Here is a term paper on ‘Morale’ for class 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short term papers on ‘Morale’ especially written for school and college students.
Term Paper on Morale
Term Paper Contents:
- Term Paper on the Definition of Morale
- Term Paper on the Measurement of Employee Morale
- Term Paper on Developing High Morale
- Term Paper on Morale and Productivity
- Term Paper on the Importance of Morale
Term Paper # 1. Definition of Morale:
A good management is always interested in maintaining a good work force which is loyal to the organisation and its objectives. Enlisting loyalty and developing sincerity can be achieved only when the employees are satisfied with and inspired by the organisation’s fair treatment of employees.
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Therefore it is the duty of the management to create enthusiasm among employees regarding the work entrusted to it. Such zeal or enthusiasm is usually referred to as morale. It is a subjective feeling of employees. Management should understand this feeling and should try to remove the cause of dissatisfaction through policies and practices. It is a continuous process.
Morale is the degree of enthusiasm and willingness with which the members of the group pull together to achieve group goals. It represents a composite of feelings, attitudes and sentiments that contribute to general feelings of satisfaction. It is a state of mind and spirit affecting willingness to work which, in turn, affects organisational and individual objectives. It refers to the spirit of the organisation.
It represents the attitudes of individuals and groups in organisations towards their work environment and towards voluntary co-operation to the full extent of their capabilities for the fulfilment of organisational goals. Thus, morale is an indicator of attitudes of employees towards their jobs, superiors and environment. It is a by-product of motivation and group relationship in the organisation.
It is a mental process which once started permeates in the entire group creating a mood which results in the formation of a common attitude.
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Edwin B. Flippo:
“Morale is a mental condition of attitude of individuals and groups, which determine their willingness to co-operate.”
William Spriegal has defined morale as the cooperative attitude or mental health of a number of people who are related to each other on some basis.
Alexander Leighton:
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“Morale is the capacity of a group of people to pull together persistently and consistently in pursuit of a common goal.”
The term morale is defined differently by different persons and in different disciplines. But all these definitions revolve round the attitude of employees towards the group, group members, work and their attitudes towards group goals and their achievement.
These definitions facilitate us to deduce some of the important features of morale. They are:
(a) Morale is related to state of mental health which is closely associated with loyalty, egoism, enthusiasm.
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(b) It is an identification of group interest and that of the interest of the enterprise fellow workers and requirements of the job.
(c) Morale is a subjective feeling of employees. The morale of a group is high when the group shows an attitude of satisfaction.
(d) Morale affects human behaviour, performance and discipline. It cannot be measured directly but it is reflected in productivity, employee discipline, absenteeism, labour turnover etc.
(e) Morale is multi-dimensional in nature in the sense that it is a complex mixture of several elements. It recognises the influence of job situation on attitudes of individuals and also includes the role of human needs as motivational forces. Morale is mostly regarded as a long-term phenomenon. Raising morale to a high level and maintaining it is a long-run and continuous process which cannot be achieved through short-term measures.
Term Paper # 2. Measurement of Employee Morale:
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It is a psychological feeling which is represented by the attitude and behaviour of men at work. Direct measurement of morale is not possible. It can be measured indirectly by observing the extent to which the organisation is achieving the results in terms of productivity, profits, goal achievement, absenteeism, labour, turnover, quality of the product etc.
The methods used for measuring morale are:
(a) Observation Method
(b) Interview Method
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(c) Questionnaire Method
(d) Projective Techniques
(e) Company Records and Reports.
(a) Observation Method:
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The evaluator observes the employees on work and records their behaviour, attitude, feelings and sentiments which have developed in them. The changes in the attitude and behaviour of employees are the indicators of high or low morale.
(b) Interview Method:
An interview speaks directly to employees and asks them questions. Interviews are of two types.
They are:
(i) Guided interviews
(ii) Unguided interviews.
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In guided interviews mainly pre-determined questions in consultation with the management are asked to employees.
In unguided interview the participants are encouraged to talk freely about what he thinks about the organisation and its people. There are no specific or formal questions. The interviewer listens to encourage the employees to talk freely with an assurance that talks will remain secret and confidential.
(c) Attitude Surveys or Questionnaire Method:
In this method detailed questionnaires are prepared by the organisation in consultation with the psychologists and distributed among the workers to be returned duly filled in by them. The design of the questionnaire is normally in the form of yes/no, true/ false check lists and given some space for writing comments on certain questions. The surveys then analyses these questionnaires and measures the attitude of the workers. This is used for measuring the morale of the work force.
(d) Projective Techniques:
In this method a series of devices involving the use of written as well as verbal materials in the measurement of attitudes of employees. The devices may be sentence competition, short story competition.
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(e) Company Records and Reports:
The personnel department collects and keeps information regarding the job and the person from time to time. The investigator analyses the rewards and brings out the variations in output, rates of absenteeism, labour turnover, accidents, grievances and complaints and their severity. By analysing the records he checks the extent to which the organisation is achieving results.
The methods discussed above tell about employee morale present only the tendencies or the attitude of the employees’ morale. The statistical measurement of morale is not possible because it relates to the inner feelings of human beings.
