Workplace morale issues whispering

I’m dedicating this week’s blog posts to boosting workplace morale, which is far and away the number one goal our corporate clients tell us they would like addressed though our team building events in NYC and beyond.

The area of workplace morale is so vast and complicated, straddling issues involving power, personalities, environment and culture. How can you tell if you have a morale issue? How do you measure office morale? And, once you determine that you do indeed have a morale issue, what are you supposed to do about it?

Neither I nor anyone else will be able to answer these very complicated questions in a blog post (or through a corporate team building activity, for that matter). However, having produced over 500 events for companies of all sizes and across many industries  – not to mention my own workplace experiences – I can tell you that there are several very real killers of workplace morale out there, which you as a manager many or may not be aware of, yet which are entirely within your control.

The first is whispering.

Whispering. It seems so innocuous, so harmless – when bosses are conversing in “public” areas such as hallways, elevators or even the rest room, there is a tendency to do so in hushed tones. And for good reason, too – especially among senior decision makers, there are plenty of sensitive issues which need to be discussed, and not all are appropriate for everybody within earshot to hear.

The problem, of course, is that people DO hear. They may not hear the full extent of your conversations, if they can hear you at all – however, especially in the current economic environment, the fact that they see the bosses whispering to one another leads them to believe that you are speaking about them, even in you’re not (see this recent New York Times piece for a good practical example).

Whispering among managers is the “silent” killer of office morale among rank-and-file employees.

Nobody likes having secrets kept from them – remember grade school? Here in the grown-up world, seeing people with the power to fire you speaking in whispers leads to anxiety among the troops, as well as the creation of rumors – from the employees’ standpoint, why else would you be whispering, if not about decisions which will ultimately affect them? It creates a toxic environment, one of distrust and suspicion of what “management” has in mind.

There is no good which can come of excessive public whispering by managers. If you want to promote a healthy, open workplace, one without fear among the ranks, I’d recommend getting the whispering thing under control. Save sensitive conversations with other managers for when you’re behind closed doors – your staff will appreciate it.