How can I improve my team's morale?
Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company 's workplace advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions.
Q: How can I improve my team's morale?
A: Team morale isn't an extra or a 'nice to have.' It's critical to a functioning company. And it's not looking good out there. According to the latest Gallup report, only 36% of employees say they feel engaged at work. That means 64% of employees are feeling some degree of unhappy at work.
Low morale can take a lot of different forms—from feeling less enthusiastic, less motivated, or less satisfied with work, all the way to feeling burned out, apathetic, and resentful.
It probably goes without saying that when employees have low morale they do a worse job. Not only are they less productive, but they're certainly not feeling inspired to come up with creative or innovative ideas, and they're more likely to quit or spread the negative vibes to the rest of the office.
If you're a manager, here are three things you can do to help boost your team's morale:
Treat your employees like adults
The number-one bad boss complaint is micromanaging. Most people like to have a sense of autonomy in their work lives. At the same time, most people crave structure. So the best thing a manager can do is give their employees clear (and reasonable) expectations, and get out of their way.
That doesn't mean you are absentee, it means you make yourself available to help address questions and issues, and set up regular check-ins, but otherwise trust that employees will complete their work in their own way. (Remember, that might not be how you would do it.)
One important part of that equation is letting employees work where they work best. Many surveys have found that employees want more flexibility to work from home, while more bosses are demanding they come into the office. Unless there is a compelling need for someone to be in the office, an easy way to boost morale and give employees a sense that you trust them is to trust them to get their work done even if they aren't clocking eight hours in a cubicle.
Make people feel like they belong
Remember the Great Resignation? Back in 2021, when people were quitting their jobs at a higher rate, there were a lot of contributing factors. But beyond the obvious things—like fair pay, benefits, flexibility, and work-life balance—there was a deeper issue that hasn't gone away just because the job market has tightened. One of the top reasons people resigned during that period was that they didn't feel a sense of belonging at work.
Especially in a climate where the very concept of equity and inclusion is under attack, it's important to help employees feel like their workplace is a place where they are valued.
Contributor Mita Mallick says that one way to help employees feel included is to be intentional about building community. 'Share regular updates and ensure people feel like they are part of the mission,' she advises. 'Talk about your organization's failures and struggles, and celebrate the big and small wins. Make everyone feel like they own a piece of the mission to deepen engagement and commitment.'
employee resource groups, that's another good place to help employees build community.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘We get banned' all the time: Why Megababe and Evvy still face pushback on women's health products
Megababe and Evvy make personal care and health-related products that, at some point, will be needed by at least half the population. But these companies have had to overcome one hurdle after another in the years since they launched. Shopify just killed UX design 'No Kings Day' map, speakers, cities: Everything to know about today's protests Ram Trucks fires up a near-perfect brand apology ad Despite the relative successes of their companies—particularly with identifying markets for products that address taboo topics head-on—these problems still persist, the founders said during a panel discussion at Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies Summit in New York last week. 'We get banned on social media advertising all the time,' said Priyanka Jain, cofounder and CEO of Evvy, a women's health company that's focused primarily on the vaginal microbiome. 'We get banned, too,' added Katie Sturino, founder of Megababe, which sells more than 45 products mostly aimed at addressing issues in the nether regions. While a hemorrhoid cream named 'Butt Stuff,' in the case of Megababe, or Evvy's use of the words 'vaginal microbiome' or 'pelvic floor' raise alarm bells for social media companies, the founders pointed out that advertising for erectile dysfunction medication and pornography seemingly do not. But both women are, by now, accustomed to convincing stakeholders of all varieties that there's a sizable and viable market for their products. 'The taboo and stigmatized areas are probably some of the largest opportunity spaces because, by definition, they are areas that have been underserved,' Jain told the audience. 'You have to push past the uncanny valley or that difficult time, but then you actually have a higher upside on the other side because it's likely an unserved market with a lot of need.' By the time Sturino launched Megababe in 2017, she had amassed a social media following that was about 70,000 strong, and she would ask her community of followers each spring what products they planned to use for thigh chafe. Naturally, when she started the brand for that community, the company's anti-chafing stick was one of its first products. But she heard a common refrain from people in the beauty industry. 'It was a lot of: 'No one wants this,'' Sturino recalled. Megababe ranks No. 2 on Fast Company's list of the Most Innovative Companies in Beauty for 2025. Undeterred, she and her startup team created 20,000 units of products. 'And we actually sold through our entire first run of inventory in the first month we launched.' Meanwhile, when Jain cofounded Evvy about four years ago, she told the audience there were two challenges that proved to be an uphill battle. 