After doing all the right things to boost productivity and still employees’ productivity plunging or not increasing, we need to look at the Employee Morale. Employee Morale is a decisive factor in an Organisation whether it is the Service sector or Manufacturing unit. It is one of the cornerstones of the business, only a few organizations pay attention to morale among employees in their organization and this is the major mistake from their side as it affects productivity which ultimately reflects in Organizational Growth & Productivity.
Let’s Discuss:
- What’s Employee Morale?
- Characteristics of Employee Morale.
- Relation between Morale & Productivity.
What is Employee Morale?
In simple terms employee morale is the standard of behavior of an employee which directly affects the productivity of the organization but it is a complex concept as there are ample factors that affect employee morale.
Definition:
Edwin Flippo: “ Morale is a mental condition or attitude of individual and groups which determines their willingness to cooperate”
Characteristics:
Psychological concept
- Morale is a psychological phenomenon, it is the internal feeling of confidence, attitude, Zest, enthusiasm, satisfaction, etc. Moreover, it is the state of mind and emotions affecting the attitude and willingness to work that affect individual and organizational objectives.
Dynamic Nature
- Morale is Dynamic in nature; we cannot develop it overnight. Management has to make continuous efforts to build and maintain high morale among employees in the organization. It is a long-term concept.
Group phenomenon
- Morale is not an individual phenomenon but it’s the sum of the total employee’s attitude, feelings, and sentiments.
Reflect others
- We cannot measure morale directly but it is reflected in productivity, discipline, turnover, etc. To measure morale we need to look at other factors.
Relations between Morale and Productivity:
Davis Designed that there is not always a positive link between Productivity and Employee morale. There can be four combinations of Morale and Productivity
High morale-High productivity
- This situation is likely to occur when the employees are fully motivated to achieve high performance not only this but satisfied with all financial & nonfinancial rewards & highly satisfied with their job role. Feeling proud to be part of the organization/team.
High morale-low productivity
- This situation occurs when the employees waste their time in the workplace or use the time to satisfy their personal goals. They don’t care about organizational goals. There are many factors responsible for this kind of Employee Attitude in the workplace such as
- Lack of proper training
- Lack of support by co-workers or leaders,
- Leaders/Superior behavior with him,
- Irresponsible Management (If we talk about It or another small service sector Irresponsible HR )
- Ineffective Supervision
- Restrictive norms of the informal group
- Outdated Technology & Methods
- This situation occurs when the employees waste their time in the workplace or use the time to satisfy their personal goals. They don’t care about organizational goals. There are many factors responsible for this kind of Employee Attitude in the workplace such as
Low morale-High productivity
- In a short period, it may be possible that with low morale Employee’s productivity seems high but it is for a temporary or short span of time. Low Morale can not result in high productivity for a long time. this situation occurs when
- Fear of losing a job,
- Less availability of alternatives
- Strict Supervision, Rules & Regulations
- Punishment
- Policies and strategies focus on high productivity only.
- In a short period, it may be possible that with low morale Employee’s productivity seems high but it is for a temporary or short span of time. Low Morale can not result in high productivity for a long time. this situation occurs when
Low morale-Low productivity
- This situation occurs when the organizational & individual goals are not satisfied & other factors like
- Lack of motivation
- Unclear Job role
- Lack of harmonious Superior-Subordinate relationship
- These all factors result in frustration, tension and grievances develop against managers which reflect low productivity. To pen down, morale is the paramount factor that gives a direct impact on productivity, Productivity impact on profitability, profitability impact on organizational growth. If the Morale is high then it will be possible to gain more fruits in the future but if it’s low then it’s Red Signal for any organization even the productivity is high but it will be for a short period of time only
- I am not going to end the topic of Morale but will continue in the next blog with
- Factor determining morale
- Significance of high morale
- Impact of low morale
- Measurement of morale
- This situation occurs when the organizational & individual goals are not satisfied & other factors like
To know about these please read my upcoming blogs of Human Resource…..
