Situation: A CEO is concerned because he anticipates an increase in stress within his team – from handling clients who are anxious about the economy on the downside to a potentially overwhelming number of new clients to manage as people start to reinvest in growth as the economy improves. How do you boost team morale?
Advice from the CEOs:
- Help team members to prepare for additional pressure:
- Communicate with them as a team, and individually as necessary, about what the company anticipates to be the new challenge. Do this with a positive tone.
- Be open with the team about the realities that they may face, and have the team work together during weekly meetings to develop solutions that will help to reduce the pressure as it builds.
- Make stressors positive. Bringing on new clients is wonderful for the firm, will increase profitability and the opportunity for profit sharing.
- What have others done to successfully maintain employee morale and increase productivity?
- Reward programs for people who learn new processes or develop new skills. The real reward isn’t the cash, but recognition by the CEO, who makes a big deal about the reward.
- Monthly or quarterly drawings for a cash price. Employees can increase their odds of winning because the number of tickets that an individual has in the hat is driven by accomplishments against criteria set each period.
- Monthly barbeque lunch for the whole company. This promotes camaraderie, and encourages people to talk to one another about things other than business.
- Project-based bonuses – tied to individual contribution.
- Spot bonus or gift cards – allowing employees to recognize each other’s’ contributions.
- Post individual “win” achievements on a bulletin board in the break room. This injects fun competition into day-to-day work.
- Develop a list similar to the suggestions, above, and ask employees what type of recognition and pressure relievers they would like to see – bring them into the decision.
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