'One was that we were building a women's health company, which people inherently believed was niche, that it was a small market,' Jain said. 'And then it was the fact that obviously we were starting a vagina company.' Then, as now, Jain said Evvy's marketing strategy is providing education information—including a stat she referenced that vaginal discomfort is the leading reason why women seek healthcare advice in the United States. When fundraising, she said she focused on how massive the market was for products that weren't solving the real problem. 'Look at all of the money that women are spending on wipes, washes, suppositories, whatever will make their vagina smell like a flower because there's this fundamental root problem that isn't being solved for them,' she said of those conversations. 'It was very much starting with the data, starting with the numbers, and frankly not talking about the moral rightness of investing in women's health.' In its early days, Evvy started a TikTok channel and racked up millions of views because, Jain said, people were actively searching for information about vaginal health. What's more, the company has used three guiding principles to inform its product lineup: Provide what patients actually want, identify the best science, and provide education when there's either a gap or stigma. While Evvy's mission quickly resonated with consumers, Jain advised that entrepreneurs may need to take a different approach to connect on a business level with investors. 'Lead with the data and lead with the numbers.' And even though Megababe is sold by major retailers, Sturino continues to lean on her community of social media followers, now numbering 800,000-plus on Instagram alone. It's there that she might test product ideas that will bring a solution to women who are already dealing with an issue—including the aforementioned hemorrhoid cream. She said it's helpful if other entrepreneurs with similar taboo-tackling business ideas are tackling a problem they know is real. 'You have to keep going and believing in yourself,' she said. This post originally appeared at to get the Fast Company newsletter:
Forbes
11 hours ago
- Forbes
Leaders, Remember This: All Business Is Personal
. Pexels In recent years we've heard a lot about employee engagement, and much of it is bad news. According to Gallup's 2024 study, 62% of employees are not engaged. This is often referred to as 'quiet quitting.' Perhaps even worse, 15% of employees are actively disengaged. Some call this 'loud quitting.' Only 23% of employees are actively engaged in their work. In the U.S., employee engagement has declined to a 10-year low, with the percentage dropping by two percentage points since 2023. Ouch! How does this impact individual businesses? Gallup finds that companies with highly engaged workforces see 21% higher profitability and 17% higher productivity compared to those with disengaged workers. Meanwhile, there's a related story that deserves meticulous attention: customer engagement. Dr. Joseph Michelli is an excellent source. He's a renowned author, speaker, and business consultant known for his expertise in customer experience, leadership, and organizational culture. Over the years, he's earned a reputation as a thought leader in the realm of business strategy—helping companies create meaningful connections with customers while improving their internal operations. His approach is rooted in the belief that businesses should place people—customers, employees, and stakeholders—at the heart of everything they do. Michelli has written bestselling books on Starbucks, Zappos and Airbnb, and his book Prescription for Excellence hit #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller lists. His most recent book is titled All Business is Personal. Michelli cites research showing that customers with a strong emotional connection with a business have a 306% higher lifetime value to that business than those without such a bond. That begs the question: how does the idea of a strong emotional connection apply to, say, a company that sells you tires for your car? That seems more transactional than personal. Michelli happens to have experience with exactly that same scenario. He bought tires from one shop that promised lifetime tire rotation as part of the deal. But when he never heard from them, he concluded that they were hoping he'd never return for a rotation. He later bought tires from another company that also promised free rotations as part of the value proposition. But this second company sends periodic text messages reminding him to return for (free) tire rotations to preserve his investment. He says that company has earned his trust as a customer for life. . . Emotional intelligence is a key ingredient of customer engagement, Michelli says. 'The great news is that unlike IQ, where we're kind of born with that learning potential, EQ is a trainable phenomenon. We can mindfully get better at it by learning to read nonverbals and by asking thoughtful questions.' With the rise of artificial intelligence and automation, how does Michelli see technology affecting the personal side of business relationships in both the near future and down the road? On the positive side, he cites One Medical, an Amazon-owned primary health care service that provides in-person care and online resources, including a mobile app. When a patient enters an exam room with a One Medical doctor, the conversation is recorded and transcribed (with the patient's permission) so the doctor can focus on the patient instead of on notes and a computer keyboard. 'Unfortunately, we also see lots of brands where you can't find an 800 number on their website and you can't speak to a human,' Michelli says. 'They put chatbots everywhere. Some of them are pretty sophisticated, but when you need a human there's no human to be had.' Michelli's book is based on mounds of rock-solid research, and its dedication to his grandchildren summarizes his hope: 'May they and their peers inherit and nurture a world where technology assists but humanity prevails.' Indeed, all business is personal.
