Chuck Terry’s Blog

Previous blogs such as “Low Morale in the Workplace- Causes and Cures” ,  “Building Company Morale- Part One: Eagles and Ducks”, and “Preventing Lower Morale Through Higher Leadership” continue to get dozens of hits a day from people searching for answers about the runaway problem that is poor morale at work. While I have no intention of rehashing the points from previous blogs on this subject, recently several readers have inquired about how the problem of poor morale might be unique for small businesses.

 The SBA identifies a small business as one that employs 500 or fewer employees. That seems a little broad in scope since “small business” by that definition represents 99.7 percent of all employers in the U.S. For the purpose of the readers that were inquiring on this subject, I will narrow the definition for this article to include firms with 20 or fewer employees. The most recent U.S. Census data (remember, this year’s census is not completed yet) reflects that firms with less than 20 employees account for slightly more than 18% of employment in the United States. With almost a fifth of working folks in the U.S. represented by that definition it certainly seems like time well spent to explore how low morale impacts that cross section of business size.

One of the biggest and most obvious differences in working in what is sometimes categorized as a “micro business” is the personal nature of the business itself. Businesses of this size are typically still run by the founder, who more than likely has a high level of involvement, and probably started the business because he/she wanted “to be their own boss.” Quite often that vision didn’t include being OTHER people’s bosses and the management skills of the founder might be on the weak side as a result. The number one reason for poor morale as reported in the blog “Low Morale in the Workplace- Causes and Cures” was poor leadership, coming in at almost 73% as identified by the consulting firm of Challenger, Gray, and Christmas. In a small business this can be even more magnified because there is often no way around the situation of poor leadership when the leader is usually the founder/ owner. All the tactics referenced in the blog above are still relevant but often times it is up to the employees themselves to find a way to turn around their morale. The good news is that often the owner of a small business is more open to an “intervention” than a mid to upper level manager in a larger company. Try sitting down with the owner and confronting him/her as a group on the aspects of their leadership styles that are negatively impacting company morale. A critical key to employing this tactic is to focus on the behavior and not the person. If the intervention comes off as a personal attack it is probably time to move to Plan B, update your resume.

In the research I have done on the company morale subject I didn’t find any data to suggest that the reasons for low morale are any different in a small company than in a larger business, they are just experienced differently. After poor leadership, heavy workload and work related stress still check in at number two and three respectively as the drivers of poor morale in small businesses.

 In a company of 20 or less employees it is common for workloads to not only get very heavy but to spike up and down. It is also not uncommon for certain employees to be impacted more than others just by the nature of how many “hats” each person may be wearing. Developing the ability to ask for help can often solve these types of morale issues. When everyone is busy they often fail to notice that one of their co-workers is dangerously busy. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Work related stress can also be unique in how it is experienced in a “micro business”. Job security is a driver of stress these days in companies of any size, but can be particularly challenging in firms of 20 or less employees. In larger companies you are often shielded from the daily trials and tribulations of the business that might potentially impact job security but not so in a “micro business”. In a small business it can often feel like a stress ride at the theme park from Hell because everyone is more aware of what is happening in the business.  For this reason it is critical that the owner communicate constantly about what is happening to allay stress as much as possible. If the owner doesn’t clearly interpret what is happening in the business he/she will leave it to the employees to assign their own definitions which are invariably worse than the reality of any given situation.

Morale is critical to the survival of any business but even more so for a company with 20 or fewer employees. Considering that about half of all the jobs created over the next few years will be created by small businesses the importance of creating a workplace with high morale has never been more important.

Chuck Terry is the Executive Vice President and CSO of Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s blog – Executive Insights

Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide.