As business owners and leaders, our desire is always to see our teams operate at their absolute best. We want them to be productive, doing work that builds the business up. Moreover, we also want them to find meaning in their work and to be happy about the things that they do as well.
But, if you’ve been in business for a while now, you’ll know that that’s not always the case. Sometimes, low morale affects both individual and company performance. What causes low morale in the workplace? And how can we deal with a drop in morale so that we can help get our teams back to doing their best and most meaningful work?
Watch this video as founder of Outsourcing Angel, Linh Podetti, shares her insights on what causes low morale at work.
Dealing with low morale in the workplace starts with looking at what they do on a regular basis. A big factor in our happiness at work has to do with the kind of work our team is doing. Are they doing the things they really enjoy? Are they doing too much or just the right amount of work?
Avoid overwhelming teams
What causes low morale at work in many cases is a classic case of burnout. An article by Forbes once noted that up to 75 percent of companies have to deal with the negative effects of an overwhelmed team member.
Being overwhelmed is not the only cause of a drop in morale, but it’s actually one of the most prevalent factors. When your team is overwhelmed, they have a hard time focusing on tasks that really matter – tasks that really bring profit to the organisation. Activities related to strategy, relationship-building, innovation and developing processes are neglected because they’re too busy doing low-level tasks such as data-entry, calendar management, posting on social media accounts, and so on.
Let your team focus on their strengths
Think back to the time you first hired your marketing manager. What was it about him or her that made you say, “This is the best person for the role”? Surely, it had something to do with a strength he or she had: strategic thinking, ability to network, or great public relation skills.
Well, those strengths that we hired them for are often neglected when they don’t get to do the work that we interviewed them for. The same is true for operations managers, salespeople, finance officers and practically every person in your organisation.
If you ever had team members who said morale was low, it was most likely because they were doing work that they weren’t good at. We are at our best when we do things that are our strengths.
Outsource everything else
So how can we free up our team members to do high-level work that brings results for the company? The key is determining the low-level tasks your team does and then outsourcing that work to someone else. Outsourcing helps companies remain productive by keeping the main thing at the office.
And with the advent of technology, it’s now a whole lot easier and more cost-effective to outsource work offshore. Outsourcing to Virtual Assistants helps your team focus on high-value and high-level work while also not committing a mortal sin of leaving out the nitty gritty, which truly still matters at the end of the day.
When you outsource offshore, your team is freed up from the ancillary tasks that rob them of the time they could be spending on their highest competencies. And consequently, you’ll rarely hear “morale was low” at work—your team will become more productive and happier.
