It is fair to say that no-one in the industry would question the need to improve morale and motivation. They are, however, often confused and require quite different approaches. We often hear things like ‘motivation is low' when what is meant is ‘morale is low'.

Morale is a ‘state of psychological well-being', how you feel, whereas motivation is ‘the activation of goal-oriented behaviour'. In plain terms, you can't simply be motivated, you have to be motivated to achieve something.
The Two Factor theory of motivation by US psychologist Frederick Herzberg explains the difference quite neatly by distinguishing between ‘hygiene factors' and ‘motivation factors'. Hygiene factors are things that are needed to avoid dissatisfaction, but don't actually motivate people and are the same factors that lead to low morale and include uncertainty, job security, management style, not feeling valued, perceived status and work culture.

All of these things have had an impact over the past two years and it is clear that, while things like uncertainty and lack of job security can get people down, addressing them is not going to motivate staff to high levels of performance.

Putting theory into practice
Practical steps to address these may seem obvious but again they are rarely implemented effectively.
Combating uncertainty with information is a start, but it has to go way beyond one consultation or even monthly briefing sessions. To avoid stoking the rumour mill you need to reinforce the company vision pretty much daily through informal conversation rather than briefings. It's the ‘this is where we are', ‘how we got here', ‘what we're doing about it' and ‘where we expect to be' that keeps everyone singing from the same hymn sheet.

You have to be realistic about job security. Your staff are not stupid and if you try to pretend that everything is fine when everyone can see that it's not, you destroy your credibility, leading to more uncertainty.

Managers need to be open, available and able to invest time in staff. Explain to staff where their value lies. In a process-oriented business it's very easy to focus on sales and manufacturing. However, every member of staff, no matter how lowly their perceived status has a valuable part to play in adding value to your business.

Redundancies can have a big impact on staff morale, but a few simple actions can mitigate the impact and help show the employer in a more positive light. Support for staff made redundant can range from providing access to a computer for job search and CV preparation to training, all at relatively low cost.

As I said much of this sounds obvious but it is so obvious and ordinary that it is often forgotten on a day-to-day basis because of the other pressures on our time.

Having addressed morale you can focus on motivating staff. Motivation factors include achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility, promotion and growth.

To motivate staff to higher levels of performance it is necessary to explain to staff what they need to achieve, give them the responsibility to do it and then recognise that achievement. This process starts at the top by identifying the organisation's objectives, translating that into objectives for each department and in turn for each individual.

Just asking shopfloor staff to improve cashflow is not enough. Managers need to explain to staff the need to, for example, monitor and keep stock levels of certain resources to a minimum, to keep the cost of orders down. This makes sense and is much more achievable. Of course, this is an over-simplified example, but the principle is undeniable.

Dani Novick is managing director of print recruitment specialist Mercury Search and Selection, www.mercurysearch.co.uk