The Effects of Low Morale
Organizations and companies rely a great deal on employee morale. The latter is defined as the spirits of a person or group, exhibited by confidence, cheerfulness, discipline and willingness to perform assigned tasks, according to the Roberts Wesleyan College website.
Morale is a product of various different factors, but it's in a great deal influenced by how the management treats their employees, if employees feel they are being listened to, how good the work conditions are and if -there is a chance of result based promotion. It is important for the company to keep the morale levels up, as failure to do so results in numerous negative effects.
Low employee morale has a huge impact on productivity. Employees who are dissatisfied with their work conditions, workplace or employers slowly but surely lose interest in their job. At first they might only be sloppy, but if their morale is low for a very long time, their output will progressively plummet. Eventually, employees with low morale will only do the minimum amount of work that they can get away with.
Employees with extremely low morale find it difficult to gather motivation to show up for work.
People who don't feel passionate about their job are not interested in it and don't want to go to work. This is why such people try to escape the job at all times and for this reason companies in which people have very low moral levels have a greater deal of absenteeism, sick leaves and general turn in human resources.
People who are not satisfied at their workspace don't care much for their co-workers. Because they feel agitated and trapped, they have no desire to make friends at work because people from work remind them of work. Sometimes such people pick fights and usually complain a lot about every little job-related issue. Employees with low moral make the workspace a drag for everybody around them.
Low morale affects how people feel at work, how the workspace looks and how the job gets done, potentially costing the company their profit. Poorly performed tasks might result in the company losing business, and sick leaves and absenteeism cost the employers a lot of money. Additionally, if the turnover of staff is huge, replacing them with new employees is a big expense for the company.