How Strong Is Your Spirit Bomb: 4 Ways Successful Leaders Give a Boost to Employee Morale

I don’t typically watch anime, a style of Japanese animation now enjoyed the world over. However, I do work with professionals who love the medium, most especially those from younger generations. When they talk, I listen, and I’ve overheard things about a number of interesting characters or plot points.

That said, the only thing that ever really stuck with me was the concept of a “spirit bomb.” Featured in the immensely popular Dragon Ball series of manga and anime, this “bomb” is formed from the energy and/or spirit of all living things in the vicinity. The more spirit that is nearby, the larger the bomb. The larger the bomb, the greater the explosion.

Such a concept always gets me thinking. If I could form a “spirit bomb” by pooling together my employees’ engagement and happiness, how big would it actually be? Would it be big enough to defeat whatever evil I’m facing, or would it barely go boom?

March is Employee Spirit Month, and it’s a time no leader can let slip by without taking serious notice. Only 23% of employees are engaged at work, and up to 15% of them are actively disengaged. This low engagement is even worse for younger generations, and it results in an estimated $8.9 trillion loss in global GDP every year. Low engagement means low morale, and employee morale is directly linked to commitment and achievement-striving.

This is why the best leaders never stop building up employee spirit, and it’s why their spirit bomb has so much bang. As a veteran consultant to some of the world’s leading executives, these are the four ways I’ve seen successful leaders consistently give big boosts to employee morale.

1. They make room for the diversity of their community. 
   Diversity is simply the state of things. If you’re an organization of almost any size, diversity of some degree is an inevitability. However, inclusion is an active process, and it’s a part of your policies and procedures that never stops evolving. Inclusion means emotional and physical space appropriate for everyone, and it is what successful leaders need to cultivate if they want to keep employee morale high and take advantage of the many benefits diversity can have on the bottom line.

   This can be a complex and delicate process, as illustrated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s own decision tree matrix for addressing race in the workplace. For some organizations, this means creating a separate in-house committee to evaluate and execute inclusionary practices from top to bottom. For others, this means contracting with third-party professionals who can get to know the company and create a series of sustainable supports for a more inclusive workplace.

   Fortunately, all that work pays off big time. Studies show that when employees feel confident everyone at the workplace will be safe and respected, they’re both happier and more productive. In these environments, team members are 9.8 times more likely to look forward to going to work, 6.3 times more likely to have pride in their work, and 5.4 times more likely to want to stay with their current company.

2. They acknowledge and celebrate employee success in detail.
   Workers simply aren’t celebrated very often. In fact, only 35% of workers are celebrated on a monthly basis. At the same time, every worker wants recognition, and over half of all workers are searching for more recognition than they currently receive. Beyond that, celebrations at work have been connected to a perceived increase in social support for every member of a working community.

   This is why the most successful leaders celebrate employee success visibly and in detail. The visible component serves to make celebration a part of your working culture at large. Promoting peer-to-peer celebrations can be especially powerful because employees are fairly split on who they want to send them praise and join them in celebration. Some want it from an executive, and others want it from their middle manager or direct co-worker.

   At the same time, the best leaders also celebrate in detail because they want to make the cause for celebration incredibly clear. Who was responsible for this success? How was it achieved? Truly intentional celebrations answer all these questions.

3. They find little ways to have fun every single day.
   Low engagement and employee burnout can cripple morale. Meanwhile, some experts say boredom is the most dangerous destroyer inside the workplace, and the only antidote for boredom is fun. It should come as no surprise then that a staggering 81% of employees who work at one of Fortune’s “100 Best Places to Work” describe their work as “fun.” A culture of fun means a more engaged workplace, and a more engaged workplace means up to 23% greater profitability across the board.

   Still, it’s important to remember that a culture of fun is not a moment of fun. This isn’t about designating a Hawaiian Shirt Day once a month and calling it quits — though that could certainly be fun for the right workplace. This is about going on a quest for employee happiness, which is perfectly embodied in Zappos’ dedication to keeping morale at their company sky high. Zappos’ “culture of fun” is now world famous for facilitating social opportunities within the workplace and finding fun ways to build trust between managers and team members.

4. They start meaningful and uplifting traditions within the workplace.
   Of course, workplace traditions can go even further than simply cultivating more fun. With the right forethought and enough commitment from the community, workplace traditions can transform the way your business innovates or how your employees engage with one another on a daily basis.

   For example, Krispy Kreme’s “KK Mixer,” an in-house social platform, was created in direct response to the need for more feedback and engagement from employees. The platform became the central hub for showcasing employee discounts, offering rewards, and allowing peer-to-peer recognition. As a result, Krispy Kreme has created a self-sustaining culture of positive reinforcement with over 7,000 peer-to-peer ecards sent within the first year.

   Similarly, Google’s “20% Time Rule” has taken the tech world by storm, and Atlassian’s “ShipIt Days” have inspired a number of other organizations to follow suit in how they allow for innovation. Not every tradition needs to be massive or industry-defining. It simply needs to find a recurring way to boost employee morale and create a greater sense of community at the workplace.

A Spirit Bomb with Big Boom 

If the day comes when you need to fight back a great evil using only your employees’ spirit, make sure your workplace morale is up to creating a massive explosion. If it isn’t, your spirit bomb might let out more of a whimper than a big bang. That said, if you can create a culture that makes room for diversity, celebrates employees with gusto, finds time for fun every day, and empowers itself through meaningful traditions, then you’ll always have the strength to come out on top — or just make a big boom.

Written by Dr. Sam Adeyemi.
Have you read?
Best Countries for Work-Life Balance.
Largest Economies in the World by GDP (nominal).
Safest Countries in the World.
Most Productive Countries in the World.