Why Employees Develop Low Morale and Are Managers To Blame?

[nuke57]

I have run into a lot of workplaces with low morale and am coaching a couple of managers on this problem. So here are a few of my thoughts.

Everyone knows that the sports team with the highest morale wins. In fact, every manager wants high morale in his/her group. So why do most managers create low morale in their employees?

In truth, given the societal, educational and workplace related influences, it would be amazing if managers did not create low morale and severely damage employee motivation.

From birth, most of us are told what to do. We receive a rather overwhelming number of orders, directions and policies from those who believe we should follow their dictates; parents, teachers, churches, government and finally bosses in the workplace.

This is commonly referred to as the top-down command and control management model. Having been literally bombarded with this model, it is unsurprising that the vast majority of managers adopt it as their own.

But what of the people being managed with this model? Unfortunately for managers, no one likes to take orders and all consider it to be demeaning, degrading and disrespectful. In addition, they also feel demeaned and degraded if no one listens carefully to their ideas and whatever else they have to say.

But the command and control model implies that employees should listen to the leaders and that leaders have no need to listen to employees. So managers spend most of their time trying to figure out their next order and rarely if ever take the time to listen to their people.

But there are more negative effects on morale and workforce motivation associated with the command and control model, specifically from not listening to employees and not dialoguing with them over workplace problems. Without these, managers are denied a firsthand view of problems from those living with them up close and personal every day.

Without these facts, orders and directives from managers rarely address the real problems and more often exacerbate them. This leads employees to distrust and disrespect management and causes further reductions of morale and workforce motivation.

And there's more. Failure to listen and dialog over perceived problems denies employees information which only the manager has and which is necessary to being able to understand the true cause of problems or the seriousness of them. Lacking this information, employee expectations and criticisms are quite often unrealistic, thus causing the manager to disrespect employees.

Thus, low workforce morale, poorly motivated employees and greatly reduced employee performance quite naturally result from using an authoritarian based command and control model.

Our educational system is of little help. It is excellent at teaching management of "things" like engineering, marketing, finances, supply chain, and quality, but it rarely teaches the soft skills, the whats, whys and how tos of managing people. The tools learned for managing "things" actually reinforce the authoritarian, "just do as I say", approach to managing people.

As a manager, I spent 12 years stuck in this model, stuck with much lower morale and performance than I believed was possible. Fortunately, life provided me with two revelations which allowed me to transform my methods and subsequently prove that a level of employee morale and performance far beyond my wildest dreams does exist.

After 30+ years managing people, I now help managers to become effective, mostly by phone. Some are paying clients and some non-paying.

<signature to be set up using the User CP link>

[EtherLotus]

its as simple as.................... they arent paid enough. no need for a novel.

[nuke57]

Thanks EtherLotus,

Treated extremely well, with TLC, pay becomes far less of an issue.

<signature to be set up using the User CP link>

[ChipN]

Originally Posted by EtherLotus

its as simple as.................... they arent paid enough. no need for a novel.

Money is a component, but a small one IMO. As long as people are being a competitive salary that allows them to live normally (i.e., not struggle, but not necessarily live lavishly). Too much money is actually somewhat of a dis-incentive. That was one of the lessons I've learned over the years.

Most people want to be recognized and feel appreciated. That doesn't happen much in large companies. I had very senior people making very big salaries, so I expected great things from them. My #1 person commented once that "a little praise to the guys once in a while would be a good thing." I was giving them praise for doing really special things, not just "above average" things. Once I made a small change everyone tried that much harder.

Many people do not like routine. Some do, which is a good thing for the rest of us. For those that don't, find ways to challenge them and help them grow professionally and personally. Give them opportunities to learn, formally and informally, and they will appreciate it. It is also something that will stay with them for a lifetime.

Treat people well, give them interesting and rewarding work, and the majority will be happy and very loyal. It's not that hard, but it is obviously not common sense or else everyone would be doing it.

[athak]

While management style is very important, I've found that careful matching of an employee to the right position is fundamental for their happiness and personal satisfaction.

For example, if an employee has more initiative than a position requires, then they will most likely feel frustrated. Or if a position exposes the employee to more people contact than they can handle, the employee will become stressed and unhappy.

Often these mismatches only emerge after the employee has been on the job for six months or so. A mismatch can be difficult to rectify in a small business because often there's not the scope to move them to a more suitable position.

[Beach Bum]

Morale is a moving target. However, management is usually the main reason for low morale. Management sets the course and tone of any organization.

I have worked for many companies and the different levels of management can affect the entire company. However, in most cases, if senior management is competent, they usually don’t have any effect on the rank-and-file employees. Senior management usually doesn’t have in-depth daily contact with the employees.

It is the mid-level and lower management levels that can affect the company morale the most. These different levels of management have daily contact with employees. If the lower to mid-level managers are quality people with positive self-esteem, the company usually has a favorable work environment.

In my experience, many of the people at these levels are usually trying to prove something to upper management. Many also have the desire to protect their “territory” from other managers.

I was a vice president at a subsidary of a Fortune 100 company by the age of 31. It was a great learning experience for me and I saw first hand how many managers are more concerned with in playing politics for their own selfish reasons, than doing what is best for the company.

The best way to keep high quality people is to pay them well, offer them educational experiences and provide a mentor program.

[eborg9]

Originally Posted by nuke57

Thanks EtherLotus,

Treated extremely well, with TLC, pay becomes far less of an issue.

Money is always an issue! But most people are smart enough to know what their job is worth, compared to what they want to get paid.

The number 1 reason for low morale with any job that I have had is: (drum roll please)
Lack of confidence, or lack of respect for the leadership. Plain and simple.

Every manager is not a people person. If a manager is an ass, or has a bad attitude, or is an idiot (or at least if the employees think he is an idiot), the morale will never change.

You have to have peoples respect to get them to perform.

Every now and then, a core of popular employees will poison a group, but that is easy to rectify.

[Aaron Hats]

Originally Posted by EtherLotus

its as simple as.................... they arent paid enough. no need for a novel.

If it were that simple I'd still be making six figures working for somebody else.

Money is a temporary solution. Keeping employees happy goes beyond what happens in the office. A well balanced life is what makes a good employee.

[nuke57]

Thanks for all the comments.

IMHO, the difference between highly motivated employees and poorly motivated ones is north of 300% in productivity. Stephen Covey, a true expert in the field wrote that the difference is 500%. I admit to being absolutely amazed by what my employees were able to accomplish after they developed a strong "sense of ownership" of their work and became highly motivated.

<signature to be set up using the User CP link>

[EtherLotus]

I like how certain people think their opinions is everybodys opinion. if i were working for you, id ask for two things, money & respect. none of that other **** matters. i dont care to get to know you.. i dont care to know anything about you. this is what seperates me from everybody else on this board. and thus, is why ill be one of the most successful people.

ive sat back long enough , and let everybody else tell me what's right.. now its time i drop my opinion.

have a good day.