Too many employers seemingly have the upper hand given the economy.
Many employees are put into the position of doing more work with less pay and sometimes get assigned tasks for which they are overqualified. Jobs are squandered and kept due to the perils the economy and limited opportunities. In fact, conditions seem to forces them to just accept any job, take the pay, and be grateful for meager benefits.
But, what effect will all of this “take it or leave it” perspective on the table have on morale? How can we expect employees to eventually go above and beyond if they are overworked and underpaid? What sense does it make to chastise employees for what is done wrong with no rewards or acknowledgment for even some progress made?
Leadership in our workplace must be courageous to promote teamwork and alliances. There must be an effort to motivate collaboration that will mobilize employee buy-in and support. In my book Leadership Building Blocks: An Insider’s Guide to Success, I talk about moving others to actions that requires building a sense of community. There are a few ways to accomplish this goal:
1. Reward and acknowledge the smallest accomplishments.
2. Mobilize teams through checkpoints and clearly stated goals.
3. Refrain from the “gotcha game” issuing sanctions without notification about new expectations.
4. Create forums for open dialogue about what works and where improvements might be helpful.
5. Be authentic, generous, and consistent with appreciation.
6. Gather personal and professional goals subordinations have to leverage talent.
7. Do an informal survey to gauge apathy or levels of demoralization to find a starting point.
Since we know that tables turn on a dime during this recession whereby leaders might find themselves as followers, the age of demoralization can instead be an age of renewal. All it takes is each leader to step up, step out, and advocate for collaboration. Will you be the courageous first one?
-Dawn McCoy, author of Leadership Building Blocks: An Insider’s Guide to Success
