morale before it spreads. SnackNation. June 25, 2020. https://snacknation.com/blog/low-employee-morale/ .
Holt M. Employee morale Issues. Chron. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/employee-morale-issues-1824.html .
Blankenship M. The high cost of low morale by Lorraine Fink. Roberts Wesleyan College. July 3, 2014. https://go.roberts.edu/bid/183778/the-high-cost-of-low-morale-by-nicole-fink . Accessed September 11, 2020.
Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. CCH survey finds most employees call in “sick” for reasons other than illness. CCH. October 10, 2007. www.cch.com/press/news/2007/20071010h.asp .
Folger J. The causes and costs of absenteeism. Investopedia. July 5, 2013.
Dorsett D. The high cost of low morale. Personalysis. September 2006.
Employee morale: 7 warning signs you shouldn’t Ignore. ADP. October 16, 2017. https://sbshrs.adpinfo.com/blog/employee-morale-7-warning-signs-you-shouldnt-ignore .
Duncan. Cut stress/raise morale: 9 one-minute games for employees. Vetter. www.getvetter.com/posts/187-cut-stress-raise-morale-9-one-minute-games-for-employees .
Excerpted from The Problem Employee: How to Manage the Employees No One Wants to Manage (American Association for Physician Leadership, 2021).