Culture vs Morale

by Chris Sloan, ALM – Operations Specialist, AZ 

Let’s look back at the places you have worked at throughout your career.  Did the morale of your team members have an impact on the culture of the company? Did the culture of the company have an impact on the morale of the team? Or were they the same thing? 

A company’s culture is a set of values, visions, standards, attitudes, and behaviors to achieve a common goal.  It will reflect both the written and unwritten rules of a particular organization. 

While morale is the employee’s perception of satisfaction, confidence, and outlook of a company.  It will reflect the feelings of the employees. Are they being heard and supported? Are they engaged?  Do they feel their opinions and suggestions matter?  A company’s culture is a reflection of your employee’s morale. The morale at a company will have a direct impact on the company’s culture. 

Creating a company with high morale, to have positive company culture. 

While company merchandise, donuts and pizza are a great treat for your team, it goes beyond that.  Keep in mind if you invest in your team, your team will invest in you! Such things as policies, development, and career growth that will directly impact the employee are important to your team. They want to know that their suggestions and ideas matter. That THEY matter. Your team is yearning for your recognition and praise.  They want to know that their efforts are impactful to the clients and to the company itself. If you ‘hear’ them, they will in turn have a higher rate of satisfaction and belief in the company vision. Creating a positive company culture.  

Communication is key! 

• Have regular 1 on 1’s with your direct staff. Encourage your direct reports to do the same with their team.

• Recognize them, publicly.

• Tell them you appreciate them.

• Have an open-door policy. Better yet, seek them out to ask their opinion.

• Trust in your team. This will lead to their trust in you.

• Admit when something is not working, listen to your team’s feedback.

• Do anonymous employee surveys. Take the results as a learning tool to improve the environment for staff and clients alike.

• Be consistent. If your team knows that their efforts are being recognized on a regular basis, they will continue to strive to achieve more. 

In Conclusion:   

Employee morale is a vital part of your organization’s strengths or weaknesses. It is something that needs to be continuously measured and treated as important as your business strategy.  Creating a healthy and positive culture will boost morale in any organization. Building morale is so much more than pizza and donuts, it needs to be the act of a team mentality. Where everyone feels that their efforts and opinions matter. Where there is room to grow for both the company and the employee. With efforts to strengthen your team morale, you will succeed in having a positive company culture.