Make Their Day Blog

A new survey by CareerBuilder, released yesterday, has found that 23 percent of employers believe that morale in their organizations is low.  No surprise here.

Workers stated that low morale was due to heavier workloads and longer hours. Again, no surprise.

The study also found that more employers are turning to employee recognition to help the situation. This could be good news. Great employee recognition can help give a boost to morale, particularly if employers can demonstrate that they really do value employees. Long term though, recognition is built on respect, so when the economic reality changes, if work conditions don’t change with it, recognition programs will no longer work.

There were another part of the study that I found interesting. Thirty-eight percent of workers felt there was favoritism at work. When asked what that favoritism looked like they identified many factors. Here I will focus on just a few.

They believed that favored workers/departments receive:

• More recognition by senior leaders (P/A)
• More flexibility (R)
• Greater career advancement opportunities (O)
• More training and leadership development opportunities (O)

For those that are familiar with PORT and the four elements of recognition, I have attached the corresponding letter to each of these complaints. For those that are unfamiliar, PORT stands for Praise, Opportunity, Respect, and Thanks or appreciation. You can learn a bit more here. PORT — the elements of meaningful recognition that are laid it in detail in Make Their Day! Employee Recognition That Works and Recognition Strategies That Work. I have attached an R to flexibility because it equates with trust. Many of the items I left off the list would also have an R assigned. In fact fairness, would be tagged with an R. Lack of fairness, overall, is seen as disrespect. And disrespect is the greatest driver of poor morale.

The best way to improve morale is to focus on creating a respectful environment: honest, fair, and concerned with employee well-being. What do you think? Are these impossible goals given the economy?