1

The Formulas to Improve or Destroy

Employee Morale
Amir Kohan, Harvard University
12/28/2014

I. Emotional Salary

onetary
compensation
would prompt people to
come to work, but to gain
commitment from employees you
would need to provide them with a
purpose and freedom to accomplish
their tasks.
Most people like their work to have a
purpose. An employee who can see
his or her work is making a difference
for someone can find increased
satisfaction and pride at work, which
my reduce employee complaints. But,
how can this be achieved? The
following formula can help with
improving employee morale:
Clearly Communicate Expectations
+ Avail for a Two-Way Feedback =
Happier Employee
Clearly communicating expectations
to employees followed by consistently
availing for a two-way constructive
feedback are two essential elements of
a successful employer and employee
Amir Kohan | HARVARD UNIVERSITY

relationship. This formula would

reduce
confusion
and
miscommunication which often result
in emotional taxation on employees.
An emotionally exhausted employee
cannot be expected to commit to his
employer or perform well. Thus,
employers need to ensure that their
people know whats expected of them
and being appreciated when they do
it.
Companies and supervisors who often
complain about employees failing to
meet their expectations despite having
clearly
communicated
their
expectations may need to consider if
they provide their employees with
adequate resources to do their job
well, frequent feedback to know how
well, and guidance to excel. Now,
frequent feedback should not be
confused with micromanagement,
especially when the supervisee is in a
managerial position. Supervisory
employees must be given all the
freedom to the fullest extent provided

As simple as this formula may seem

to appear on the paper, many
companies,
organizations,
and
supervisors from various backgrounds
do struggle to either clearly
communicate their expectations or fail
to provide a two-way venue for
feedback to their supervisees. As a
result, a company may provide
impressive monetary salary and
exemplary benefits, but if it falls short
of offering its employees with
emotional salary, it may find
difficulty
with
reducing
the
percentage of disgruntled employees.

II. The Formula to Destroy

Employee Morale
Effectively

ne may wonder why we need

to know about a formula to
destroy employee morale. We
need to master the knowledge of
destructive practices because it is
crucial to be aware of and avoid
actions that can be most harmful and
distortive to employee morale.
Inadequate Monetary
Compensation + Inadequate
Emotional Salary = Death of
Employee Morale
Mastering the science of designing
and implementing a monetary
compensation system as complex as it
might still be an easier undertaking
than offering an adequate emotional
salary. The science of monetary
compensation can be gained through
college education, or even reading
online guides or printed books such as
employee benefits for dummies;
however, the art of offering an
adequate emotional salary is like other
forms of arts and can acquire richness
only by experience and time for the
right person.
The possibility of making more
money in supervisory positions or in
entrepreneurial pursuits attracts many
people to such roles. As such the
subject of making money and success

Amir Kohan | HARVARD UNIVERSITY

under their job description. If a

supervisory employee is not qualified
to be trusted with the whole freedom
promised under his or her job
description, it then becomes a matter
of deciding why that person is in a
supervisory position. It is here where
most companies make the mistake of
keeping the unqualified supervisory
employee in the position they are not
qualified to keep and then transfer
some of the unqualified supervisors
responsibilities to other employees.
This would be the worst course of
action to take as it will bread chaos,
confusion, and resentment.

Amir Kohan | HARVARD UNIVERSITY

often a neglected subject and a rare

competency to come by in
organizations because it is often not
understood
or
misunderstood.
Nothing destroys employee morale as
effectively as the lack of emotional
salary.

has become the center piece for hiring

supervisors at the cost of ignoring
employee morale. Often, entrepreneur
and supervisors cannot connect the
correlation between employee morale
and
their
organization
goals.
Therefore,
the
supervisory
competence to pay emotional salary is
emotional salary.