Morale, also known as esprit de corps when discussing the morale of a group, is an intangible term used to describe the capacity of people to maintain belief in an institution or a goal, or even in oneself and others.
According to Alexander H. Leighton, “morale is the capacity of a group of people to pull together persistently and consistently in pursuit of a common purpose”
Recognize special events in the lives of your employees. Encourage idea sharing, and make that sharing road a two-way street. Listening to the ideas of your employees. Recognize and reward your employees for doing good work. “People want to feel valued,” Paul Spiegelman, founder and CEO of Beryl, a call-center company based in Texas, explained. Tell your employees they are doing a good job verbally, or write a little note. Make the workplace comfortable. “Designing a comfortable environment is about more than aesthetics; careful attention to design can give a boost to employee happiness,” says Lois Goodell, principal and the director of interior design at CBT Architects. You’ll need more than just cushy chairs and ergonomic desks, for this (though those would be great, too. Comfy chairs soothe the soul.) Keep the office temperature at a comfortable level, and make sure all the technology needed to do the job is available
Smile more. Build a culture of trust and encourage work breaks. make effective use of innately passionate and inspired individuals around your organization to help keep other employees focused, motivated, and happy. Build a culture of employee appreciation. Pay attention to their entertainment.
Notes available in Test 7
1..What is Morale? Distinguish between High Morale and Low Morale
2. Alexander Leighton defined morale as the capacity of a group of people to pull together persistently and consistently in pursuit of a common purpose. According to Marx, “The highest morale has an intellectual as well as an emotional quality. Its intellectual quality results from emphasis upon information, understanding and intercommunication. which rest in turn on genuine participation in institutional thinking, planning, deciding evaluating”.
3.How far are the supervisors responsible for morale? Does it depend entirely on salary? Will pay more and KITA work? How far is it correct to say that motivation affects morale?
4.What is the impact of poor management on morale? How far do frequent strikes, high production etc. indicate morale? Does morale depend entirely on the internal working of an organization? How far does the political climate influence morale?
5.What is the relationship between Morale and Productivity? Is mere high morale enough to increase productivity?
6.What is the impact of Sound Manpower Management and proper Human Relations on morale? Elaborate what constitutes sound man power management.
7.How does Discipline influence Morale? Can morale be affected by poor discipline? How far can we say that both workers and managers must cooperate to enhance morale? How can workers cooperate?
8.Why is maintenance of high morale in large organizations particularly difficult? Distinguish between Vertical and Flat structures. Vertical structure lowers morale while flat structure increases level of morale: Comment
1. Flat structure in an organisation increases Morale.
In the Govt. of India there is an excellent system, called
Staff Councils in every Ministry with the Deputy Secretary being the nodal officer. Every week employees can interact with the Deputy Secretary and find a solution to issues relating to sanction of increments, leave matters, sanction of advances. This invariably increases the Morale of the employees.
2. Strangely the State Govt. does not have such a practice.
Though there were directions from the DOPT in this regard.
3.The State Govt. insists on the vertical structure with the result the employees grope in the dark on whom they have to approach. Even a RTI application on why such a structure
is not existing in the State Govt. has failed to get a satisfactory reply with nobody sure of who has to reply.
the
9. How does Participative management enhance morale? Are workers really interested in management? How far will they stick to the organization that is a sinking ship? How far will they bail it out?
10.What is Conflict Resolution? How is it related to morale? What is the role of Government and Civil society in Conflict resolution? Do trade unions affect morale?
11. Explain the various schools of thought on morale. Explain the ‘Contribution – Satisfaction equilibrium’ of Chester Bernard, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Maturity- Immaturity continuum of Chris Argyris the ‘Fusion process’ of E.Wright Bakke. in regard to morale.
According to Appleby’s report the factors responsible for low morale are remote and cold relationship between the superior and subordinates, lack of encouragement and praise. slow promotions. too low salaries. political interference. lack of training undue emphasis on performance instead of the superiors showing zeal imagination and ingenuity. Lack of warmth is communication destroys morale.