Every employee I spoke with, from the person who is second-in-command to the custodian, and everyone in between, told me it was the greatest job they’ve ever had. They said they brag about their job to their friends. Some said they almost hesitate to tell people just how good they’ve got it at work, because it makes others so envious.

Employees are trusted, empowered, communicated with, and respected. An on-site chef cooks lunch for everyone every day, and employees enjoy a workout room (complete with personal trainer), scheduling flexibility, and an atmosphere of camaraderie. Pay and benefits are way above average. The opinions of all employees are listened to and valued. Workers are thanked frequently for their contributions and hard work. 

The owner of this company of about 40 employees is one smart guy. He values his employees over everything else, and lets them know it. The small management team is treated like gold, and that philosophy trickles down. And guess what? Despite the significant bucks spent on amazing employee perks, this company is thriving. Business is booming. They’re in the process of hiring 15 new employees right now.

It’s proven over and over in research studies (and in my observations): go the extra mile for your employees, and they’ll move mountains for you.

Celiac disease is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. Those with celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein that’s in wheat, rye, and barley. And although gluten is found mainly in foods, it is also used in products used every day including cosmetics, lotions, vitamins and medicines, lip balms, and shampoo and other hair care products. It is estimated that in the United States, about one percent of the population has Celiac disease—although many have never been diagnosed.

So what does this have to do with employee morale?

Well—plenty, since a lot of the fun that goes on at most workplaces involves food.  Groups of employees go out for lunch or bring in lunch, organize potlucks, celebrate birthdays, and enjoy donuts and bagels on occasional mornings. But chances are, employees with celiac disease won’t be able to partake in any of these fun, food-related activities.

My daughter-in-law, Crystal, was diagnosed with Celiac Disease about a year ago, and has adapted to the new, restricted diet with maturity, intelligence and resourcefulness. That’s how Crystal approaches everything and it’s quite impressive

I found out by reading Crystal’s blog that October is Celiac Awareness Month, and it got me thinking about the subject of dietary restrictions in the workplace. I asked Crystal for her for her thoughts, and she definitely had some things to say:

“When a group of employees is planning to go out for lunch or talking about a get-together, I would suggest asking if anyone has a dietary restriction,” she says. “And if a co-worker does have a dietary restriction, it would be thoughtful to ask for their input when discussing where to eat or what to eat.”

Crystal’s workplace is small-just a handful of co-workers. Employees frequently bring in treats to share during staff meetings, and though they know she has Celiac, they always bring gluten-laden food. “I bring my own,” Crystal says, “but that’s fine-I don’t mind.”

Well—I’m glad Crystal doesn’t mind. But wouldn’t it be wonderful if a co-worker surprised her once in awhile by bringing in gluten-free treats?

Then Crystal mentioned her birthday, which was last month. “We all bring in cake and treats for the person celebrating a birthday,” she says. “But on my birthday, no one brought in anything! No one asked me if there’s anything they could bring in that I could eat. In fact, my birthday wasn’t celebrated at all!”

Were Crystal’s co-workers embarrassed to ask her what she’d be able to eat? Or did they think it would embarrass her to be asked? Do they think, despite knowing about her diagnosis, that she’s just really picky and chooses to avoid eating much of what they eat?

Who knows. And I forgive them. But Crystal gives this final, excellent advice. “If you know someone with a dietary restriction, have an open mind. Talk with them about it. Try to include them once in awhile, when selecting a restaurant or planning a food-related activity. It will mean a lot.”

And likewise, it’s important for the person with the restricted diet to share some of their goodies as well. It’s an important part of developing a climate of mutual respect. Thanks to Crystal, I’ve tried quite a few gluten-free goodies, and they’re delicious! I’m especially partial to the sugar cookies.

Employees with too much to do may be stressed out and complain…but they’re not nearly as unhappy as employees who don’t have enough to do.

This is according to the HR research firm Sirota Survey Intelligence. Drawing from responses from 1.4 million workers—both management and non-management—from more than 100 companies, they found that people bored at work have lower morale and are less productive.

A key element of high employee morale is feeling that you’re an important contributor to the success of your employer. If there’s not enough work to do…and time goes by very, very slowly…chances are, you won’t feel very valuable.

Too much work: not good. Too little work: even worse.

I spoke at a Rotary Club yesterday on my favorite topic—increasing employee morale—and had the good fortune to be seated by a nice guy named Craig during lunch. He runs a small financial services company and has just a few employees. And what a great boss! He keeps his assistants completely informed of everything he’s doing and keeps them up-to-date on progress toward company goals. Craig shares all financial aspects of the company with his employees, so they know how business is going. Bonuses are given quarterly, when there are profits—and not surprisingly, there usually are.

Craig trusts his employees and empowers them to make decisions. He gladly lets them take time off when they need time off—no questions asked. He said to me, “I don’t even ask them to keep track of their hours. But I’m sure if I did, I would find out they are working far more hours than they are paid to work.”

That’s what highly motivated, engaged and satisfied employees do—they go the extra mile and more for their employers! Imagine what ownership Craig’s employees have in his company. They know they are valued and that success is a team effort.

