Yesterday I received an email from my mom…that she received from someone else…that certainly stole my heart. It consists of four photos, telling the story of a deer that visits a cat every morning! Seems the two unlikely critters have formed a bond and start out every day showing one another some genuine affection. The kitty’s owner decided to snap some pictures to document this remarkable daily meet-and-greet event.

As an employee morale consultant, I can’t help but think how many people would benefit from following the example of this deer and cat. I simply mean that when you arrive at work, greet your co-workers pleasantly. And if you’re a leader, boss, manager, or in any kind of a supervisory position, say hello to those who report to you if at all possible. It shows that you care, and it makes a difference. Visit employees on their turf (stop by someone’s desk, go out on the warehouse floor, etc.)…and you’ll score extra boss points.

Saying hello and giving a smile to employees doesn’t cost a thing. And like the deer who keeps coming back to visit the cat…it will definitely be noticed!

Some may react with slight embarrassment or even with an awkward silence, but that’s okay. Assuming that you’re a decent boss and the overall work environment is pretty good, they’ll walk out the door feeling on top of the world knowing that they matter.

I’ll explain in a moment. But first, let’s recap. One week ago today, on April 13, a video was posted on YouTube showing a few Domino’s employees doing some really disgusting things with food, as they appeared to be preparing it for customers. The video has since been taken down, so I don’t know how many people ultimately viewed it-but I read that on April 15, it had been viewed 562,627 times by 8 a.m., 728,816 times by 3 p.m., and 930,390 times by 9:30 p.m. A stellar example of social media’s viral nature.

The employees have been fired and face felony charges. And Domino’s is now fighting for its reputation. A two-minute video created by the Domino’s organization, featuring an apology by Patrick Doyle, president of Domino’s USA, was posted on YouTube on April 15. I just checked, and it has received 540,896 views in five days-not bad, but certainly no comparison to the number of views the damaging video received just in one day.

So here’s why I’m feeling just a teensy bit smug. A year ago-on April 16, 2008-I wrote a blog post titled, “The Domino’s effect.” I detailed an experience of mine with the big pizza chain-or more specifically, with an extremely apathetic Domino’s employee. It had to do with being charged $16.00 for two medium pizzas, although three mediums cost $15.00.

The point of my post wasn’t that the employee was a bad person or even a bad employee. My point was that Domino’s clearly did not empower its employees to make even the smallest decisions in order to make customers happy. I wrote, “Somewhere up the line, a manager at Domino’s decided that this low-paid, hourly worker was not important to the success of the company. Someone made the decision that he didn’t need to understand the goals of the company and that he didn’t need to understand how he contributed to the achievement of those goals. And it’s clear that no one thought he should be empowered to give the customer a good experience. Who can blame the kid for not caring?”

Unempowered employees become apathetic employees. It’s the only way they can really survive that kind of work environment. If they continue to care, but can’t do anything about it, they’ll be miserable, frustrated, and angry. Stop caring—and it’s much easier to get through your shift.

As far as I can tell, Domino’s still doesn’t get it, even in the face of this supreme (go ahead and groan!) reputation nightmare. In the video, Doyle says, “Nothing is more important or sacred to us than our customers’ trust.”

That way of thinking is faulty, Mr. Doyle. There is something more important than the trust of your customers. It’s the commitment and loyalty of your employees, which only happens when they are empowered, respected, communicated with, valued, thanked, and made to feel that they are an important part of the company’s success.

Doyal also says, “We are re-examining our hiring practices.” Well-that’s never a bad idea. But I suggest, Patrick, that you re-examine the way employees are treated, too.  Even the best employees become negative and apathetic if they are not empowered, respected, communicated with, valued, thanked, and made to feel that they are an important part of the company’s success.

“It sickens me that the actions of two individuals could impact our great system,” Doyle says in the video.

It’s tragic that any well-intentioned organization should have its reputation threatened by the sickening actions of two employees. I have genuine compassion for everyone affiliated with Domino’s and sincerely hope they weather this storm.