Term Paper # 3. Developing High Morale:
Morale is mental phenomenon. Morale is not a tangible thing, so it is difficult to measure the degree of morale. Morale building is a perpetual process which cannot be stopped for a moment. It may not be maintained at a high level for ever. It is a dynamic process it keeps on fluctuating.
Morale building may be attempted either on group basis or individual basis. It is preferable to develop group morale by focussing on group dynamics. This will facilitate the achievement of individual morale.
To develop high morale among employees the following steps may be taken:
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(i) Establish Two Way Communication:
This exercises a profound influence on morale. The downward communication informs about the organisation policies and programmes to the employees. They can approach the higher ups for understanding and clarification freely.
(ii) Incentive System:
Every organisation is to have a proper incentive system to ensure monetary and non-monetary rewards to the employees to motivate them.
(iii) Welfare Measures:
The employees are to be provided with welfare measures like canteens, credit facilities, sports clubs, education facilities for children.
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(iv) Social Activities:
Management should encourage social group activities with the object of developing group cohesiveness and building up high morale.
(v) Training:
The workers are to be exposed to proper training to achieve efficiency in their performance. This will facilitate employees to get psychological satisfaction.
(vi) Worker’s Participation in Management:
The management is to allow the workers to participate in management in introducing changes affecting employees they are to be consulted by taking them to confidence. Employees are to be encouraged to come forward with their suggestions and grievances to the top management.
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Further to build up morale the following steps may be taken:
(a) Confidence of individual members of the group in the objectives of the group.
(b) Confidence in leadership and his capabilities.
(c) Better working conditions and allied factors in the form of fair wage, provision of job security and opportunities to rise in the position, work environment.
Term Paper # 4. Morale and Productivity:
Morale is assumed to be associated with higher performance, greater satisfaction and increased productivity. Both morale and productivity go together. There is a direct correlation between morale and productivity. It is still believed that high morale results in high productivity. But this is not true in reality.
High morale may well be associated with low productivity or low morale may result in higher productivity. This type of paradoxical situation exists due to various factors influencing productivity. They are like technology, style of supervision, training of employees.
The researchers have identified four possible combinations of morale and productivity:
(a) High morale and high productivity
(b) High morale and low productivity
(c) Low morale and high productivity
(d) Low morale and low productivity.
In the first case it is possible when workers are well trained and organisation uses latest technology. This is the idle state of affairs and leads to the optimum utilisation of human resources.
The possibility of high morale and low productivity results due to the presence of the following:
Poorly motivated employees’ faulty supervision. Materials are not confirming to standards outdated technology, poorly trained employees, strict supervision, imposition of penalties, Better technology and trained workers.
The relationship between morale and productivity cannot be predicted properly. It may differ from organisation to organisation and period to period. High productivity and high morale takes place when group of workers perceive high productivity as a path of group goal fulfillment.
But when the group sets the norm of production for its members their productivity will not increase even though morale is increased. High morale and low productivity occurs when workers derive satisfaction through fulfillment of social needs for belonging and affiliation by confirming to group norms.
Term Paper # 5. Importance of Morale:
Morale is an important part of organisational climate. It is a vital ingredient of organisational success because it reflects the attitudes and sentiments of employees towards the organisation, its objectives and policies. These attitudes and sentiments largely affect productivity and satisfaction of individuals.
It is the total satisfaction a person derives from his job, his workgroup, his boss, his organisation and his environment. Management is generally interested in high production and higher productivity of workers to achieve the desired results. Further they must be interested in knowing the feedback of the workers regarding the practices and policies.
Employees with high morale like their jobs and co-operate fully with the management in achieving organisational objectives. It results from Job satisfaction and generates job enthusiasm. High morale is a manifestation of employees’ strength, dependability, pride, confidence and devotion.
Morale of employees must be kept high to reap the following benefits:
(i) Develops willful co-operation towards organisational objectives.
(ii) Loyalty to the organisation and leadership.
(iii) Good discipline.
(iv) High degree of interest in the job and the organisation.
(v) Pride in the organisation.
(vi) Reduces rates of absenteeism and labour turnover.
Low morale indicates the presence of mental unrest. The mental unrest not only hampers production but also leads to ill health of the employees. Low morale exists when doubt and suspicion are common and when individuals are depressed and discouraged.
The adverse consequences of low morale are:
(i) High rates of absenteeism and labour turnover.
(ii) Excessive complaints and grievances.
(iii) Frustration among the workers.
(iv) Friction among the workers.
(v) Antagonism towards leadership of the organisation.
(vi) Lack of discipline.
Therefore, the problem of employee morale is always the top priority of management. So management is to take efforts consistently and persistently for stimulating a feeling of togetherness, a sense of identification with the elements of one’s job, working conditions, fellow workers, supervisors.
So it is the responsibility of the management to maintain a high morale. The place of morale is of no less importance to an industrial undertaking. The success or failure of an industrial unit very much depends on the morale of its employees.
In recent times, the psychological researches have increased the importance of morale in industrial units. They have observed remarkable progress in industrial output by improving morale.
The government is also taking interest in this direction and has introduced several labour welfare and social security measures to improve the morale of industrial workers. The management has also recognised the importance of high morale and realised that low morale have long range effects which are even more damaging to the organisation.