Compassion and empathy are key to any healthy workplace environment. Keeping morale high is essential to keeping productive employees happy and committed to their jobs. However, keeping employees happy and productive might not always be as easy as it sounds.
Employers must strike a healthy balance between supporting employees and maintaining a professional environment. It’s not always easy, but it’s necessary.
If you’ve ever worked in a manufacturing environment, you know that the fast pace of the industry and the constant pressure to meet production quotas can have a negative effect on employee morale. Often times, employees will have to put up with a lot of bad habits from coworkers, such as stepping on the pedals of the assembly line and constantly humming to keep up with the rhythm.
So what’s the best way to keep employees from being distracted by the negatives of the company culture?
Let’s take a look at a funny story about Mr. Morale, and how he helped the big, bad steppers.
Mr. Morale’s Big, Bad Surprise
One day, while Mr. Morale was walking around the factory, he noticed that nobody was working.
Mr. Morale decided to investigate and found that everyone was standing around and doing nothing.
“What seems to be the problem?” asked Mr. Morale.
Nobody answered him but instead continued standing around idly like lost sheep.
“Please, tell me what’s going on!” insisted Mr. Morale.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a stepper entered the room dressed in a full suit and tie—and it wasn’t just any regular guy either; it was a big guy with muscles bulging everywhere from his arms to his neck and down to his waistline.
A group of workers gasped as they all looked up at this man with wide eyes who had come into their work area brandishing a wrench in hand.
The big guy then started humming some kind of song, but you could barely hear it over his deep voice—it sounded almost like…music!
The Big, Bad Step
One day, the big, bad steppers decided to take the step back. It was a nice day outside and they wanted to enjoy it before starting their shift. So, the next morning, when the big, bad steppers got to work, they saw something that made them change their minds about stepping on the pedals during their shift. The big bad steppers had left a note taped to the front of one of the production machines:
We will not be stepping on this machine today as we want to gain some extra happiness
The power of this note was enough to change how everyone felt about stepping on that pedal. That same week, when they came into work after enjoying a few days off and found that nobody had stepped on that machine all week, morale at work skyrocketed.
So what does this story teach us?
As employers have a responsibility in keeping morale high at work and giving employees breaks from routine tasks and meetings sometimes helps with productivity and morale. But more importantly, it teaches employers how important little notes can be in changing workplace culture and keeping employees happy with their jobs.
Mr. Morale Takes Matters Into His Own Hands
Mr. Morale is a big, bad step-stopper and a hard worker who loves his job. He has been working in the manufacturing industry for 10 years and has seen many things that make him feel unappreciated at work. That’s why he decided to take matters into his own hands and create something he could use every day that helps keep him productive and happy.
Mr. Morale took it upon himself to learn how to sew and started making some of his own clothes to cover up the huge gaps in the manufacturing industry’s dress code.
Now, Mr. Morale wears a Mr. Morale shirt on the daily to keep him feeling professional during work hours and keeps morale high for other employees too!
This story highlights some good ways employers can help maintain professional workplace environments where employees are more comfortable than ever before!
The Aftermath
One day, the big, bad steppers and Mr. Morale were working on the assembly line when all of a sudden, they both fell over. Mr. Morale was able to catch himself before he hit the ground, but the steppers weren’t so lucky. They landed in front of their supervisor, who looked like he was about to cry.
The supervisor immediately came over and asked what happened to them.
Mr. Morale explained that he had accidentally pulled out the plug on his power cord and been knocked over by a stepper as well. The supervisor told them that if this happened again, they would be fired!
A few days later, soon after their conversation with the supervisor, both Mr. Morale and the steppers were working on another assembly line when they both fell again – this time onto each other!
The supervisor came over again and not only asked what happened but also reprimanded them for not taking more care with their work area. He then said that if this happened one more time, they would be terminated!
A few days later…BANG! Mr. Morale and the steppers fell once again – this time onto each other AGAIN!
This time though, one of them had enough strength left to crawl under his coworker’s legs without getting caught in between steps!
The Moral of the Story
Mr. Morale was a little, old man who lived in the factory on top of the warehouse. Every morning at six o’clock, Mr. Morale would make his way down to the plant floor and start spreading good vibes all over the work space with a big smile on his face. He had a knack for finding the positive in anything, even when everything around him seemed to be going wrong. He’d always spread some cheer and good vibes as he walked through the manufacturing line, checking up on employees and making sure they were doing their jobs correctly while humming away to himself.
As workers went about their day, Mr. Morale would walk from one end of the conveyor belt to another, chatting with them one-on-one about how things were going and what needed to be done next for production. He wasn’t afraid to speak up if he noticed something that needed to change or if something was not working properly.
One day, there was an accident at work where a machine got stuck between two pieces of metal in the factory line and wouldn’t reset properly–making it impossible for production workers to continue their work as usual until it was fixed by maintenance staff later that night. After hearing of this incident, Mr. Morale decided that he would take care of it himself–just like he always did–by tinkering with one end of the broken machine himself during lunchtime so production could resume once shift change
##pping
Mr. Morale
As a supervisor for a manufacturing environment, it’s part of my job to keep morale high. When I first started in the position, I made a lot of changes. I implemented an employee suggestion box and encouraged employees to write in ideas for things they wanted to see happen at work.
I also developed a fun trivia game amongst my employees which allowed them to win small prizes that paid off over time. And last but not least, I created a fun little sticker system for my employees that rewarded behaviors like smiling or being nice to each other with extra points on their sticker charts.
So far, these changes have really helped! My staff is happier and more productive now than ever and the quality of the production has increased tremendously.
As you can see, Mr. Morale was able to change the company culture into one where everyone was happy and more productive than ever before.
Conclusion
In this story, Mr. Morale does not have a job, he has been fired. His boss tells him his pay for the day will be $0. This is a sad day for Mr. Morale and his family. When his wife asks him what to do with the kids, he tells her, “I don’t know, but we need to get out of here.” So the family heads to the soccer field. As they are walking, there is a loud step on the ground and everyone jumps. Mr. Morale’s wife starts laughing and says, “It’s just a Big, Bad Stepper!” and they continue on their way.