Page 149 - Anne Bruce - Building A HIgh Morale Workplace (2002)

Employees Want and Need a Manager Who Cares 129

Confidence Is Key in Achieving High Morale

Here’s a twist on an old adage. You can give someone a fish

and he won’t be hungry. Or you can teach someone to fish and
he’ll never be hungry again. But if you create an environment in
which all people are encouraged to take initiative and become
self-directed learners, assured of themselves and their abilities,
then they will find ways to teach themselves to fish and gain

loads of self-confidence in the process that will build the morale
of all the people in the fishing village.
Morale in the workplace depends on the self-esteem and
self-confidence of the people who work there. But the organiza-

tion and/or any manager cannot bestow upon an employee self-
esteem and self-confidence. It’s not an abracadabra kind of
thing. Sure, there are some managers who think that a job or a
promotion will increase confidence. But any effects of such
actions on self-confidence don’t last for long. As generous as

these actions may appear, they do not guarantee that an
employee will be self-confident. That’s got to come from within
the employee first, not from the manager. A person must
believe in himself or herself before even taking the job or

accepting the promotion.
What the manager can provide, however, is a healthy
atmosphere and opportunities for self-confidence to flourish, an
environment where strong self-esteem and a positive self-con-
cept are appreciated and motivate top performance. Great
managers have a knack for seeing the potential in someone and

then helping that person believe in his or her potential and
develop it. As the manager, you can help co-create with your
employees a workplace that nurtures confidence and gives
them the opportunity to put that confidence to work. When that

happens, you’ve not only instilled a feeling of greater ability and
potential in others, but you’ve also promoted higher employee
morale in the workplace.
Smart managers create environments that promote confi-
dence. This shows their employees that they care about them.