We teamed up with the employee morale experts at Blueboard and OneWorkplace to cover the top 10 productive ways to boost employee morale during the Coronavirus pandemic.

1. Tips for Improving
Employee Morale
May 14, 2020

2. Welcome and intros
Amy
Amy Roy
(she/her)
Chief People Officer at
Namely
Shannon
Shannon Ferguson
(she/her)
Head of People at
Blueboard
Chris
Chris Good
(he/him)
People Leader and
Creative Director at One
Workplace
Morgan
Morgan Chaney
(she/her)
Sr. Director of Marketing &
Employer Branding Lead at
Blueboard

3. Agenda 1. Welcome and intros
1. Our new hierarchy of needs
1. 5 area of focus with tips and tactics
for rollout
1. Monitoring morale effectively
1. Live Q&A

4. Our new
Hierarchy of Needs

5. Our new hierarchy of needs

6. Level 1
Health & Wellness

7. Health & wellness
Physiological and psychological health is the foundation of any
person’s well-being. As employers, taking time to tend to this
shows that we truly care about and value employees. Employees
who feel supported and trust their leaders are more engaged and
motivated.
Why it’s critical for morale
1. Talk about health and mental health openly on your team and
actively provide resources for employees.
2. Expand wellness programs and make space for health and
wellbeing in the work day.
3. As you consider return to work, over-deliver on health safety
planning and offer flexibility to meet different needs.
Tips and inspiration

8. Health & wellness
How we’re bringing it to life:
At Blueboard:
1. Mental health resources and PTO for mental health
2. Fitness classes led by Blueboarders
3. Wellness focused conversations in All Hands and team meetings
At Namely:
1. Regular online yoga and meditation classes
2. Stress reduction, work from home, and parenting during a
pandemic trainings
At One Workplace:
1. Ergonomic work from home settings
2. Flexible scheduling

9. Level 2
Safety & Security

10. Safety & security
When our teams are struggling with fear and uncertainty their
psychological state suffers. People want to know that their
organizations are actively thinking about a clear path forward
that keeps them safe, productive, and connected. The need for
transparency is paramount.
Why it’s critical for morale
1. Establish a regular cadence of communications
2. Engage key stakeholders
3. Host workshops
4. Reduce infection transmission
Tips and inspiration

11. Safety & security
How we’re bringing it to life:
At Namely:
1. Using Slido to address employee questions as they
arise and addressing broadly in All Hands meetings
2. Weekly written updates shared on Namely newsfeed
3. Employee Assistance Program
At One Workplace:
1. Consistent and frequent messaging
2. Workplace sensors & reservation systems to guide
cleaning and provide confidence
At Blueboard:
1. Business data transparency
2. Ask Me Anything (AMA) with leadership each week

12. Level 3
Social Belongingness &
Connectedness

13. Belonging & connectedness
As humans, we crave propinquity - our natural tendency to
develop deep human relationships. We need to adapt how we
replicate physical proximity to each other, the frequency and
quality of our interactions, and how we celebrate both our affinities
and differences that exist.
Why it’s critical for morale
1. Make the most of virtual experiences
2. Bring the employee experience to them
3. Explore experiential rewards and recognition
4. Create affinity teams
5. Rethink your workplace
Tips and inspiration

14. Belonging & connectedness
How we’re bringing it to life:
At One Workplace:
1. Support collaboration, focus and rejuvenation in the workplace
2. Spotify DJ for a day
At Blueboard:
1. Replicating our cultural fabric at home - team gatherings,
learning together, employee-led activities
2. Public recognition and celebration via Slack, as well as with
surprises in the mail
At Namely:
1. #Sanity-check channel on Slack
2. Book club
3. Daily birthday and anniversary updates

15. Level 4
Confidence & Contribution

16. Confidence & contribution
As we build confidence in our health, safety and relationships, our
own individual contributions will begin to feel meaningful and
impactful again. Our collective self-esteem as organizations and as
a society will reinforce our behaviors and improve our work.
Why it’s critical for morale
1. Align with your purpose
2. Share your successes
3. Take personal responsibility
Tips and inspiration

17. Confidence & contribution
How we’re bringing it to life:
At One Workplace:
1. Aligning mission and values into pre-existing
initiatives
2. “Bravo” Awards
At Blueboard:
1. Rethinking OKRs - pod groups and special projects
2. Lift Up - send notes of appreciation
At Namely:
1. Living our “Give” value through helping our
communities
2. Peer-to-peer feedback and appreciations on
Namely’s social newsfeed

18. Level 5
Inspiration & Transformation

19. Inspiration & transformation
Our circumstances right now mean that many people are reflecting
deeply on their wants, needs, and goals. As we consider what self-
actualization may look like, we spot opportunities for positive
growth and change. It’s motivating to have a goal and to put work
into achieving it, and even better to share the inspiration and
transformation process with others.
Why it’s critical for morale
1. Create opportunities for new leaders to emerge by
launching new initiatives
2. Match collaborators and build space for mentoring
relationships to develop
3. Return to your values
4. Provide resources and model development/growth
Tips and inspiration

20. Inspiration & transformation
How we’re bringing it to life:
At Blueboard:
1. Mentoring program for developing leaders
2. Unlocking L&D budget, even while keeping costs controlled
3. Reinforcing our values through new business initiatives
At One Workplace:
1. Founder stories / fireside chat
2. Internal innovation challenges
At Namely:
1. Opening the circle for more thoughts on how we build our future
2. Reverse Mentor program

21. Monitoring morale effectively

22. Monitoring morale effectively
Each person comes to work with a different perspective. You
can’t assume you know them all or that what is important for
one group is (isn’t) important for all. Spending time checking
in at a micro and macro level is critical to make sure you are
focusing on the right things.
Why it’s critical
1. Create opportunities for employee feedback through a
variety of different methods.
2. Take a pulse during and after periods of change.
3. Prioritize what will make the impact to employee
productivity and/or retention
Tips and inspiration

23. Monitoring morale effectively
Macro-view monitoring:
1. COVID-19/Pulse engagement surveys
2. Wellbeing surveys
3. Willingness to recommend your company as an employer
Micro-view monitoring:
1. Empowering managers to run effective check-ins and 1:1s
2. Culture office hours
3. Shoulder taps
Where to focus your efforts:

24. Connect with Namely
Let’s connect
Namely is the leading HR platform for mid-
sized companies.
We’re helping companies like yours build a
better workplace with cloud-based software
that brings HCM, benefits, insights, payroll,
and time into a single-view platform.

25. Blueboard is a recognition platform
powered by hand-curated experiences.
We’re powering all of your celebration
moments, from anniversary awards to
referral incentives, spot recognition to
sales incentives and President’s Clubs.
Connect with Blueboard
Let’s connect

26. Q&A on Live Chat Blueboard.com/resources
Stay tuned for upcoming
webinars and get access to
recognition planning guides and
eBooks.
“Our solution for saving
President's Club”on Thurs.,
5/21
Library.namely.com/en/cor
onavirus-resources
Visit our coronavirus resource
center for more blog posts,
guides, and webinars and even
more tips for how to improve
employee morale.
Resources to
explore: