3 Ways to Boost Employee Morale 

It’s no secret that many frontline workers, including retail employees, are mentally and physically exhausted from the extra hours put in on the job because of the pandemic. A recent Retail Wire article shared that most employers see and understand how their employees are strained, but many don’t have the extra means and ability to reward workers with higher pay and more time off, two of the most common ways to reward employees and boost employee morale.

While extra money and extra time are always appreciated, here are three other ways you can show your thanks to your employees.

Offer extras that promote good mental health. Regular exercise is key to good mental health, so consider offering free gym memberships to a local fitness facility. If that’s too big of an expense, you could work with your local gym to provide discounts to your employees on a membership in return for promotion of their gym in your store. Other ideas include offering after hours fitness classes on site, like yoga or bootcamp, for employees to take part in after a shift or providing access to employee assistance programs, which include mental and physical health resources, as part of your health insurance package. 

Create a positive work environment. It may seem obvious, but not every working environment is an affirmative one. Employees are trained to treat customers with kindness and respect, but that doesn’t always translate to how they treat their fellow staff members. A positive work space starts from the top, so if you’re an owner or manager, set a good example for treating others well. You can also focus on training your employees on certain soft skills to improve how they interact with each other. 

Just say thank you. A simple handwritten note or a personal face-to-face thank you to let your employees know you see their efforts and appreciate them can go a long way with building morale. You could also create employee appreciation posts for your social media channels that share how your employees are doing a great job and why you appreciate them. If you wanted to go a step farther, surprise employees with a catered breakfast or lunch at work or host a special event just for the staff such as a laser tag outing, night out at a local baseball game or picnic to increase employee morale.