Many businesses are plagued with low staff morale, which can range from mild to grave. An often suggested solution is to increase salaries and benefits, but that may not result in a long-term or sustainable fix to the problem.
Tech companies, often at the forefront of innovation, can paradoxically experience significant challenges with staff morale. This issue can impede creativity, productivity, and long-term success. This issue was highlighted in an article published in the Bahamas last week in which a local tech Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was encouraging fellow businesses that have the means “to use Christmas bonuses to boost staff morale this year, and to continue to retain staff”.
The CEO, whose company developed a platform “to fill the digital solutions void for human resources professionals”, highlighted that other businesses might be giving bonuses to help retain skilled staff whilst putting those that do not at a disadvantage. He was thus encouraging a digital approach to performance review (such as his product), which can facilitate the requisite evaluation and calculate the incentives and bonuses to be awarded.
Although the CEO may have meant well in suggesting that businesses use Christmas bonuses as a means of boosting staff morale, generally, the contributing factors to staff morale can be complex and nuanced. In other words, money may not solve this issue, but might just act as a temporary fix.
In this article, we highlight some of the causes of low morale, especially in the tech space, and some effective strategies that can be implemented to create environments where employees thrive.
Reason #1: High workload and burnout
The tech industry is notorious for its demanding work culture, characterised by tight deadlines and long hours. In startups and small businesses especially, the teams are small, with the members wearing many hats. Although the work might be exciting, in those situations, a lot of personal sacrifices often need to be made, which can lead to mental health challenges, strained personal relationships and deep fatigue. Over time, such pressures can lead to burnout, leaving employees feeling exhausted and undervalued.
Reason #2: Lack of career growth opportunities
Skilled and ambitious individuals are often an asset to employers. They are willing to engage in continuous learning to remain relevant and on the cutting edge, and often, they are also eager for career advancement. However, in small and even medium-sized organisations, the scope for promotion can be limited to non-existent in the Caribbean region in particular. Although salary increases might help (for a while), employees may still feel stagnant and demotivated, which can still result in low staff morale – even though are being paid above the industry norm.
Reason #3: Poor leadership and communication
Although an individual might thrive in the hardscrabble of starting a business and trying to build it from the ground up, once it becomes more established and is in the process of building out the organisation, a different dynamic often comes into play. The informal, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach that allowed the start-up to be agile, responsive and gain a foothold in the market, needs to give way to procedures and structures that allow team members to work together efficiently and effectively.
Ineffective management, unclear expectations, and lack of feedback can cause employees to become frustrated. Further, if there is a lack of open communication the disconnect between staff and leadership becomes exacerbated, which once again, can result in low staff morale.
Reason #4: Toxic work culture
Coupled with the previous point, a toxic work culture is a factor that is overlooked, as it may not be obvious, such as a gross disregard for staff welfare that could justify government intervention, such as through the labour ministry or the police. Instead, it may be evident through the following examples.
- Inconsistently applied policies
- Favouritism
- Expecting employees to constantly work outside of working hours and disregarding the importance of personal time
- Not taking a strong stance and following through when claims of sexual harassment, threats or bullying have been made
- Fostering an overly competitive environment.
In other words, a toxic work culture can create a hostile work environment, which in turn can erode trust and camaraderie among employees and a high staff turnover.
Reason #5: Inadequate recognition and rewards
To some degree, this reason speaks to remuneration. Employees like to feel that they are being well compensated for their efforts. However, money is not the only way. People like to know that their hard work is being recognised. A failure to acknowledge their contribution and impact on the organisation can make employees feel unappreciated, leading to disengagement.
Reason #6: Misalignment with company vision
Finally, and especially among startups and small businesses, leaders do not clearly communicate the organisation’s visions, mission or goals. In many instances, these crucial overarching structures are absent and, to some degree, may only exist in the minds of business owners or leaders. However, if employees do not see how their roles contribute to the company’s purpose, they may struggle to understand how their work fits into that bigger picture.
Key strategies to improve staff morale
For each of the above reasons for low staff morale, highly prescriptive solutions can be provided. However, two crucial themes tend to be at the heart of most interventions: strong leadership and valuing employees.
Many of the staff-related problems experienced in businesses can be attributed to poor leadership. In the start-up space, the skills and grit needed to thrive can become a detriment when a venture needs to grow and mature into a stable business.
Leaders are also the ones who create a positive work culture and establish and foster policies in an organisation. It would also be important to consider investing in leadership training to address deficiencies that might exist and to increase leaders’ and managers’ awareness of their responsibilities and how to spot and properly address contentions that might be emerging.
In tandem with leadership, employees must be valued. Though salary is an important consideration, maintaining a safe and healthy work environment is perhaps even more critical. Individuals want to know that they, as people, in addition to their work, matter. So organisations ought to strive to be fair with their employees, in the hope that they will be productive and happy.
Finally, it is important to highlight that for a variety of reasons, it may be necessary for employees to leave an organisation. Should that be likely, especially when organisations do not have the scope or capacity to facilitate the continued professional development or career advancement of bright and ambitious employees, that reality ought to be acknowledged. Once again, strong leadership and valuing the employees – even letting them go – will be crucial in navigating those difficult situations.
In summary, low staff morale in organisations, and more so tech companies, is not an insurmountable problem. The root causes must be addressed, and thoughtful strategies implemented. Organisations ought to foster a workplace culture that supports employee satisfaction and productivity whilst also allowing their vision, mission and goals to be realised. The key is often balance and fairness to achieve a win-win situation for parties.
Image credit: DC Studio (Freepik)
