"Morale" as an indicator - How to track "morale"?

[LesPiles]

Hello,


I was discussing with a colleague on our high turn over rate we're currently experiencing ... and last week, another colleague was telling me that there is, added to usual indicators (quality, leadtime, cost, productivity, health and safety), a "new" indicator : morale.

This leads to my question : except for the turn over rate, how could we assess this indicator, in-process (e.g. prior to departures) ?

Thanks !

 

[mdurivage]

I think a good indicator would be turnover and longevity.

 

[Ninja]

Many organizations have an employee satisfaction survey process. Typically, such surveys are administered by a third-party provider to ensure anonymity of the respondents. Several questions are asked, which, collectively could give you an idea of employee satisfaction, closed associated with morale.

Our company does this periodically, and reports the overall results to the company at large in comparison to other local businesses.

Oddly enough, knowing that how unhappy you are is still not as bad as how unhappy other people are at other companies helps increase morale.
We humans are strange things.

The local average where I am is ~76% staisfaction. My company rates above this consistently by third party questionnaire.

Cool thing about it is that WHY you are unhappy is also probed, which gives direction to Mgmt of how to increase satisfaction...sometimes as simple as a 5% jump with better furniture in the cafeteria.

I too would reccomend using a third party survey.

 

[Randy]

I remember a metric used to be how long a 2nd Lieutenant lasted in an Infantry Platoon....Poor morale = not very long

 

[statdoug]

Another approach to consider is the use of a composite index. While this will not give you a comparison to other companies it may give you the most effective way of tracking and improving morale within your company.

 

[Steve Prevette]

In addition to the good ideas already stated (especially an employee survey), sick time / unexcused absences can also be related to morale.

A question though - what do you intend to do with the results if you get them? Many years ago a group wanted me to help them measure morale, but it soon became obvious they were clueless as to what to do if they did KNOW morale levels. So I said - I've invented this morale measuring device. I hold it against your head and it measures your morale. You are a 4. He's a 6, she's a 3. Now, what do you intend to do?

The group could not answer the question, and therefore gave up on the drive to pay to come up with how to measure morale.

 

[Wes Bucey]

I remember a metric used to be how long a 2nd Lieutenant lasted in an Infantry Platoon....Poor morale = not very long

In 'Nam, there was a strong rumor about "fragging" idiot second looies. I think that's frowned upon in corporations. - Besides, where would we get the fragmentation grenades?

In addition to the good ideas already stated (especially an employee survey), sick time / unexcused absences can also be related to morale.

A question though - what do you intend to do with the results if you get them? Many years ago a group wanted me to help them measure morale, but it soon became obvious they were clueless as to what to do if they did KNOW morale levels. So I said - I've invented this morale measuring device. I hold it against your head and it measures your morale. You are a 4. He's a 6, she's a 3. Now, what do you intend to do?

The group could not answer the question, and therefore gave up on the drive to pay to come up with how to measure morale.

I'll bet there are a lot of folks out here and there who have presented elegant solutions to the bosses only to have the bosses totally ignore them.

I've often thought that, regardless of being created by committee, the ISO 9001 Standard had one sentence, which if followed logically, would greatly improve morale throughout an organization:
6.4 Work environment
The organization shall determine and manage the work environment needed to achieve conformity to product requirements.

Many bosses out there still have some archaic concept that those "employees who are our most important asset" are just soulless automatons who are replaceable and interchangeable just like bolts on a machine. Is it any wonder that employee morale would be low at such a workplace? Is it any wonder that low morale would contribute to inefficiency, errors, and, sometimes, sabotage?

Until we change the thinking of management, no amount of metrics on the status of morale will change the work environment.

 

[Mikael]

I properly see Kano everywhere, lol, but there is indeed litterature that shows how to use the kano-model for improving the enviroment.

Sometimes it is easier to get some true answers from ex-employees.

One employee with lots of gossip can take a whole department down. Girl groups...

Working hours, like if someone start to meet late, their might be some issues.

Customer feedback, especially on how they talk to customers.

Salary can be too low.

Managers can be too bad , to chance that you really need experienced hr-people, who knows how to turn a manager 180 degrees.

Mistakes, but hard to measure objective.

Cake and collective eating.

Politics.

Afterparty

Balance with Jokes and laugh

That was just a few of them.

 

[Mikishots]

I was discussing with a colleague on our high turn over rate we're currently experiencing ... and last week, another colleague was telling me that there is, added to usual indicators (quality, leadtime, cost, productivity, health and safety), a "new" indicator : morale.

This leads to my question : except for the turn over rate, how could we assess this indicator, in-process (e.g. prior to departures) ?

I'm thinking that morale is not a measurable indicator or metric like the others - it's a product of them.

What quality objective is it linked to? It's not a KPI.

 

[statdoug]

In addition to the good ideas already stated (especially an employee survey), sick time / unexcused absences can also be related to morale.

A question though - what do you intend to do with the results if you get them? Many years ago a group wanted me to help them measure morale, but it soon became obvious they were clueless as to what to do if they did KNOW morale levels. So I said - I've invented this morale measuring device. I hold it against your head and it measures your morale. You are a 4. He's a 6, she's a 3. Now, what do you intend to do?

The group could not answer the question, and therefore gave up on the drive to pay to come up with how to measure morale.

Measurement gives us the ability to test and improve. Morale is one of those "soft science" areas that are particularily hard to evaluate. A composite index makes use of several of the factors that others have identified here, weighted and combined to minimize superfluous variation and measured on a real-time, or at least a frequently re-occurring cycle (weekly, monthly, etc.) This re-occurring methodology lends itself well to control charting with all the benefits thereof.