Ten Small Things that will Kill Company Morale
1. bad tissue in the bathrooms- no one wants the equivalent of sandpaper at the office. invest in the good stuff.
2. charging for coffee- seriously. a bad decision all the way around. and while I’m at it, quit charging for snacks.
3. standardized approach to your office or cube. let your team add some flare to their area. please.
4. a faulty copier- I think there is an international conspiracy to make all copiers bad.
5. technology issues- computer issues, incompetent IT people, and slow responses will cripple your team. Invest here or else.
6. public recognition that is incorrect. make sure you know who actually did a great job before handing out the kudos at the company picnic or staff meeting to the wrong person. this is a total demotivator.
7. a new policy every week. whether it is expense reports, insurance, office furniture, parking, kitchen etiquette, dress code, IT, pets, pranks, profits, travel, meals, hiring, firing, vacation, talking, phones, dating, child care, meetings, conference rooms, dish policy, management, health care, etc., etc. etc. Change is good, but can quickly overwhelm the system. Constant change can be incredibly draining.
8. fun Police. there is one in every company, and their entire reason for living is to make you feel guilty for any kind of fun in the office. Punch them directly in the throat. Just kidding, sort of.
9. too many meetings- if you are an executive or team leader, this is usually your fault, because you feel like you need to schedule meetings in order to seem busy. Stop it. When in doubt, don’t meet. Just execute. Don’t talk more about it. Just get it done.
10. unmet promises- i’m guilty of this one. I admit it. and it is a morale killer. Leaders- don’t throw out promises you can’t keep because you feel like the leadership moment demands it. hold your tongue, or be prepared to deliver.
What would you add to the list?
i’m sending over my resume now.
Well said. I think that I used to work for the company that was the launchpad for all of those “don’ts”… I no longer work for said company and have found a job where the office is much more laid back and it’s funny how much MORE work gets done!
I know it falls under IT, but I think it’s worthy of a title all its own–Poor Internet Quaility. It’s a morale killer and enough to make a team go tribal!
Unnecessarily strict dress codes. No shorts? Fine. No open-toed sandals in summer? Not worth it.
Shotgun discipline.
There’s one guy breaking a rule & we all know who it is but rather than pull him aside and tell him to knock it off, an email goes out to everyone of us telling all of us that this behavior must stop.
That really ticks me off.
love this post.
“We’d like to congratulate Bob as this years MVP for his extra-mile efforts and making / saving the company hundreds of thousands of dollars. Bob, as a token of our appreciation, here’s a $500 Visa gift card.”
# 9 is the my hot button. Too many meetings = not enough time to implement.
I probably would add a #11…no recognition of a job well done.
[...] my Dawgs. Here’s to hoping out freshman QB situation next year turns out well. – Brad Lomenick hit it on the head highlighting some small ways to kill company morale. – The business nerd in me found this article interesting – Making “Wow” [...]
Boss: “What do you mean we don’t invest in industry training and further education? Don’t you remember the ropes course we did last spring?”
Employee: …. [sinks head and walks away]
[...] Lominick on 10 Small Things that will Kill Company Morale. See [...]
#11 Everyone is at fault – This occurs when a major conflict or blowup occurs. Then all parties involved get chastised and have their annual review affected. Sometimes ONE person is WRONG and the other did everything they could to resolve the problems but the other person won’t do the right thing.
Fostering an atmosphere of sucking-up and/or allowing it to work.
Having one person who is THE boss.
[...] Killing Company Morale Jump to Comments Brad Lomenick recently posted “10 Small Things that will Kill Company Morale“ [...]
[...] 10 Small Things That Will Kill Company Morale by Brad Lomenick [...]
How about this for a morale killer – EVERYONE’s salary is posted online – our company did this and I’ll never feel the same way about this hell hole…..with the economy so bad,one has to stay and just plug it out….