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Formula for Tough Times: Four Ideas to Maintain Morale and Productivity

Guest post by: Richard Lepsinger

Article Overview: It's easier to keep employees motivated when times are good. Exceptional leaders and organizations use a combination of traditional and innovative ideas to maintain high levels of morale and productivity in a challenging business environment.

Formula for Tough Times: Four Ideas to Maintain Morale and Productivity

It's tough out there and companies are looking for ways to maintain employee morale and productivity. I was looking for practical suggestions that work in the real world, particularly in today's environment. So I went directly to managers and HR professionals to find out what they were doing to keep people engaged and focused on results and I found four best practices that were consistent across the interviews.

Increase disclosure. Employees are always interested in the company's financial health and leadership's view of industry and competitive conditions but tough times heighten the need for timely information. The majority of companies I spoke with are increasing the frequency, detail, and amount of information they are providing.

Dust off recognition programs. Although many companies have recognition programs in place they are often not being used effectively. A quick win for many companies is to ensure managers use available recognition programs. These range from an e-card/thank you note to monetary rewards.

Find alternatives to lay-offs. In addition to the pain lay-offs cause individuals, many companies also suffer when the inevitable turn around comes and they discover they don't have the right people in place. To reduce costs yet avoid this problem organizations are experimenting with unpaid furloughs, salary freezes or cuts, four-day work weeks, and reducing contributions to retirement and health plans. These actions are still painful but they are seen as the lesser evil and better in the long-term for both employees and the company.

Involve employees. Encouraging employees to contribute ideas for cost savings and process improvement accomplishes two important objectives. Not only do some of the best ideas come from the employee population but involving people in decisions that affect them decreases the feeling of uncertainty.

It's easier to keep employees motivated when times are good. Exceptional leaders and organizations use a combination of traditional and innovative ideas to maintain high levels of morale and productivity in a challenging business environment.

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Article Tags: exceptional leaders, levels of morale, morale and productivity, tough times



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Re: Info for would be franchisers... - [quote="Sebastien":1d29sdv1]Like Franchise Times, Franchise Update is a very practical magazine. There is no blah blah, just straight facts that anyone in the franchise community can relate to. I just want to mention that all these magazines are NOT franchisee oriented. I mean these magazines are for franchise professionals. If you're looking to buy a franchise, you won't find much information in there. To answer your question, getting published in Franchise Times was fairly easy. I don't want to brag too much but I think I am known in the franchise industry. I was the marketing guy at Franchise.com for a few years before joining my new company, the World Franchising Network. So people know me and I have a very good relationship with Nancy Weingartner, the Managing Editor at Franchise Times. I was talking with her at the last Franchise Expo South in Miami and she mentioned she'd like me to be profiled. I was like "ok, sure!". I like this franchise executive profile thing in Franchise Times as it is rarely BS. People are usually really natural in there.[/quote:1d29sdv1] Thanks for the follow up Sebastien! And I can't say that I'm surprised that networking with the right people and managing your relationships with them properly are the keys to being published. I guess the old adage holds true of "it's not who you know, but who knows you" that's important.
Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - I've started work with a brand new company that is going to do loss mitigation. My boss intends to hire a "big" PR firm - ie one that costs a lot of money - because he wants press releases sent out to the New York Times, the LA Times - all the major papers around the country - and he think they'll be more likely to print them if they come from a "big" firm as opposed to a one-person PR firm. I think it doesn't matter where the press release comes from as long as its well written. What are the opinions here?
Re: Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - [quote="OmnivoreInk":dmj1i0sv]I've started work with a brand new company that is going to do loss mitigation. My boss intends to hire a "big" PR firm - ie one that costs a lot of money - because he wants press releases sent out to the New York Times, the LA Times - all the major papers around the country - and he think they'll be more likely to print them if they come from a "big" firm as opposed to a one-person PR firm. I think it doesn't matter where the press release comes from as long as its well written. What are the opinions here?[/quote:dmj1i0sv] I think the most important factor is whether your press release will reach the most number of your target audience or not. It won't matter if the press release is well written if no one has the opportunity to read it. I also believe that credibility comes with having your press release in an established source like The New York Times, LA Times, etc... For instance, if you enjoyed playing tennis, who would you trust more? The advice from a recreational tennis player who has his own column in [i:dmj1i0sv]Tennis Magazine[/i:dmj1i0sv] [u:dmj1i0sv]or[/u:dmj1i0sv] the recreational tennis player who has his own blog? I don't know about you, but I'd listen to the guy on [i:dmj1i0sv]Tennis Magazine[/i:dmj1i0sv] over the blog owner at least 9 out of 10 times.
Re: Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - I agree with Kevin [quote:3b8fyubd]I think the most important factor is whether your press release will reach the most number of your target audience or not.[/quote:3b8fyubd] You dont a big company that will charge mega bucks as Im sure they will even add a %age to the cost of the press release. Im sure if you approach New York Times, the LA Times with every thing presented professionally I think it will still stand the same chance. I would start advertising online, then locally thats when the NYT can see what there missing out on! And to test the water first!


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