There is a direct correlation between employee morale and the quality of the work they produce. Low employee morale generally contributes to a poor standard of work. But in a modern world where most jobs are largely seen by employees as transactional (i.e. they work solely for the money), how do you improve employee morale and, in turn, boost productivity?

It’s certainly a daunting task. There is so much competition when it comes to attracting high quality staff and this is something that employees are becoming increasingly aware of and leveraging. As a business owner, you should be focused on creating the perfect workplace for your staff and, most importantly, a workplace that they enjoy going to. This will produce the following desirable results:

• Improve employee morale and ‘buzz’ around the workplace
• Improved productivity and commitment to projects from employees
• Improved staff retention
• High quality candidate attraction

I know what you’re thinking… That sounds ideal, but it’s easier said than done, how do I create the “perfect workplace?” Well, there are a couple of things that you can try:

Workplace Environment
One of the biggest issues when it comes to a person’s idea of work is that they connect work with being bored and in uninspiring surroundings. A usual office will be very monotonous, with no real aspects that draw the eye or generate enthusiasm for employees.

Just take a look at Google and their various offices around the world. It is claimed that the average Google employee works between 40 and 50 hours per week, with many doing much more than that. Yet they’re happy. Google is widely regarded as one of the best places that you could work. So how is this so? Usually people hate to work long hours and the detraction from their social life that this causes, yet at Google they love it.

One of the things that Google does very well is it creates inspirational working environments for its employees. Google is a very creative company and so can probably afford to allow their staff more fluidity than the majority of businesses, but the core of what they do is very impressive.

Taking a bit of time to think about how you can make your company’s offices more fun and inspirational is one of the best investments you can make. When your employees are having more fun and feeling more inspired, they are more motivated and will work harder which will massively improve the overall productivity of your business.

The Little Perks Matter
Things that you may think are tiny benefits may transmit to your employees that you care about their welfare and their happiness. One good example is providing free coffee to your employees. Coffee is the lubricant that helps the cogs turn in your organization.

Researchers found that employees that had consumed caffeine made fewer errors on a daily basis than their non-caffeinated colleagues. Researchers from MIT also found that when employees were encouraged to go on coffee breaks together at set times, they became much more productive.

So although providing free coffee may not seem like much more than a token gesture, it can have a huge impact on your business.

Gaining employee loyalty isn’t just about huge benefits packages; every employer goes for that angle. Be different. It’s better to offer a good benefits package AND some smaller things like free coffee, time for workers to work on their own projects etc.

Feedback
How do you measure how happy your employees are? It’s as simple as just asking the question. Aim to get regular feedback about how your employees enjoy work and the working environment that you have created every couple of months.

You can get feedback in two ways; one way is to produce a survey and send it around to each individual. Another method for collecting feedback is to contact members of the team that you see as being influential and asking for them to collect the opinions of their colleagues and feed it back to you.

Generally, the first method is a better way as it empowers each individual more effectively. However, it is also time consuming to go through all of the survey responses.

This article was contributed by Express Vending – A leading refreshment vending machine supplier in the UK.