A topic of discussion I've thought about frequently in the past week is morale in the workplace, and what to make of instances of low or high morale. I suppose none of this thinking would have been spurred on without beholding examples of both within this frame of time.
This is not a new topic for me to mull over, by any means. During my eight years in the fire department prior to taking this emergency room job in Iraq, I frequently pondered the state of flux of my crew's morale. As time went on, I gained a greater understanding for how changes in morale come about, as well as what I needed to do when met with low morale on a regular basis.
This observation is going to start and end in the same fashion: I firmly believe morale starts and ends with the individual. There will always be external factors which we may try to attribute low morale to, but in the end, the only things that bother us are the things we let bother us. This philosophy puts a lot of emphasis on personal responsibility, but as I've slowly turned thought into habit over the years, I've found it to be a philosophy that has been vital in allowing me to be resilient when times aren't so great.
Many of these external factors are probably familiar to you. A change in management entails a change in operational philosophy, for example. In this case, sometimes the focus increases, leading to micromanaging, or perhaps in a minority of cases the focus broadens - allowing for more autonomy - as management looks at the bigger picture, which would be macromanaging. Micromanaging is more involved in the smaller nuances of an operation, and this has a tendency of upsetting more experienced employees as well as free thinkers. Macromanagement may seem imposing to an inexperienced employee or someone who is actually incompetent at their job, as it allows for a certain amount of autonomy which is not always appreciated.
It could be a change in working conditions. Whether it is an unforeseen increase in workload, or a sharp decrease. Extremes in weather play a factor where applicable, as I recall from working during the summer at a fire department in Georgia, where conditions get especially hot and humid.
Finally there are external factors with financial implications: reduction of wages, a change in benefits such as insurance premium increase or retirement plans being affected by the stock market, and so on. These tend to hit close to home for many people as they not only have to contend with a change in morale at work but also the implications of this financial hit back home. When external factors affect our family or make for a scarce outlook with regard to food or shelter, it is hard not to take issue with it.
I could go on about the various external factors at the workplace. At the fire department, morale was always magnified and a topic for open discussion because we literally lived with one another in the same house every third day. This makes it a more pressing issue to resolve than it would be if we simply logged eight hours a day together. In addition, a certain continuity must be in place at the fire department, where we trust our lives to one another during critical emergencies. In this extreme example, morale is far more important than in other settings.
Resolution:
Morale starts and stops with the individual. No amount of rhetoric or campaigning to make things better will actually make things better. In my experience, it is often better to lead by example than by your own words. For some people this may be difficult, because it entails working harder than everyone around you, and doing so with a positive attitude that becomes infectious. This, in my limited experience, has been the best avenue to take.
The concept of working hard and doing so in a positive manner can seem daunting over a prolonged period of time, and that means a certain amount of vigilance is required to ensure the positive, hard-working attitude catches fire. Adhered to long enough, it will work, I have found. Whether the people around you are prodded into action due to a feeling of inspiration or guilt because you are out-working them, it will happen. Doing so with little fanfare will only drive your point home further. A display of genuine concern for morale is best asserted by means of action, and not words.
To ensure longevity when attempting to work hard and in a positive fashion, it helps to be able to derive meaning from what you're doing. Maintaining mindfulness about why you're doing what you're doing, and taking pride in the level of work that you are doing, can often be enough to sustain efforts. Habitually employing positivity also helps to sustain efforts, because positivity only breeds more positivity.
As I mentioned earlier, how we perceive external factors is completely up to us, and whether we consider something good or bad is also completely up to us. If we are met by a decrease in personnel at work, this can either be seen as a slight against us (and almost always, it isn't) or it can be seen as a challenge for us to overcome, that will invariably make us better if we do. Likewise, when workloads sharply decrease or increase, this is an external factor we can either revile by having a negative attitude and complaining about it (though it serves no functional purpose), or we can embrace these changes in workload as a challenge and respond accordingly.
Turning thoughts into habits is key here. If we continually embrace external factors instead of resenting them, it will not be long before these thoughts become ingrained as habits. It takes time, but with enough resolve to do so, it can be a reality. Speaking personally, it has become effortless, or even native, that I respond to external factors as challenges rather than attacks against my well-being. It all began as a thought years ago, in the fire department. There was a time when I was an inexperienced firefighter that despaired over changes in external factors and morale, but with time and indulgence in books on the matter, I got better at it. This just shows that anyone can.
There is a remote chance that your hard work and positivity don't catch on. You have to be prepared for this as well. It does not mean you change your approach or act as the universe's enforcer by trying to seek disciplinary action against your less-than-motivated colleagues. You could do this, of course, but it will only serve to muddle affairs and word will eventually get out that you're trying to take people out. As a rule, it simply isn't a good idea to be an enforcer of any kind unless that is actually your job.
That last sentence is key, because many people encounter undue stress from engaging in affairs that are not their own. Many people want to be omnipotent, and so they are constantly concerning themselves with the business of other people. The truth is, we should always point the finger at ourselves, and ask ourselves what we can do to become better. We can modify ourselves more easily than we can modify others. Trying to change others or seeking enforcement against others will only bring about resentment toward you. Nothing shortens a career quite like being exposed to chronic resentment from your peers.
In the end, the resolution isn't very complex, and according to Occam's Razor, that's a good thing. The simple answers are often the best answers. Work on yourself, go about your business quietly and with positivity, and finally don't involve yourself in the affairs of others. If any of this information seems ambiguous or misleading I'd be glad to address it in the comments section.
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