Office morale deserves priority status

By Nancy Byerly Jones Dolan Media Newswires BOSTON, MA--If you were able to get a true reading of office morale for the past six months in your office, what would the data show? Would it indicate consistently high morale? Alarming low morale? Or something in between? Unfortunately, keeping a close watch on firm-wide morale is often overlooked by management and leadership. Yet if morale is chronically low, it dilutes investments of money and time made into other efforts to maintain a highly respected, well equipped, state-of-the-art and profitable law office. Just as we must keep our equipment properly serviced, wise attorneys must always be in tune with workplace morale. We must also be willing to act quickly when adjustments are needed. Occasional dips in morale are normal, such as when a respected co-worker falls ill, a big case is lost or a malpractice claim is hurled our way. Consistent morale deficiencies, however, will absolutely decrease productivity, increase our malpractice risks, decrease firm loyalty, increase stress and incur a variety of other ''costs.'' Many things can cause morale to spiral downward. Here are 10 common morale busters: 1) Rules applied sporadically and unfairly among employees (e.g. starting time, length of lunch breaks, number of vacation days). 2) An ongoing frantic pace caused by attorneys' poor planning and organizational skills. Leadership should step in sooner rather than later to coach, train and/or mentor these types of attorneys ... of which our profession has a costly excess! 3) Expectations of a 60+ hour week, with no understanding of the value of a balanced and healthy life style. Corollaries to this include assuming that staff members have no plans after normal working hours and that they will always work overtime on short notice or allowing guilt trips over personal, sick or vacation time taken. 4) Allowing tensions or conflicts between partners or other employees to go unresolved for an unreasonable length of time. If the parties refuse to resolve their differences in a timely and responsible manner, firm leadership should mandate a resolution via the use of a firm ombudsman, mediator or the like. Consider giving every employee access to resources such as Stewart Levine's 2nd Edition of Getting To Resolution, which is packed with simple and wise conflict resolution tips. 5) Little or no timely, constructive feedback. 6) Acceptance by leadership of loud, abrasive, demeaning and bullying behaviors. Related to this is a lack of common courtesy towards employees, and the failure to and end to chronically negatives attitude through mentoring, discipline or termination if all else fails 7) Failing to provide deserved bonuses, from cash to creative ''Job Well Done'' gifts (e.g. childcare fees paid for a week, gift certificates for dinner, ''free'' personal days off, firm-wide recognition for achievements, etc.). Related morale busters include failing to make the time for non-work related group activities - from sporting events and other get-togethers to group volunteer projects - and failing to follow through on promised (and needed) changes. 8) Failing to hold regular staff meetings. If such meetings are held, failing to give the attendees your full, undivided attention or allowing them to turn into non-productive gripe sessions. 9) Romantic relationships between supervisors and subordinates, which create the presumption of - if not the reality of - an unfair advantage for the subordinate. 10) Failing to provide needed skills and software training and/or to send employees to appropriate work-related seminars or workshops, which can offer valuable networking opportunities. Conversely, you can boost morale by being vigilant about the hazards listed above, and if they do show up, acting quickly and decisively to rid your office of these progress, morale and productivity thieves. Positive office morale can super-charge a firm in many ways, including increasing the odds of meeting critical goals and enhancing client service. Monitoring the status of workplace morale is a wise priority for all of us. Morale busters can be crippling to a firm's efforts. But the faithful and sincere implementation of morale boosters can help ensure success stories that last. Published: Thu, Jan 7, 2010

––––––––––––––––––––
 Subscribe to the Legal News!
 https://test.legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available