The term ‘employee morale’ means the morale of employees in a workspace environment. It has an established effect on productivity and it’s linked with a lot of other factors, like company image and employee turnover rate. So, it’s safe to say that most (if not all) organizations would prefer to keep the employee morale high at their workspace.
However, this is easier said than done. Employees are living, breathing human beings with complex minds, and boosting their morale isn’t as simple as pressing a button or giving out ‘thank you’ cards – although the latter can help a little bit!
In this article, we want to talk about boosting employee morale at your office space for rent in NJ. We’ll go over proven tips from people who know what they’re saying, and then take a look at the benefits of boosting employee morale, and what Blau & Berg can do for your company.
How to boost employee morale at your office space for rent in NJ
From Chron: “High morale happens when an upbeat, positive attitude meets high energy in the workplace. Employees and teams with good morale are satisfied with their jobs and work environment, making them excited to come to work each day. Instead of fighting difficult emotions in order to try to focus on the task at hand, employees with high morale feel a positive boost from their emotions, which creates unstoppable momentum that propels them forward in meeting and exceeding their goals.”
Now let’s go over how to make that happen at your office.
- Promote a healthy work-life balance
Matthew Ross, the co-founder and COO of mattress review site The Slumber Yard, says that he and his co-founder both come from the investment-banking world, where late nights at work were commonplace. “However, for our company,” he says, “we feared the late nights would burn out our employees and eventually make them resent us.” When one employee resigned because of what Ross suspected was burnout, he says, “we knew we had to make a change or else other people would likely starting leaving as well.”
If, for instance, you discover that your employees are having to work overtime to meet deadlines, make changes so they don’t have to. Your employees are humans and they deserve to have time off to spend with their friends and family. At The Slumber Yard, an interesting new rule came into effect: No work emails between 7 PM and 5 AM.
- Work on building trust
From Slack: “According to a Slack study on the future of work, 80% of workers want to know more about how decisions are made in their organization, and 87% want their future company to be transparent. And employee morale can only reach a certain level without trust in leadership. After all, employees aren’t likely to communicate or contribute if they don’t feel safe expressing themselves honestly at work.
That’s why at the authentication and authorization platform Auth0, managers are coached in offering actionable feedback and recognition. “Feedback should never be so generic that the person who receives it has no idea what they should do with it,” says Melinda Starbird, Auth0’s vice president of people and culture.”
Promote transparency, and encourage your employees to speak out and offer feedback where they see fit. This will help reduce uncertainty, and enable your employees to get excited and feel like they’re part of a team working towards a common goal.
- Talk to your employees
Don’t just tell your workstaff that your door is always open – actually go out and prove it to them.
Here are some other ways to do this, from Slack: “Letendre recently conducted interviews with frontline employees at a 70-person company. From the information she gathered, the company created a culture committee with a small budget to establish fun activities, brainstorm companywide initiatives and designate coaching leaders—all with the added bonus of sustaining positive employee morale. “Through this,” she says, “we saw a 32% increase in employee engagement and a 28% average increase in performance companywide.”
Stay interviews are another excellent option. When conducting one, ask employees questions such as what’s keeping them in the company, what they would change (if they could change anything), and more, so you get an idea of how they feel about working with the company.
- Give your staff a chance to interact outside work
From Slack: “The financial services company Acuity has received positive reviews on Glassdoor from employees about the opportunities it provides for team members to get to know one another. These interactions come in the form of picnics, lunchtime trivia events, and monthly happy hours where family and friends are invited.
“These fun events get people together and get them away from their desk so they can interact with each other, not just in a professional way but to get people involved on a more personal level,” says Jordan Lindstrom, a senior human resources specialist at Acuity. New hires are also invited to social events, including the company holiday party, before they even begin work, getting them incorporated into the friendly, inclusive culture ahead of their first day.”
Non-work events at your office space for rent in NJ are also important because they break the monotony. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, indeed.
- Support employee-led initiatives
Another excellent example courtesy of Slack: “PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) began its Be well, work well health initiative in part because its employees were doing it on their own. “Our people know they need to be healthier, so that kind of stuff started happening in the offices,” says Anne Donovan, a people experience leader at the accounting and consulting firm.
Donovan adds that employees were already organizing wellness classes and ways to incorporate health at work. When a course on physical, mental and emotional well-being for senior management proved popular and effective, she says, “we stepped back and said, ‘This needs to be scaled to the entire firm. This work is important, our people are craving it, they want to work in a different way.’ ”
By investing in the initiative—which includes work breaks and a habit bank—the company demonstrated that not only does it care about its employees, it listens to what they want, too.”
- Small gestures go a long way
Remember those ‘thank you’ cards we mentioned earlier? Just handing out cards to a tired staff won’t work miracles. However, small gestures, when in addition to these other tips, will help boost employee morale by just that extra little bit. From giving away headphones or reusable coffee cups, to distributing pre-Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, little surprises like these show your employees that you remember they are people, and that you care.
You may be surprised at how effective little gestures like these are! It’s nice to have a little gift from your employer, even if it’s just a gift card or a slice of cake. In addition to giving out things, be generous with your compliments. When complimenting someone, try to do it publicly, so they feel a sense of pride and achievement. By the same token, when criticizing someone, try to do it gently, and do it in private.
The benefits of high employee morale at your office space for rent in NJ
Like we stated at the beginning of the previous section, there are a lot of benefits to having high employee morale. The chief of them, perhaps, is increased productivity. Satisfied employees will work harder and smarter, and therefore help your company perform better. Other benefits include:
- Lower employee turnover rates
- Less absenteeism
- Improved health
- Improved bottomline
- Increased creativity and innovation
From Chron: “Morale makes a tangible difference in the lives of your employees and your bottom line. According to Fast Company, employees with high levels of job satisfaction sleep better at night. This leads to other healthy behaviors and choices, like eating well, working out and focusing at work. In addition, instead of having inflammatory adrenaline and cortisol running amok, employees are more likely to experience high levels of dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin which have the opposite effect.”
Blau & Berg can help you find the perfect office space for rent in NJ
Since its inception in 1932, The Blau & Berg Company has held a leading position in the New Jersey and Tri-State commercial real estate market. Headquartered in Short Hills, New Jersey, Blau & Berg is an independent, full- service commercial real estate brokerage firm providing services in the industrial, retail and office spaces, including: site selection, acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, tenant representation, portfolio sales, asset repositioning, and property & construction consulting.
From a 1,000 sq. ft. office facility to a Class A 100,000 sq. ft. space in Short Hills, NJ, the Blau & Berg platform is simple – focus on being in front of people. Partnering with clients to provide in-depth market support, realistic time frames and budgetary guidelines is key.
The company’s affiliates allow them to target local markets with global reach. Through research, marketing and canvassing, the firm achieves the optimal results for every client. The office sales and leasing group offers comprehensive strategies that incorporate short and long-term needs to maximize overall business objectives.
We do everything from market research to feasibility analysis, tenant relations, site selection, lease negotiation, trend analysis, and investment performance analysis.
