Affordable ways to boost and maintain morale in the office.
In the post-pandemic era, with economic and financial uncertainty, and with new ways of working to adapt to, it’s no surprise that morale is suffering. Recent research has shown that this is the case across the world. Gallup’s State of the Global Workforce 2025 report found that employee engagement globally declined to 21% in 2024, with managers –particularly young and female – experiencing the largest decline. In fact, employee wellbeing has been declining since its peak in 2022. And a survey of British businesses by Celonis found that 81% are struggling with low employee morale.
When we talk about workplace morale, it is often in terms of how it correlates to productivity levels and business output. Whilst it is true that high workforce morale leads to increased productivity, this isn’t the whole story.
In its simplest terms, morale is the confidence and connection your workers have with their work and the business, either as a collective or individually. It reflects the mental and emotional condition of your workforce.
High morale means happy employees who feel valued and engaged with what they do. High morale means a workforce with greater levels of wellbeing, stronger teams, and teams that feel they are part of something. A happy workforce means people feel attached, they are less likely to be absent due to stress, their risk of burnout is minimal, and they are more likely to stay with you so your staff turnover will be reduced.
So, when morale dips, how do we boost it?
We’ve put together some tips for you, to help raise morale without breaking the bank.
To be truly engaged with anything - at work or play - we need to feel we are really part of it and that we are valued.
A brilliant and very simple way to boost morale is by valuing your teams and letting them know they matter - that their voice matters, their work matters, and their contribution matters.
It is about nurturing and supporting them.
Thank them for what they do, even a simple ‘thank you’ at the end of the day can go a long way to making them feel valued.
Recognise their work and achievements.You could do this in appraisals, in informal communication, chats and emails, or having a formal reward and recognition programme for the company and showcasing people’s achievements.
Offer feedback and invite feedback –listen to your staff and build trust with them.
Promote transparency and open communication. You can demonstrate openness by keeping employees in the loop about decisions and developments, using company-wide communication such as your intranet, and holding town hall meetings to include everybody in your organisation.
Create and nurture a positive and inclusive company culture that helps teams come together and work in a collaborative and positive environment where every voice is important. You may wish to consider activities you can do as a team to help promote your culture, which don’t have to be costly. We have some ideas here for team-building.
Other ways you can come together as a team include volunteering together and raising money for charity.
Consider the environment your teams are working in. Is it a calm and positive place to be? Is it psychologically safe? Is it the sort of place people look forward to coming to, or one that makes them not want to be there?
Although your teams may be working remotely for part of the week, your office base should still be a place they wish to come to and feel happy working there when they do.
Think about how your teams engage with each other at work – how do they come together informally throughout the day? Are there suitable rest areas and areas where creative work could happen? Do they see leadership often and are leaders open and communicative with them? All of these are important in promoting a calm, inclusive and positive workplace, and fostering a successful company culture.
And how about having themed days, such as ‘bring your pet to work’ day – provided it isn’t a python or something equally terrifying - or perhaps having a day a week when your teams are invited to bring in food and have a fuddle. There are lots of affordable and easy ideas to help your employees feel part of the work community and boost their morale.
Positive wellbeing is a key ingredient in the recipe for a happy workforce. There are many ways to help your employees maintain their wellbeing, such as offering flexible working options to promote a healthy work/life balance, paying particular attention to your remote workers in this regard, to make sure they are not at risk of burnout, and providing multiple ways to check-in with your teams and for them to reach you.
It’s helpful to provide health and wellbeing resources for all employees to access. Again, these needn’t be expensive and could range from offering exercise videos to offering resources around personal and financial matters people may need support with. Teams could be encouraged to set up wellbeing groups themselves - groups that help in someway, whether it be a running or other fitness club, or perhaps a creative club, a book club, maybe even a Monday lunchtime knitting club. Empowering your teams to create and own their own wellbeing in this way also helps them to feel part of something bigger.
Think of resources and offerings that will help the whole person, and not just the person you see at work.
And finally, this isn’t just for your teams, this is for you too. Lead by example and you will help your own wellbeing and engagement, and you will show you care about your teams. Be interested in their work and their lives, support them with the measures above, lead them with empathy and care.
Create a business community that works and cares together, and that will raise morale, lead to higher engagement and a happy business.
For more insights and articles about hybrid working from Team Today, visit our blog here.