Business Insider
21 hours ago
- Business Insider
The Big Stay is finally paying off: Quitting to job-switch is worse for wage growth than sticking it out
It's time to let go of Great Resignation FOMO. Typical year-over-year wage growth for job stayers has surpassed that for those quitting and switching roles. While it's a small gain at this point, you can see in the chart below that it's an extremely rare event and hasn't happened for a sustained period since 2009. Plus, it's a big turnaround from July 2022, when the gap was 8.5% vs. 5.9% in favor of job switchers. It speaks to how hesitant companies have become to hire; when they do decide to bring someone on board, they don't need to shell out a big raise to seal the deal. As a result, the white-collar workers who held tight to their jobs have become the sector's upper class: They're benefiting from low layoffs and robust wage growth. For those who both switched during the Great Resignation and have hung on to their new role ever since, that might be an economic double whammy — they cashed in at that higher salary and have been sitting pretty since. On the other end of the spectrum are white-collar workers who are out of work and looking, at a time when US businesses are hiring at nearly the lowest rate since 2014, excluding an early pandemic plunge. So you may be wondering: Is it a good time to switch jobs or not? Cory Stahle, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, sums it up. "If the right job comes up, one that moves you forward in your career and gives you a healthy raise, certainly consider taking it," he said. "If not, there is at least some assurance that staying put still provides decent pay increases right now." Have a story to share about your job or job search? Reach out to these reporters at mhoff@ and jkaplan@ Job stayers are the new white-collar upper class In contrast to the years of the Great Resignation, when job stayers were leaving money on the table by not hopping to a new company, the Big Stay has finally started paying off for those who are staying put. In May, white-collar-dominated industries had robust wage growth over the year. Average hourly earnings increased 6% from a year ago in the information sector, which includes broadcasting, telecommunications, and data processing. Professional and business services, such as the management of companies and enterprises, legal services, and computer system design services, had wage growth of about 5%. According to an analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, median wage growth for job stayers across all industries has outpaced growth for job switchers since February. The Big Stay seems here to stay for the time being — white-collar folks aren't leaving their jobs. Even if they're no longer enjoying their work, some see it as better than facing a long stretch of unemployment or an uncertain job market. And, financially, it's paying off. "There's fewer people coming in, fewer people heading out," Guy Berger, the director of economic research at the Burning Glass Institute, said. "That mix tends to favor established workers who tend to be older and tends to hurt younger people trying to get their foot in the door." Job seekers are trading down in title and pay On the other side are the white-collar job seekers. The things that make the market relatively pleasant for job stayers are working against the job seekers: Employers are running leaner in the face of economic uncertainty and would rather rely on the talent they have. Job stayers may be worried about their chances of getting a different job and aren't vacating roles. "As white-collar industries reverse some of that pandemic hiring and also pull back on hiring amid economic uncertainty, it's getting tougher to find a job," Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor, told Business Insider. Glassdoor data last year showed that a growing percentage of workers switching employers were accepting lower-paid roles, especially in tech. Zhao said that's because, "Many job switchers today were involuntarily laid off, resulting in more workers having to settle for a lower-paying or lower seniority job." Berger said that in addition to weak hiring leading to fewer opportunities, there are also more people with a college education, which means more competition for jobs. "It's also possible that in some segments AI is slowing demand for white-collar workers, though I doubt this is as big as some people think," Berger said. There's some good news in professional and business services, where the hiring rate continues to be strong and has been trending upward, although it's still below its late 2021 high, and the sector has had several monthly net employment losses over the past year. The information sector's hires rate is still low compared to the overall hires rate, but has climbed somewhat. Hiring in financial activities is lower than in the other two traditionally white-collar fields. Job seekers are already lowering their expectations: The average lowest wage all workers would accept for a new job plummeted from $82,000 in November 2024 to $74,000 in March 2025. Among those with college degrees, it fell from $102,000 to $95,000 in the same period. And the share of graduates in jobs that don't require a degree ticked up for recent graduates in the first quarter of 2025, indicating that degree holders are overqualified for more roles. "White-collar industries like finance, tech, and consulting are still appealing, especially for new grads, because of their promise of rapid career growth and high pay," Zhao said. "But that promise of career growth and high pay is becoming less attainable and more exclusive due to the soft hiring environment."
