Cynical corporate leaders might read articles about boosting morale and roll their eyes, thinking: Our employees are paid great, have good benefits and an employee recognition program.

However, a paycheck, benefits and generic employee recognition plan often isn’t enough to keep employees from leaving a company, and it is imperative for companies to retain talent in this competitive labor market. Furthermore, low morale has been linked to lower productivity.

With that in mind, consider the following tips on how to boost morale within your organization.

Connect meaning to each employee’s work

Everybody wants to feel like their work has a greater purpose. If a company doesn’t connect meaning to someone’s job, it can get lost in the daily grind, and when that happens, employees can adopt a ‘who cares’ attitude.

One way to connect meaning to each person’s job is to share positive feedback from customers and clients.  When staff members see their hard work makes someone else happy, they are more likely to take pride in what they do and feel better about coming into work each day.

Shake up the routine

Whether its eating pizza for lunch or going into a job, doing the same thing day after day, for years on end can get boring. Getting away from the usual routine of the cubicle farm or the shop floor can have a major positive impact on morale.

Some companies shake up their routines by having a dedicated committee of employees that has input on everything from the structure of meetings to team-bonding exercises. Some companies shake up the regular routine by having a dynamic workspace that can be modified relatively quickly to create large meeting spaces or intimate conversational areas.

Celebrate specific, meaningful accomplishments

Many companies have employee recognition programs that reward employees who performed well all year or all quarter. Employees might beam with delight when they receive one of these awards, but non-specific awards don’t tend to have a big impact on morale.

Instead, employee recognition programs should celebrate specific achievements, such as a high sales figure or low error rate.

Offer flexible schedules

Employees have personal lives outside the office. They have kids to take care of and passions to pursue. Allowing employees to adjust their schedule to take college classes, drop off their kids at daycare or work on a side business can be a massive morale boost for a company.

Have fun!

Making fun part of the workday doesn’t have to cost a company much and it can go a long way to boosting morale. Trivia competitions, weight-loss challenges and happy hours give employees a chance to bond with each other, and it gives them something to talk about other that their latest job-related frustrations.

At Action Group Staffing, we support all the employee engagement efforts of our clients. If your company is currently looking for a supportive talent acquisition partner, please contact us today.