Reflections on VITALITY: Industrious and Productive
MORALE™: A Model for improving job satisfaction and productivity
As a psychologist, I am often asked to make suggestions on improving employee job satisfaction and productivity. The MORALE acronym presented here outlines six areas in which organizations can focus their efforts to accomplish that important objective.
Motivation. If a company has done any work in the area of enhancing employee morale, job satisfaction and productivity, its primary efforts have usually revolved around reward and enforcement strategies: perks; pay raises and pep-talks. Such motivational approaches can be a good first step, and are an important reminder that overall financial success depends on employee satisfaction and performance. But, in the long run, the company that promotes job satisfaction and productivity only through motivational means will fail to sustain either.
Psychological research conducted over the past 60 years has documented the complex nature of employee needs in work situations. These needs have been variously labeled by different authors as, for example, achievement, self-actualization, self-esteem, group esteem, belonging, safety, freedom from anxiety. The five remaining elements of the MORALE model describe strategies for effectively fulfilling these needs.
Opportunity. Opportunities to learn new skills, to perform independently, to participate with others in a friendly and productive endeavor; to advance and influence the work of others, and to make a meaningful contribution are each potent motives for participating in the workforce. To the extent that these personal desires are routinely satisfied by the organization, employee morale, job satisfaction and productivity will increase.
Relationships. Because most work is accomplished through the cooperative efforts of a group, on a regular schedule, over extended periods of time, the workplace becomes an important location for gratifying one’s needs for belonging and friendship. The relationship between employee and supervisor most influences morale, job satisfaction and performance. Supervisors who set and monitor realistic performance objectives, who model or teach required performance skills, and most importantly, who communicate with subordinates in a clear and empathic manner, improve employee morale, job satisfaction and productivity.
Adaptability. Global competition, high expectations for quality, increased economic pressure and new technology challenge leadership, managerial performance, employee commitment, innovation, risk taking, and other components of organizational effectiveness.
The only true constant these days is change. Employees need adequate self- management skills, advanced technical know-how, and accurate information about what is expected to maintain and improve job satisfaction and productivity. Where these prerequisites are lacking, they must be supplemented by the organization.
Leadership. Persons who have the opportunity to work with and for a true leader derive greater satisfaction from their work that those who do not. The effective leader elicits and molds the values and vision of the organization and symbolizes and articulates their meaning to all. Through their actions, leaders empower employees to participate and perform.
Excellence. Nearly everybody wants to be affiliated with a winner, whether at work, home or play. Winners win because they excel at what they do. Employees, partners, teammates or fans take pride in their winning team’s high standards of performance. This pride helps satisfy their need for self- and group-esteem. Setting and striving for a standard of excellence promotes morale, job satisfaction and productivity, even under conditions where valued rewards and reinforcers are not available. When paired with appropriate motivators, challenging opportunities, satisfactory relationships, adaptive skills, and competent leadership, the pursuit of excellence enriches and sustains commitment and enhances performance.
Employee morale, job satisfaction and productivity will improve as long as the “net” of positive and negative changes in the six MORALE elements increases. The mix of these “best strategies’ depends on the needs and talents of the employees, and the meaning of the organization to them.