If your team is producing subpar results, overall productivity is slipping, or turnover is on the rise, low employee morale might be to blame.
Morale issues can spread quickly, affecting performance and culture across your organization. By recognizing the early warning signs and taking proactive steps, you can turn things around and build a highly engaged, motivated workforce.
In this article, we’ll go over common causes of low morale and actionable strategies to foster a positive workplace.
In this blog post, you'll learn:
Morale is how your employees feel about their work, your organization, and how it impacts their lives. When team morale is high, employees often feel appreciated and happy. When morale is low, employees feel poorly about their work and your organization.
Some of the most common causes of low morale among employees are:
These are just some of the many factors contributing to low morale and disengaged employees in the workplace. However, external factors such as the economy, personal demands, and debt can also affect morale.
According to Gallup1, U.S. employee engagement hit a decade-low in 2024, with 31% of employees feeling engaged on the job. Poor employee morale, which closely correlates with low engagement, can significantly impact your organization. Low team morale and engagement can lead to decreased productivity, increased absenteeism and tardiness, and high employee turnover.
High engagement fuels performance. Organizations with strong morale see greater productivity, fewer workplace conflicts, and stronger retention. SHRM2 reports that employees with positive workplace experiences are 68% less likely to look for a new job.
To ensure that you don't lose top talent and continue to keep employees happy, you'll need to know the warning signs of low morale.
Your employees can show many signs of low morale and disengagement. We've listed a few of the most common signs below.
A high turnover rate, or employees leaving your organization, can signify low morale among employees. Workers don't usually quit their jobs if they've had a positive experience and the benefits and compensation are better than the competition.
If your employees are starting to leave in greater numbers than before, chances are they've experienced burnout, they aren't connecting with their coworkers, the benefits don't outweigh the stress or employee experience, or they feel their projects have turned into menial tasks.
In other cases, a one-size-fits-all approach to management may not work for all of your employees, leading to conflict.
Once an employee leaves, others will begin to follow.
One way to prevent this is to use task-relevant maturity3 or to take a different management approach tailored to the individual employee and the task at hand. You can also work on building teamwork and collaboration in your organization.
If employees feel stagnant or think their tasks don't have any meaning, you can change it up by assigning larger projects or allowing cross-department professional development.
Another tell-tale sign of low employee morale is dwindling productivity in the workplace. When employees aren't engaged in their work, they'll stop doing their regular tasks or produce subpar results.
This can happen if employees feel unappreciated, disconnected from their coworkers, or micromanaged. It's also a common sign of employees losing interest or meaning in their work. Disengaged and actively disengaged employees account for an estimated $1.9 trillion4 in lost productivity across the U.S. each year.
One of the best ways to increase productivity is to give your employees more autonomy to do their work. Encourage your employees to take ownership of their tasks and show them how their work helps them, their team, and the organization reach its goals. Involve your employees in key decisions, making them feel more empowered to take on and complete challenging tasks.
When employees stop showing up for work or taking more sick days, they're likely experiencing burnout and low morale. A study by Moodle5 found that 66% of American workers experienced burnout in 2025.
Employees who have lost motivation to continue with their projects or no longer see any meaning behind their work will begin to disengage from your organization as they prepare to find a new job.
To inspire your employees to keep coming to work and re-engage with the entire team, you can plan team-building activities and events to promote collaboration. You can also meet with your employees to gauge their overall feelings about their work and your organization so that you can begin to take steps to correct any issues.
While frustration, stress, and discouragement are normal emotions in the workplace from time to time, a persistent negative attitude from a once positive employee can be a sign of low morale.
While both workplace and personal factors can cause this, it can hurt your entire workforce.
To address this, you'll need to identify the cause of the problem. If it's a work-related problem, discuss strategies with your HR department to solve it or offer alternative solutions.
While the steps in the previous section can help address specific signs of low morale, there are many other ways you and your team can prevent morale and engagement from declining.
One of the best ways to improve morale is to identify any potential causes before they lead to damage. One of the best ways to do this is to listen to your employees' feedback by conducting an engagement survey or holding regular meetings with your employees.
