In the given scenario, Jasmine is a Volunteer Coordinator in a non-profit organization that aims to teach classes in the medical field. This organization is facing financial difficulties as the donations are half less than they were in the previous year. As a result, there is a fear among the volunteers that they can lose the supplies and facilities to conduct medical classes that they are so eager to teach. Jasmine is managing five volunteers who have lost their morale. Therefore, Jasmine, as this group leader, should develop strategies to improve the employees’ morale.
Being responsible for their employees, good leaders pay attention to the atmosphere in the workplace. They should make sure that workers are comfortable with their work and as effective as they can be. When a particular organization or a community endures some sort of problem, employees can feel tension and stress, which can have a negative consequence on their work. Moreover, according to Coffey (2021), leaders who fail to maintain a high level of morale in the workplace can face an organizational decrease in sustainability and profitability as well as high levels of turnover. Therefore, it is important for a good leader to calm and motivate their employees as soon as possible. The research conducted by Coffey (2021) identifies three main strategies to improve employees’ morale that can boost their productivity. They include effective communication, employee engagement, and employee rewards. First of all, it was found that in the organizations where leaders used open and effective communication through face-to-face meetings, emails, and performance evaluations, the level of employees’ morale was higher, and their work was more productive (Coffey, 2021). The second strategy highlighted by the author is employee engagement. According to the research findings, successful leaders can improve their workers’ morale by leading by example, empowering workers, meeting with them, and listening to their opinions. All of these methods encourage employee engagement and make them feel important and valued in the group, building trust between a leader and workers (Gomathy, 2022). Finally, the third strategy to improve employees’ morale is to give recognition or rewards to people who met or exceeded the objectives. The author states that for employees, it is important to feel that their efforts are recognized, which encourages and incentivizes them to work harder and more productively.
In addition, there are also other strategies that can help a leader to overcome the problem of low morale in the workplace. According to Manning & Curtis (2019), the methods such as group bonuses, allowing workers to determine their own work methods, service from the technical support groups, training and development courses for all employees, and others are found to be successful in managing low levels of morale. Overall, the authors identified nine effective strategies to maximize workers’ morale from the review of 550 studies since 1959 (Manning & Curtis, 2019). The authors also state that positive results can be achieved only by introducing one or two of these methods, and there is no need to implement all of them.
To sum up, Jasmine as the Volunteer Coordinator and their leader is responsible for maintaining a positive and productive environment in the workplace during difficult times. To decrease the level of employee turnover and even increase the level of their productivity, she can try to apply new strategies, including effective communication, an employee reward system, or training or development courses. One of these techniques can eventually lead to a boost in employees’ morale.
References
Coffey, S. G. (2021). Strategies to increase employees’ morale [Doctoral dissertation]. Web.
Gomathy, C. K. (2022). The strategies for boosting employee morale in an organisation. International Journal of Scientific Research in Engineering and Management, 06(02).
Manning, G., & Curtis, K. (2019). The art of leadership (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill.