Page 87 - Anne Bruce - Building A HIgh Morale Workplace (2002)

Putting the Kibosh on Negativity 67

ly, managers may stop focusing on the little things that keep the
ball rolling. They may stop asking questions, too. Therefore,
they can miss the most ideal opportunities to fix employee dis-

satisfaction and problems quickly and inexpensively. When a
manager allows employee morale to go unaudited, the little
problems just grow over time.
Let’s face it: effective managers have lots to do, constantly

having to be sure that good systems are in place and running
smoothly. But when things are running without a hitch, you can
forget to check the system. After a while, you just stop thinking
about the things that appear to be going well—like employee
morale. And so you don’t think to make sure that certain proce-

dures are still serving their original, designated purposes.
It’s a common dilemma that all managers face at one time
or another in their careers. So the only way to avoid the low-
employee morale trap is to conduct morale audits periodically.
This way you’re taking the pulse and the temperature of the

organization on an ongoing basis to find out just what your
employees are feeling and thinking. In other words, how they’re
really doing.

Auditing Employee Morale

Every organization depends on high employee morale to drive
its progress and sustain its long-term survival. To quickly and
easily assess your organization’s employee morale status, use
this measurement tool to get some fast answers.
First, managers and supervisors should complete the morale
audit, then employees. Compare responses and see where dis-

crepancies might be happening between managers and staff
and get a clear picture of where you need to close the gap.
Use the following morale audit to fit the specific needs of
your organization or your work group. You may have to modify

certain questions to eliminate ambiguities or address industry-
specific areas. But this should give you a good prototype from
which to begin a surveying process. The survey should be com-
pleted anonymously and taken on the job.