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What to Do When Morale Is Low

By Simone Kaplan

May 01, 2002 — CIO — Even in the best of times, morale is a delicate, unpredictable thing. Will one employee sulk when another receives a promotion? Will a canceled project throw a team into a tailspin of recrimination and apathy? Will a switch from lobster bisque to pea soup in the company cafeteria cost you your best worker? Threading your way through these problems can be like negotiating a minefield. At any moment, something can blow up in your face and send productivity tumbling even as your employees commence to mumbling and grumbling.

Of course, these are not the best of times.

It’s no secret that morale is an omnipresent issue right now. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, last year companies laid off almost 1.7 million workers, up 5 percent from the year before, and filed 41,000 bankruptcy claims, up 13 percent from the previous year. Those cuts have forced the survivors, including those in IT, to shoulder more responsibilities even as their salaries and benefits fall under the cost-cutting ax.

Bad morale is insidious. Bad morale skulks, it lurks, it simmers just beneath the conversation at the watercooler. But if you keep your eyes and ears open, you’ll know when it’s there.

It’s not the Economy; It’s You

Morale is more than a people issue; it’s a business issue. Low morale increases turnover, and turnover (when unplanned) is bad for managers and their reputation, department and efficiency?and, of course, the bottom line. Low morale also causes declines in productivity and quality. No figures exist to quantify those declines, says Anne Reustle, leader of the work-life consulting group at William M. Mercer in Philadelphia, but the correlation between morale and business functioning is self-evident.

"Stress and illness caused by excessive demands in work and personal life can seriously reduce a worker’s productivity and have a direct impact on the bottom line," Reustle asserts.

Those demands are magnified in IT departments, where maintaining morale can be singularly challenging.

"Right now, IT’s workload is increasing because of layoffs, but at the same time their energy is ebbing and they feel overloaded and confused," says Dennis LaRosee, senior vice president of Praendex, a Wellesley, Mass.-based executive training and management consultancy. "IT leaders and workers tend to be introspective and technical in nature. They feel unappreciated because no one sees the creative effort and energy that goes into writing an application or completing a project." And when IT staffers do receive feedback, LaRosee points out, it’s usually negative.

 

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