After reading this article you will learn about the meaning and kinds of morale.
Meaning of Morale:
Morale is the mental attitude or bearing of a person or a group regarding his confidence, discipline and attitude towards work, peer group, superiors and subordinates, for accomplishment of individual and organisational goals. It represents satisfaction that a person derives from his work and work environment.
When a person joins the organisation, he wants his individual needs to be satisfied through satisfaction of organisational goals.
Various motivational theories emphasise on different motivators to understand and satisfy the human needs. When their individual needs are satisfied, they get job satisfaction and work with greater zeal and enthusiasm to perform the organisational activities.
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High morale reflects enthusiasm and satisfaction. Morale is a state of mind, a synthesis of attitudes, behaviour and sentiments towards various organisational groups. It promotes productivity and profits.
Kinds of Morale:
1. High Morale:
Morale is the degree of enthusiasm and spirit with which people work as a group or team to perform the organisational activities. It may be high or low. High morale reflects satisfaction towards the work, financial and non-financial incentives associated with the job (work), willingness to cooperate with others and collective group effort or high performance for attainment of group goals.
Merits of high morale:
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High morale has the following merits:
1. Workers with high morale cooperate with the peer groups and superiors for attainment of organisational goals.
2. High cooperation leads to high enthusiasm and willingness with which people perform the work. This promotes job performance and job satisfaction.
3. It increases loyalty towards management and creates strong bond between managers and workers.
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4. It increases conformity to organisational rules, policies and procedures and commitment towards organisational goals.
5. It satisfies both organisational and individual goals.
2. Low Morale:
Low morale reflects dissatisfaction with the work and work environment, lack of cooperation and willingness to perform the organisational activities. It increases labour absenteeism and turnover and lowers their performance level. Low morale reflects mental state of unrest and tension.
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Low morale results in:
1. Low job performance.
2. Low level of job satisfaction.
3. Lack of commitment towards organisational goals.
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4. Indifference towards policies and procedures.
5. High rate of labour absenteeism and turnover.