Poor communication is one of the biggest causes of low workplace morale. By allowing your employees to communicate directly with you or their team leaders, you'll be better equipped to address any issues or concerns. Even if you don't always receive positive feedback, business leaders who value employees' opinions can help create a positive work environment.
Clear goals and expectations can help guide your employees to work more autonomously without the need for constant check-ins, which can hinder productivity.
Aligning on goals can also help motivate employees, as they can see how their individual projects help the organization succeed.
Another way to boost employee morale is by showing appreciation for your employees' hard work. You can accomplish this by personally thanking employees, providing incentives, or handing out employee awards each month or quarter.
Employee rewards and recognition programs are a great way to improve morale. When your employees feel appreciated and have a sense of ownership, they'll continue to engage in the workplace.
Stagnation in the workplace can be a significant cause of low morale and engagement. If your employees feel their current tasks aren't advancing their careers or that they don't have opportunities to grow, they'll begin to disengage.
Providing opportunities for your employees to try new things, shadow other departments, take courses, or work on larger projects than they usually do will help to make their work feel less stagnant and more meaningful.
You should also provide clear opportunities for employees to earn promotions or apply for other positions within your organization. In the 2024 Career Optimism Index® Study6, 64% of U.S. workers said their employer didn't offer opportunities for internal mobility, and most workers report that greater skill development and more opportunities to apply those skills would make them more likely to stay at their current job.
Connecting with employees is one of the best ways to boost morale. Hosting events and activities such as annual retreats, monthly meetups, potluck lunches, and games and challenges helps your employees connect with each other and with management. This helps everyone to understand each other outside of work.
When employees feel connected, morale and overall well-being improve. A KPMG survey7 found that 87% of workers believe a workplace that fosters friendships is essential for retaining talent, while 25% of employees report that such connections boost productivity and motivate them to go above and beyond their job responsibilities.
Another way you can improve morale at your organization is by bolstering your employee benefits package. Benefits are an important factor in employee happiness. When your employees feel cared for and appreciated, they're more likely to stay at your organization and have increased job satisfaction.
Employee benefits can also help with recruitment. PeopleKeep by Remodel Health's 2024 Employee Benefits Survey Report found that 81% of employees said an employer's benefits package is an important factor in whether they accept a job with that organization.
One of the best ways to expand your benefits and improve morale is by offering personalized benefits. These flexible and individualized benefits allow you to provide an allowance to or reimburse your employees for various expenses while empowering them to use their benefits on the expenses that matter most to them.
Our survey found that 92% of employees consider health benefits important. With rising healthcare costs, offering health benefits can help relieve some pressure from your employees, allowing them to focus better at work.
A health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) is a popular option for providing a tax-advantaged benefit. With an HRA, you can reimburse your employees for their qualifying medical expenses, such as individual health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket medical costs.
The most popular stand-alone HRAs are:
A health stipend is another personalized health benefit you can offer your employees. This works similarly to an HRA but with fewer regulations and restrictions on which expenses are eligible for reimbursement. However, health stipends are taxable, and they don't satisfy the ACA's employer mandate.
Health benefits may be the most in-demand employee benefits, but they're far from the only perks your employees want.
Wellness benefits are a great way to improve employee well-being, which can reduce stress and absenteeism. There are many options for creating a wellness program, such as reimbursing your employees for their wellness expenses, including gym memberships.
If you want to go the extra mile to determine which benefits are best for your employees, you should consider conducting an employee benefits survey. This allows your employees to provide feedback on their benefits and the perks they'd like to see offered.
Low morale can disrupt an organization's growth and lead to increased employee turnover rates and absenteeism. Although it can sometimes be challenging to spot the signs at first, there are several initiatives you can take to ensure employee morale remains high.
With patience and constant monitoring, you'll ensure that your employees remain happy and engaged.
If you think your benefits package could use a boost to combat low morale and improve employee well-being, PeopleKeep by Remodel Health can help. Our personalized benefits administration software makes it easy to set up and manage HRAs in minutes each month.
This blog post was originally published on August 10, 2022. It was last updated on February 19, 2026.