Page 85 - Anne Bruce - Building A HIgh Morale Workplace (2002)

To Boost Morale, Alter the Environment 65

that working together can indeed be a deep source of meaning
in our lives. Anything less is just a job.”
Perceptive managers know that there’s a huge discrepancy

between the levels of employee morale in an organization with
soul and the levels of employee morale in one without it. The
organization with soul respects and treats its employees as
whole persons. The other, without soul, treats people as

mechanical producers of tasks for which they are compensated.
Managers must work to close the gap in workplace behaviors
between these two distinctly different work environments,
because the soul of the organization is directly affected by the
environmental behaviors that go on around it and vice versa.

Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 4

❏ According to the basic principles of environmental psy-
chology, the work environment can have a dramatic
impact on overall employee morale, enthusiasm for the
job, and productivity.

❏ Love your people and they’ll love where they work.

❏ Managers caring about employees and their families is
often enough to create an atmosphere that nurtures joy,
employee satisfaction, and higher employee morale.

❏ Typically, the more skills required to do the job, the more
satisfied the worker.

❏ When jobs become stagnant, redesign them.
❏ Enrich the environment by getting creative with employee

benefits.
❏ If you want to improve the environment—train everyone!

❏ Consider training as a holistic concept.

❏ Managers must relate to the whole person: head, hands,
heart, and feet.

❏ The soul of an organization is directly affected by its envi-
ronment and vice versa.