According to new research, 42% of businesses are feeling the impact of low employee morale* and according to analytics company Gallup, 57% of UK employees are ‘not engaged’ at work, with over a quarter saying that they are ‘actively disengaged’ with the organisation that they work for.
Team morale can have a huge impact on your productivity, efficiency, retention and workplace wellbeing and with remote working and hybrid teams, it can be hard to know how your team is feeling and what they need. ‘Morale’ isn’t just a buzzword in 2023, when times get tough, a highly engaged team will pull your business through, and in times of skills shortages and high staff turnover, your people are your most important champions.
According to Dynamic Signal, 63% of employees cite poor communication as a reason why they would leave a role and 53% don’t think their company communicates with them in a way that would lead them to become an advocate. Hosting events such as internal staff conferences, celebrations or annual meetings are a proven way to open up channels of communication, spark meaningful conversations and reconnect with team members who may be feeling out in the cold. Events like this are a way to demonstrate your values in action, and most importantly come together as a team in a fun, positive way outside of the day to day.
Remember that it’s important to go into your event with a clear purpose and vision of what you want to achieve, so every aspect of your event can be designed to help you engage and motivate your team in a meaningful way.
So, how can an event give that much needed boost to your team, and create a happy, healthy and high-performing team?
1 Communication
When teams are busy or spread across multiple locations, it can be tricky to keep everyone updated on success stories, growth and future plans. Emails or even video updates can get lost in to-do lists and busy diaries, but hosting a quarterly or annual update event means that you can really make your people feel part of something bigger and be on hand to answer any questions about what the information means in practice. In larger organisations this might be one of the few opportunities for all teams to have face-to-face time with senior leadership, opening up channels of communication across the organisation.
2 Real connection
The pandemic, the rise of digital meetings, social media and busy home lives all contribute to many craving some human interaction. No one here is arguing that there aren’t benefits to video calls, but for many it’s more difficult to be creative in a silo and far easier to be distracted by your inbox when you’re attending an online meeting. Meeting in person and enjoying shared experiences make it much more likely to build lasting relationships with colleagues which in turn will increase staff morale and reduce staff turnover (according to research by Gallup, when 60% of employees in a company have a work friend, safety incidents decreased by 36%, customer engagement increased by 7%, and profits increased by 12%)! Not only that, IRL conversations are proven to be more productive, with team members able to collaboratively brainstorm much more effectively in person than online, giving you a platform to tackle those big conversations together.
3 Recognition
Events and celebrations are a great way of saying thank you to your team and showing that you recognise all of their achievements. A simple ‘thank you’ is one of the best ways to increase staff engagement and boost morale and getting everyone away from their ‘day-to-day’ to enjoy an experience together is a meaningful way to show that you care. You could include awards (serious or silly categories!) as part of the day to give an extra thank you to the people who have really gone above and beyond. By recognising success you have a tangible way of celebrating your values in action, making it much easier for people to put them into practice when they are back in the work place, which in turn makes for a much happier atmosphere.
4 Create ambassadors
If people are proud of where they work, they want to share it with their friends and family. A morale boosting event – whether that is an awards dinner or a full team away day gives your people something to talk about with their community outside of the organisation. Creating moments that people want to share on their social media channels will not only boost morale but it increases the opportunity to attract new talent to your organisation when they see the additional benefits and learning opportunities that you offer your team.
5 Re-energise and inspire
Give your team space to step away from the day-to-day, learn new things, get inspired and have some fun. You will be increasing essential endorphins, boosting morale and giving team members something more than a transactional experience – you’re making them part of an experience. Find a cool venue, book an inspirational speaker or create an environment where teams that wouldn’t normally interact, learn from each other and most importantly, have fun together. A professional events team can work with you to hand pick the best speakers to re-energise your people, and they don’t just have to be talking about your sector, the best speakers allow you to look at things from a different perspective and give your team something to think about, and talk about, long after the event is over.
For more information on morale boosting events or to speak to the team about how to engage your team in 2023 email info@beaconhouse-events.co.uk or call +44 (0)191 691 3456
* https://www.cbi.org.uk/articles/attracting-and-retaining-staff-to-support-your-workforce-in-2023/
