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The Best Ways to Keep Employee Morale High During Tough Times

The Best Ways to Keep Employee Morale High During Tough Times

Show us a successful company and we’ll show you the long list of struggles they’ve overcome.

Businesses are run by and for people. It’s human capital that’ll make the most impact on your bottom line.

There is no business venture under the sun that hasn’t faced its fair share of trials and tribulations.

The world’s most renowned success stories—from Richard Branson to Steve Jobs—have all dealt with problems like a mass exodus of employees, a 360-degree shift in corporate strategy and a resounding loss of work productivity.

What was their secret to keeping team morale 100% when the going got tough? We’ve done the research and present the very best ways to keep employee morale high in the midst of difficult times.

Treat Your Employees Like People

Sometimes, it’s as simple as that.

Even though you may not want to admit it, there are those white-collar workplaces that run their employees to the ground. It’s a stressful situation at best and a demeaning one at worst.

It’s when your company is seeing rocky times that managers should celebrate their employees’ wins the most. Getting yourself in a tight spot is no excuse to neglect your employees’ mental and physical well-being.

Celebrate their victories, share in their joy, pat them on the back when they do things right. In short, treat your employees the way they deserve to be treated—like the most crucial business asset you possess.

Come To Terms With Failure

Start-ups fail; established businesses tank.

It’s common to see people in crisp business attire crumble completely in the face of failure—they see nothing else. Not the potential of their talented workforce to bounce back and not their constant efforts to get themselves back on their feet.

While it’s a good thing to spot your weaknesses and improve, it isn’t helpful when you become averse to failure. As their leader, your team needs to see you with the same level of confidence during a tough period as you had when the company was high on success.

Many of the greats you see today faced setbacks and followed the mantra “Fail fast; fail often.“ It’s okay to experience failure and business losses. It’s your job to help employees come to terms with this fact.

Establish Open Communication

Instead of playing ostrich, encourage an atmosphere of open dialogue, two-way communication and transparency. There’s no better way to stop fear from perpetuating within the four walls of your office.

Shifting the blame to someone else’s shoulder, calling people out on their errors—that’s one of the worst things you could do to your team.

Build an easy-going, friendly channel for top talents to put forth their ideas, solutions and tactics. Once you start talking to your employees about the crisis, things won’t look so doom and gloom anymore—you’ll get the courage to start anew.

You’ve built your team from the ground up—now it’s time to keep their heads high.

You can gain crucial business advice and motivation from Hall of Fame speaker and former Fortune 500 company executive Steve Gilliland and transform your corporate environment. He’s one of the most top-rated professional motivational and keynote speakers in North America.

Book Steve today!