How could I increase the moral and mood in a chinese factory without spending too much money??Any ideas?

Answer 1

Do NOT get them competing with each other for your affection. That method may improve the morale of the best performers, but the majority will feel inadequate and depressed.

Also, I suggest you don't give them a shower of compliments. this action will be unsustainable, and the distribution will very likely be unfair and/or uneven among the employees, which will give them the impression your massaging your personal favorites.

The best method I know of is to give personalised private notes to selected employees each day in a way that doesn't hint to other employees that they got a complement. Make it official, like a small certificate of appreciation, which clearly states (not neccessarily in this order) their name, the date, the reason why they were selected, the reason why they are appreciated, your name and job title, signed by you, signed by your boss (someone of very high authority at the company) with their name and job title, professionally printed with bordering on good quality paper.

Work out what your current turnover of employees is averaging, and every time it reaches that point, send all employees regardless of position a similar certificate as mentioned, that way almost everyone that works for your company gets a certificate of appreciation.

This is something you can easily control so that employees that don't deserve to receive one (for example a slow, talkative, lazy new employee) you could fire before sending out the certificates.

It's very cheap, because once you've developed a template for all certificates on the computer, it's an easy matter of filling in a few personal bits of information (employee's name, etc.), and print on paper you can buy in bulk to save. Your name and sig, your boss's name and sig, and the date are all digital copy and paste samples, so once it's printed it's finished and ready to be delivered, quick, easy, very effective, irrefutable proof that they are valued, they can show their friends, family, etc., put it on future resume's, apply for other jobs in the same field with better chance of success, all of which they will love you for, feel a great sense of committment and dedication to you, at very low cost.

Everybody wins!

Answer 2

Internet radio is great. If you have internet access at work you should be able to access it. And the choices are enormous. Sometimes getting up and taking a brief walk helps. So does simple stretching. Taking deep breaths can help as well. I'm sorry you're having a rough patch at the moment. Moods can really sabotage us if we don't know how to handle them. I'm assuming that you don't experience frequent sad moods, because if you are often sad, maybe you should see a doctor. But it sounds as if you're reacting to real-life stressors. Remember HALT - never let yourself get too hungry, angry, lonely or tired. That'll help you mantain calmness better. And remember that the bad stuff passes.

Answer 3

You could offer a graded bonus to the best performers and that may create strong competition and improve moral and moods. The bonus does not have to be money.

Answer 4

Lavish them with compliments, and remain in a positive mood yourself-- doesn't cost a dime.

Answer 5

cut the workers back to 12 hour days , so they could feel more human