How to Maintain Employee Morale During Financial Hardship

Let’s face it - current headlines spell a recipe for employee stress. Raging inflation, recession worries, international strife, social justice issues, and overall uncertainty pile onto already full work plates. As business leaders, keeping teams motivated despite swirling fears matters more than ever. Here are 5 strategies I lean into to curb burnout and boost morale during turbulent times: 1. Overcommunicate Context and Vision: Proactively address concerns through radical transparency and big picture framing. Our SOP is to hold quarterly all hands and monthly meetings grouped by level cohort and ramp up fireside chats and written memos when there are big changes happening. 2. Enable Flexibility and Choice: Where Possible Empower work-life balance and self-care priorities based on individuals’ needs. This includes our remote work policy and implementing employee engagement tools like Lattice to track feedback loops. 3. Spotlight Impact Through Community Stories: Connect employees to end customers and purpose beyond daily tasks. We leveled up on this over the past 2 years. We provide paid volunteer days to our employees and our People Operations team actively connects our employees with opportunities in their region or remotely to get involved monthly. Recently we added highlighting the social impact by our employees into our internal communications plan. 4. Incentivize Cross-Collaboration: Reduce silos by rewarding team-wide contributions outside core roles. We’ve increased cross team retreats and trainings to spark fresh connections as our employee base grows. 5. Celebrate the Humanity: Profile your employee’s talents beyond work through content spotlight segments. We can’t control the market we operate in, but as leaders we can make an impact on how we foster better collaboration to tackle the headwinds. Keeping spirits and productivity intact requires acknowledging modern anxieties directly while sustaining focus on goals ahead. Reminding your teams why the work matters and that they are valued beyond output unlocks loyalty despite swirling worries. What tactics succeeded at boosting team morale and preventing burnout spikes within your company amidst current volatility?

Your companies success will be defined by how good you are at pulling out of stagnation or a “rut” In good times, praise from leadership is flowing, PR comes easy, big deals walk through the front door, raises and bonuses are generous. Everyone is winning and it feels good. But in tough times, pressure from the top is immense. Layoffs shake the foundations. Employees are working hard and yet again and again experiments fail. Morale starts to falter. Company politics become ugly. Some good employees disconnect and work at 20% efficiency. Some great employees walk away. Everyone feels like they are operating under fear. Is the great experiment falling apart? But at some point you have to take hold of the narrative. You have to change the tune and right the course. Here is how I have seen it done well... 1) Celebrate small wins. You might not be hitting targets yet, but are you beating last month? Are you widening the pipeline? Did you get a great feature out the door? Weekly meetings that are constant doom and gloom will sap a team’s energy and drive. You can not let a "culture of failure" take hold. 2) Leaders own mistakes. This one is critical. Accountability is vital to a company pulling out of stagnation. You need folks to not be pointing fingers and perpetuating a narrative of external blame. But that has to start at the very top. The leaders in your organization need to let the company know where they have fallen short and the changes they are making to fix it. When done authentically, that will galvanize the rest of the organization to embrace the same mentality. 3) Celebrate customers. I find few things energize folks like happy customer testimonials. Get them shared on social media, share internally on slack. Make sure your team is seeing these. The work you do at this company matters, it changes lives. You are a part of something bigger, and it’s all possible because of these customers. 4) Celebrate people. Who is going above and beyond to deliver for customers? Leadership recognition is more important than ever when folks are feeling unsteady in hard times. Recognition from who an employee views controls their salary is the recognition that is most appreciated. Be generous, and think experiences. I still remember three years ago, after a tough week, when my CEO sent me a giftcard to go eat at a really nice restaurant I would normally never splurge on. It was an experience for my wife and I and engendered a ton of good will.

🌟 Leading with Positivity During Challenging Times 🌟 As leaders, the true test of our ability often comes not during periods of stability, but in times of challenges and uncertainty. It’s during these times that our teams look to us not just for direction, but for reassurance and motivation. Here are a few strategies I’ve found effective for keeping teams engaged and positive, no matter the hurdles: 1. Transparent Communication - Be open about the challenges ahead but also share the strategies in place to overcome them. Knowing the plan helps alleviate anxiety and builds trust. 2. Empower Your Team - Give individuals the power to make decisions within their roles. This enhances their sense of control and investment in the outcome. 3. Recognize Efforts - Acknowledge the hard work everyone is putting in. Recognition goes a long way in boosting morale and can be a huge motivator during tough times. 4. Foster a Supportive Culture - Encourage team members to support each other, and lead by example. A supportive environment can make a big difference when facing collective challenges. 5. Encourage Self-Care - Remind your team that their well-being is a priority. Encourage taking breaks and disconnecting to recharge, which can lead to more productivity and better mental health. Navigating tough times requires a blend of empathy, clarity, and resilience. As we steer our teams through these waters, let’s lead not just with the mind, but with the heart. What strategies have you found effective in leading your team through challenging periods? Let’s share and learn from each other. #Leadership #Teamwork #Resilience Photo bellow I took it with my drone above the trees of el Yunque in Puerto Rico

"Your paycheck today will clear the bank. If you come in on Monday, and I hope you will, I cannot guarantee you will be paid. Our VCs say they will give us a bridge loan, but it's not in the bank yet." I gave this message to groups of startup employees three times in my career. Only a single employee, our receptionist, resigned. She said, "I love you guys, but I can make the same somewhere else with a lot less stress." Smart woman. Both startups where I said this were out of money in the hard times after the 9/11 attacks tipped the economy into recession. Venture capitalists (VCs) went into the mode they are today, not funding new companies and instead putting their money only into drip-feeding their existing companies. VCs do not have to work within the companies they fund, so they forget the human impact of being slow to provide the money. We were legally required to tell the employees that we could not pay them. Why did everyone stay and keep working? 1) Transparency. We were clear about both not having money and expecting to get it. 2) All in it together. There was no money to pay anyone, me included. So we all took the risk together. 3) Short term trust. The next paycheck was due in two weeks, so we were asking people to trust us for a brief period. They were risking two weeks of pay, which limited the downside. In each case the money did come through and the companies continued, the one of them went through this ugly cycle twice. Ultimately each company survived, though neither ever really thrived. Today, many leaders find themselves in similar tough times. Layoffs, promotion freezes, hiring freezes, project cancellations, etc. If you are a leader in such circumstances: 1) Prepare your team ahead of time. Discuss openly with people that times are tough and that the future is uncertain, but that you are doing all you can to get them through it successfully. 2) Be transparent. Both share all you can and push to be in the know so that your team is not surprised. Trust is broken when people feel misled, and at that point they start focusing on protecting themselves (as they should), not working with you to get through the crisis. 3) Focus on critical actions that can get your team through the bad times. Grand visions may have to wait. Find any way to be "too critical to lay off today." If you are an employee: 1) Build your financial cushion any way you can. 2) Update your resume and LinkedIn; touch network contacts socially to remind them you exist. 3) Get on the most critical work to the company you can. Literally worm your way onto it, by doing extra credit side work if necessary. 4) Be understanding that your direct manager may be in the dark. In big companies, first level (and even 2nd and 3rd) are not told anything about big decisions. Want to hear more? On Friday I am moderating a free panel discussion on Leading In Tough Times. Join us: https://buff.ly/4a13H0J