Situation: A CEO has regular lunches with staff to foster communications and sharing of information. In recent months, few employees have been attending these lunches. Also, she has noticed a negative tone beginning to pervade the office, though the situation seems to improve when the CEO is present. How would you address this situation? How do you rebuild company morale?

Advice from the CEOs:

• The immediate priority is to correctly diagnose the problem. Is this a question of the CEO’s energy or the team’s awareness of plans for the company? Or is there something else going on of which the CEO is unaware?
• Meet with employees. Have open and frank discussions with them about the future of the company.
• Meet with the most valuable employees first. Share hopes and vision for the business. Express appreciation for their contributions and discuss plans for their continued growth. Next, ask open-ended questions about the company and seek their input on how to improve it. Listen to what they have to say.
• Next are borderline employees. Again, share the vision and appreciate their past and current contributions, but be honest about expectations for performance. Then ask the same open-ended questions that you asked the first group and listen.
• For underperforming employees, again appreciate past and current contributions, but be clear that unless they substantially improve performance, future employment isn’t guaranteed. Ask the same open-ended questions that you asked the other groups and listen.
• Be patient. Don’t try to develop all the answers immediately. Listen and learn what drives employees – particularly keepers. Involve them in developing programs to drive the future.

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