When asked as a child what you wanted to be when you grew up, it’s highly likely your choice was based around something fun. Just because you’ve grown up doesn’t mean this has to change. Job satisfaction doesn’t just lie within the role itself, but with other attributing factors such as environment and opportunities. Here are key tips for keeping your team motivated and preventing the domino effect of low morale.
1. From motivated team to lost all morale
Lucy Steers, head of marketing at Hymans Robertson, is still on a high having just come back from a flagship event for the company’s ‘Better Futures’ campaign – a project aimed to position the brand as a thought leader on key market issues. For Lucy, it has demonstrated what the backing of a keen and motivated workforce can mean. “The campaign involved the whole team, from planning, messaging, email marketing, digital and social, event management and overall project management. Everyone’s been so engaged and dedicated to making this the best campaign we’ve delivered and the buzz it’s created in our own team, as well as in the wider business, has been fantastic,” Lucy explains. A group project is a great way to unite a team as it creates a shared goal.
Mark Smith, marketing director at Certsure, has experienced the same momentum, but since the downfall of his team’s morale two years ago, he realises this was something he took for granted. For him, the loss was a quiet landslide, but once morale had dipped, the landscape was drastically evident. “In previous years, there was a natural, organic level of both individual and collective motivation in the team. We won multiple awards together and there was great success and momentum. The main difference is that a motivated team will go the extra mile for one another. Team members will work extra hours without being asked and output will be higher in quality.”
For Mark, the missing ingredient for his marketing team was creativity. Employees were simply clocking in, working and going home without producing anything impactful. He’s been rebuilding morale from rock bottom, but says it’s been a slow process.
“Human beings are not machines and need time to form new relationships and build trust,” he asserts. “Ensure there’s clear communication of a common goal and an understanding of how each team member can contribute.” Having a motivated team can create a culture that is more likely to nurture achievement.
2. Lack of presence, physically and mentally
There’s a common misconception that low morale means disputes and personality clashes, but the most common sign is often silence, which can make it harder to uncover the cause.
Lucy says this is something leaders should keep an eye on. “A lack of interest and engagement always speaks volume. Even just having one person who’s less engaged can impact on the rest of the team.”
“It’s not always indicated by an increase in tension and disputes,” Mark agrees. “It can actually be demonstrated by a lack of personal chatter or social banter. People come in quietly and leave without even saying goodbye.” He recalls a time when an entire bank of desks in the marketing department was empty by 4.30pm – a significant symbol of morale at the time.
3. What leadership should be doing
Another key indicator of a drop in motivation is an increase in sick leave, but Vanessa King, board member at Action for Happiness, says this is something that should be preempted. “The best managers and leaders don’t wait for this. They get to know their team members as individuals and care about them as a whole.”
Mark agrees getting to know your team individually is vital and shouldn’t be a tick list job. “It shouldn’t be rushed – motivation is such an intangible and elusive thing. When you have it individually and as a team, it’s obvious to all.
Like Vanessa, he believes a preempted method to be the most sustainable. “Motivation can easily disappear almost without anyone noticing. By the time you notice, it’s probably too late to recover it.” Motivation is something that needs to be in your peripheral as it shows you care about your team’s wellbeing.
In essence, good motivation stems from employees feeling valued and respected by leadership – this is what management need to convey to their team. “As a leader, if you genuinely care and want to work with your team to be high performing and succeed then you’re halfway there,” encourages Lucy.
4. Clear goals and responsibility
Working toward a common goal shouldn’t be likened to herding sheep into a pen. “Don’t assume that helping the organisation achieve its strategic goals is enough of a motivator,” says Vanessa, classing the common goal as a hygiene factor. In order to heighten the motivation that a shared target can bring, ensure everyone in the team has some level of choice and control over their role.
In Lucy’s case, this approach has seen much success in terms of morale. “Empowering individuals and giving them responsibility and accountability for elements of delivering a plan is really important, be that in their specialist area of expertise or owning particular projects. Individual success feeds into team success.” But if you want to encompass this approach it needs to be carried out authentically – meaning that openness and transparency should be embraced.
Psychologists refer to this as autonomous motivation, and for Vanessa, this is the only form of motivation that enables high performance and contributes to the wellbeing of team members, rather than undermining it.
“Autonomous motivation is when people genuinely enjoy what they’re doing and have some choice over what they do and how they do it. It’s important that people feel what they’re doing matters,” she says.
This type of motivation can be implemented by providing a line of sight to customer satisfaction and offering involvement in problem solving. The aim here is to make employees feel like they’re contributing to something and making a positive difference, which will also make them feel valuable.
5. Countering stress
Stress is one of the most well-known causes of illness in the workplace and can have a wide impact on all aspects of life, including work. The idyllic scenario is that prolonged periods of heightened stress don’t exist, but that is somewhat wishful thinking.
For Lucy, stress is expected but leadership’s actions in response to this will be the most impactful to your team. “There are always unavoidable spells when it’s ultra busy and you just need all hands on deck to get stuff done,” says Lucy. “But expect too much from people for too long and the cracks start to show.” This is an example of when it’s most important to be vigilant, that means recognising tell-tale signs, thanking people for their efforts and standing up for your team to wider leadership for some support to be put in place.
Having fun at work isn’t something that should be deemed as a crime and particularly in times of severe stress, its presence is needed more than ever. “Allowing time for the team to restore energy after peak pressure points matters,” Vanessa outlines. “Ensure people take a break from their desks and devices to move their bodies, get some air and have a chat or share a joke.”
6. Management behaviour during stressful periods
A dip in motivation may not stem from issues at work but in the foreign territory of personal lives. Vanessa suggests an adjustment in management behaviour in situations such as this. Cutting them some slack is the right move. “It can be as simple as checking in, noticing what’s gone well, saying thank you for effort and offering help where needed.”
Vanessa’s last piece of advice is for those attempting to coax motivation out of employees with carrot and stick motivators. “It can work in the short term, especially for very basic roles, but for complex roles, which most of them are these days, they can actually undermine ‘good’ motivation and cause stress and burnout.”
It’s inevitable that stress will consume a team from time to time, but if leadership demonstrate empathy towards their team and their responsibilities, there’s likely to be a quicker way out and a shorter route to workplace engagement perfection.
