How’s your team doing?
Recent research reported in Harvard Business Review tells us that worker dissatisfaction is on the rise. As a leader, this is your opportunity to step up your game and support your team’s continuous improvement.
Following are eight questions to ask yourself about improving your team’s satisfaction and performance:
1. What are the biggest frustrations my team faces, and what am I doing to remove them? Actively eliminate obstacles, especially excessive workload, shifting priorities, or clunky approval processes.
2. What decisions am I holding onto that my team could be making? Avoid being the bottleneck. Give your team specific authority, making it explicit which calls they own.
3. Where am I making people do things my way when I could be giving them flexibility? Grant autonomy—a high-impact, low-cost way to improve satisfaction. Trust them to manage their schedules and, where possible, offer control over where and when they work.
4. How can I create opportunities for genuine connection? Strong relationships drive job satisfaction. Hold regular meetings that go beyond status updates, and create time for team members to connect with each other.
5. What am I doing to support my team’s well-being? Make mental health and wellness resources visible, and actively encourage their use without guilt. As a leader, you must also model balance yourself.
6. How am I making people feel valued and helping them see the meaning in their work? Offer regular recognition—it’s hard to feel miserable when you feel valued. Share success stories that link an employee’s efforts to real outcomes, reinforcing that what they do matters.
7. Where could I be doing more to help people advance in their careers? In an uncertain economy, learning and growth are critical. Look for low- or no-cost development opportunities like stretch assignments, mentoring, or job shadowing.
8. When was the last time I took a hard look at whether our pay is competitive? If you have limited authority over pay, talk openly with employees about how compensation decisions are made. Help them understand the logic and fairness behind the system.
Improving morale won’t happen overnight, but small, consistent actions matter more than grand gestures. By staying attuned to these eight factors, you can remove obstacles where possible and treat people like they matter.
*Ideas for this blog taken from: Knight, R. “Employee Discontent is on the Rise. Here’s What to Do About It,” Harvard Business Review online, October 29, 2025.