I said to Craig, “I’ll bet if your assistants were offered jobs somewhere else for more money, they wouldn’t leave.”

He said with confidence, “No. They wouldn’t.”

High employee morale isn’t about the money. It’s about the way you’re treated. Craig’s doing everything right and you can bet his employees know how lucky they are to work for him. They no doubt hear plenty of “bad boss” stories from friends and family…so why would they leave? You can’t put a price on loving your job!

And there are even more study results that undeniably prove that employees who have lousy bosses rarely have high morale.

So then why are there so many bad bosses out there? And yes, I’ve got stats for this as well. Working America, the AFL-CIO affiliate, commissioned a bad bosses survey that was conducted by Lake Research Partners.

They found that 10 percent of the 1,000 people surveyed think they have bad bosses. When you take 10 percent of the entire population of people working in this country, I guess you come up with 15 million people. That’s awful. And as someone in the business of employee morale, I have no trouble believing that this number is more or less accurate.

I’m not a negative person. Quite the opposite. Yet I’m always posting negative blogs about the workplace. So in my next post, I will have something good to say.

Yet I hear it all the time. A lot of people deal with yelling at work.

One company I know of actually allows a group of employees to yell at each other when they disagree. These co-workers blame each other for everything and apparently know of no other way to deal with conflict. Can you imagine going to work at a place like that every day?

Earlier this year I was talking with a man who works as a custodian. He said he made less than $10 an hour. This man was probably in his late 30s, and he had a family. But he said to me, “I’d stay here for the rest of my career if my boss would just quit yelling at me.”

Broke my heart.

My son, who has the restaurant job, just started there about six weeks ago. He said the workers who have been their much longer told him the boss is “mean to everyone and never smiles.” They told him not to expect the boss to be nice because she never is.

My daughter, who has worked at this grocery store for about 10 months, used to like the management there. But there were some personnel changes a few months ago, and she says no one likes to work there anymore. She told me that the “old” bosses really liked her and made her feel like a great employee who really works hard (which I believe to be true, setting aside my bias as a mother). They were grooming her to take on a bit more responsibility. Then the new bosses came in, and they tell her she doesn’t appear to work very hard and they don’t want to give her more responsibility.

The good news is that my kids make minimum wage and can find another job if they get fed up with the poor management. And of course they’re learning important life lessons, because they’ll no doubt encounter many more bad bosses in their lives. But it’s sad that to see how quickly their enthusiasm has died. Very sad. Because it just doesn’t have to be that way.

It’s good to see some news coverage discussing the impact this battle is having on employee morale. There’s talk of job cuts to fend off the takeover—who wouldn’t be nervous? And when one’s employer is embroiled in an ongoing tumultuous situation, with the relentless publicity (in this case, shall we call it brewhaha?) that comes with it, employees experience fear, anger, and ambivalence. Their sense of loyalty and level of productivity plummet as they ponder the possibilities. How will they be affected if InBev’s takeover is successful? Would InBev be a better company to work for? Or if the takeover fails, would life as an Anheuser employee be the same? Better? Worse?

Let’s hope that the folks in charge at A-B know how important it is to keep your employees extremely informed of what’s going on and to show concern for their feelings. Here are four of the most important things leaders must do to keep employees as loyal and engaged as possible during a crisis situation:

1. Make sure that employees receive news first. It’s demoralizing to learn something about your employer by reading it in the newspaper or online or by hearing it on the radio or television.
2. Be honest with employees about what’s going on—even if the truth involves layoffs or other unpleasant news.
3. Encourage employees to submit questions, and then regularly (for awhile, perhaps even daily) publish the questions along with the answers for all employees to see.
4. Acknowledge that the situation is difficult and stressful. Employees feel helpless and have no control over what’s going on—yet their lives may be impacted in a huge way. Have compassion for what the employees are experiencing.

Most (though not all) of the responses paint pictures of unpleasant workplaces.

One person had this to say about a theme song for her job: “They call it Stormy Monday, but Tuesday is just as BAD!”

And I doubt things improve on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.

Another entry: “Sadly the first to pop in my head is ‘The Adams Family’!!” (For those of you who can’t recall the theme song to that program I loved as a kid: They’re creepy and they’re kooky, Mysterious and spooky, They’re all together ooky, The Addams Family.)

In response to that, someone wrote, “Hahahaha!! Even though I have a lot of co-workers who could be categorized as distant and not-so-distant relatives of the Adams Family, our song here would probably be “Working For A Living” although each of us is secretly singing, “Take This Job and Shove It”!

Take this job and shove it.  Is that what your employees would choose as a workplace theme song? And if you think it doesn’t matter…think again.

Clearly, TLC is confident that most people don’t use the word “fun” to describe their jobs. That’s a sad commentary on the state of America’s workplace.

There’s plenty of evidence that workplaces injected with some fun have employees who are more loyal, productive and innovative. They’re happier and less likely to quit their jobs. Fun is an important ingredient in a healthy work environment, and a healthy environment equals a healthier bottom line. Too bad there are so few companies that understand the importance of having fun.