At our recent UMC productivity summit, we focused on morale and its relationship with overall productivity. Employee morale is typically determined by the satisfaction that employees have with their work and their overall emotional and mental state. Employees with high morale can feel confident and enthusiastic, persevere through challenges, and maintain a positive outlook. But how does morale affect productivity? The two are closely intertwined. Happy, engaged employees are ultimately more satisfied with their work which helps them to work hard and be more productive. Conversely, employees who struggle with low morale may feel the opposite and experience disengagement, stress, negativity, and unhappiness. Ultimately, these negative emotions can lead employees to feel overwhelmed or quit trying, negatively impacting productivity. In the 2021 Gallup Workplace study, surveyors found that morale, engagement, and employee well-being have all started to decline. Of the employees surveyed for the report, only 21% reported feeling engaged at work, and only 33% reported feeling like they were thriving. These low numbers suggest that morale and engagement are down for many employees. Here at UMC, Inc., we recognize the difficulties and strains of the past few years. We know that times have been tough, and we’ve done our best to help our employees through the challenges we’ve all faced. That’s why our focus on this year’s summit was improving morale and what we can do as a company to help. Our presentation at this year’s summit shared three suggestions from our productivity survey we asked UMC employees to complete. The suggestions they gave us on how to improve productivity were:
- Employee recognition/appreciation
- Improve morale
- Better training
Overall the number one suggestion we received from this survey was to improve employee recognition. To address this need, we outlined our new employee recognition initiative awards.
- Top Performer – Great attendance, initiative, safety, quality and high production.
- Team Player Award – Great attendance, humble, hungry and smart.
- Excellence Award – Great attendance, growth in your trade and willingness to learn outside your skillset.
- Mentor Award – Great attendance, development of others, patience, and desire to share knowledge.
Each superintendent or manager submits a nominee for each award category, and the winners get a $50 eGift card! We hope these monthly awards help improve recognition for the employees who go above and beyond here at UMC, Inc. We value your contributions and example to each member of our team. But awards aren’t the only way we seek to improve morale and productivity. We also led a discussion on morale and how it related to productivity and outlined our productivity goals for each branch of UMC, Inc. As a leadership team, we’ve carefully selected target productivity goals for each branch of UMC, Inc. based on their overall performance, growth, and productivity metrics. Our goals are realistic and feasible for each team, and we are committed to improving training and recognition to help each branch meet its goals this year. We know that there is no magic switch for improving morale within our company. But we are committed to helping our employees feel appreciated, encouraged, and challenged in all the right ways by the work we do. As we move forward together, we know that we can count on each member of the UMC, Inc. team to do their part. So, let’s get to work!
