Directorate of distance education master of business administration

Lesson 15 - Employees’ Morale And Motivation
Lesson Outline
 
ӹ Morale and Motivation: Conceptual foundations on Causal and 
contributing factors
 
ӹ Theories, Techniques, Significance and practices of Work 
Motivation
 
ӹ Evolution of Quality of Work Life (QWL) and factors that 
determine QWL
 
ӹ Meaning and types of Stress and management of Job Stress
Learning Objectives
 
ӹ To know the meaning, symptoms and classifications of stress 
and the stress management practices of organizations. 
 
ӹ To understand concepts such as burnout, Distress and Eustress 
associated with the study of stress. 
 
ӹ To learn about the multifarious factors that is likely to affect the 
Quality of Work Life (QWL) of employees of a firm.
 
ӹ  To trace out the significance of QWL movement in the context 
of Organization Development and effectiveness.
 
ӹ To appreciate the challenges faced by Human Resource Managers 
in creating a system of satisfying working conditions in an 
organization.    
Morale
 
Employees’ Morale in general refers to the atmosphere created by 
the attitudes of the members of an organization. According to the Oxford 
Dictionary, Morale is understood to be the mental and emotional attitude 
of a person or group with regard to aspects like confidence, optimism, 
enthusiasm and willingness. It depicts the degree of contentment with 
one’s lot or situation. Morale can be drastically improved through morale-
boosters like an event, occurrence, or saying which has the potential 
to change the attitudes of employees. The subject of morale has been 

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gaining the attention of industrial and organizational psychologists and 
management researchers for more than half a century, since the 1950s. 
Morale and productivity are said to be positively correlated, 
especially combined with group cohesiveness, though the increase 
in productivity is not always proportionate to the extent of morale 
improvement. Morale could be built in many ways. A free, frank and 
fair approach to managing by employers pave way for good morale and 
organizational health. Employees watch closely to see whether profits 
are being pumped back into the organization as facilities, whether old 
equipments are being replaced with new ones, whether new jobs are 
getting added. All of these things are tangible and highly visible signs of 
a progressive company and hence they build and improve morale. 
Signs of poor morale include sluggishness or tardiness, high 
levels of employee turnover, constantly complaining about trivial issues, 
arriving late and leaving early, or taking off without any satisfactory 
explanation, dragging out tea-breaks and mealtimes to get the maximum 
amount of time away from work, blaming colleagues, non-observance 
of instructions, being reluctant or un-cooperative when extra effort 
is needed, not measuring up to standards and neglecting to follow 
instructions. 
Results of low morale among employees would include harping 
back to the past and mulling over failures, developing self-defeating 
attitudes, ignoring organizational communications, grudgingly accepting 
the situation, complaining constantly without being prepared to do 
anything about it, abdicating personal responsibility for performance-
inadequacies of the organization and indicating that there could be no 
expectation of high standards within the organization.