What makes a beautiful musical performance? A great song, played/sung by a great artist, with a great orchestra or band.
What makes a beautiful organization? A great purpose/mission, being executed by passionate, committed team members, functioning in an excellent culture.
Morale is the collective attitude of the organization about the members, leaders, purpose, and environment. Great organizational morale is the seedbed of amazing service, which is the fulfillment of the mission of the organization.
So what are the ingredients for great organizational morale? I believe there are three foundational pillars: #1 is Clear Mission/Calling/Purpose, #2 is Strong Core Values, and #3 is Excellent Culture.
The following is an organizational morale evaluation. Consider each question carefully, and then provide an honest answer:
1. Does your organization have a clear mission and purpose embraced and shared by each team member?
2. Does your organization have a few non-negotiable values that you hire, fire, and live by?
3. Does your organization create a positive, energized, spirit filled work environment?
4. Would your team say “This is a great place to work”?
5. Does your organization practice clear communication that gets results?
6. Are your meetings engaging, problem solving, and effective?
7. Does your organization work collaborative with the full participation of each team member?
8. Are your leaders and managers fully connected with those they lead and manage?
9. Does each team member get their job, want their job, and have the capacity to do their job?
10. Are there clear objective responsibilities for each position in the organization, and is each team member’s performance measured against those written responsibilities?
11. Does your organization promote and support excellence and reject mediocrity?
12. Do your managers regularly express gratitude for their team members by validating and recognizing people for doing things right versus finding fault, blaming , criticizing, or ignoring them?
If you will openly, humbly, and honestly consider these questions, you will begin to understand how you can inspire a great organizational morale and become a better organization. Hopefully, you will also see where you thrive and be encouraged to continue and celebrate even more often.
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