But Mr. Doyle, as you evaluate the cause of this crisis and implement policies to prevent anything like this from happening again, please don’t miss a very important lesson.  It can be found in the three words I used to end the blog entry I posted almost one year ago to the day before the corporate giant’s image went south: “Employee morale and reputation go hand in hand. Domino’s got eight bucks from me that day. But my opinion of the company tanked. Every employee matters.”

It’s so true. One negative person can bring the workplace down for everyone. You’re rare (and extremely fortunate) if you haven’t worked with someone who complains about everything, criticizes everyone, and in general, sees the bad side of everything. To toxic individuals, the glass isn’t half-empty. It’s empty. Let me be clear—I’m not saying we can’t have a bad day now and then, because that happens to everyone. I’m referring to the people who are unhappy, day in and day out. They’re miserable and determined to drag down everyone around them…because misery loves company, right?

As my opening quote suggests, chronic negativity spreads like a virus among co-workers and infects everyone, to some extent or another. It drains other employees of energy, loyalty, and good feelings about work. When allowed to prevail, negativity affects customer service, creativity, accuracy, and productivity. Negativity hurts an organization’s reputation and it hurts the bottom line.

As the boss, it’s your job to not allow gloomy, cynical, pessimistic employees to drain the life out of everyone else. You must deal with their downer behavior as you would any other performance issue that needs to be corrected, and here’s how that conversation should go, step-by-step:

1. Thank the employee for their contributions.
2. Explain the problem behavior.
3. Ask if they are aware of this behavior, or that it is a problem.
4. Provide concrete examples of the negative behavior that must change.
5. Give an explanation of how their behavior affects others and why this is not acceptable.
6. Provide concrete examples of the desired behavior. 
7. Review a prepared, written performance improvement plan with date-specific checkpoints.
8. Explain that if the behavior doesn’t change, the next steps will be probation, then termination.
9. Reiterate the abilities they have that are valuable to the company.
10. Provide encouragement and state your belief that they have what it takes to make the changes you have outlined.

You can expect the person in question to have a negative response, of course, arguing that they’re not a goody-goody, not a Pollyanna, and not one of those people that smiles all the time. They may tell you all the reasons they have for being as unhappy as they are and gosh darn it, if you had been through all that they’ve been through, you’d be unpleasant, too. And perhaps they’re right. So it is extremely important that you honor these feelings and emphasize that you are not requesting that they change how they feel. Rather, you are requiring a change in behavior as a condition of their continued employment. And under some circumstances, you might suggest the employee seek counseling through your EAP, or other resources for seeking appropriate help.

It’s not easy to change behavior, as we all know. But it’s amazing what employees can do when their jobs are at stake. So you must deal with this as a serious personnel issue-because it is.

Finally, change will happen more easily and quickly when you notice every tiny improvement and let the employee know that you noticed.  Your recognition and pats on the back are a big part of the change process.

I always advise employees to refrain from gossiping-and those in management absolutely must not gossip.  It’s harmful to all involved-and the harm may be to your reputation. Remember that your colleagues who love to gossip about others will also love gossiping about you. Gossipers are insecure with themselves, and talking about others makes them feel more important and powerful. They will often reel you in with behavior that makes you feel like you’re a special friend and confidante-but typically, folks like this will spread rumors about everyone and anyone.

So make up your mind that you won’t provide fodder for the rumor mill.  Always dress, speak, write, and behave appropriately and professionally at work. Don’t share stories about your weekend escapades, fights with your significant other, or financial problems. Don’t tell or be a party to off-color jokes. Be a class act. Treat everyone, from the CEO to the custodian, with respect.

I’ve read about some businesses that have a ban on gossip and impose consequences on employees who talk behind the backs of co-workers, customers, or others. Sounds like a good idea to me, but some leaders may be reluctant to establish a policy like that. Every person in management should set an example in this regard, though, and make it clear that you’re not interested in being a part of conversations that involve gossip, backstabbing, or spreading rumors. If you consistently demonstrate that you don’t participate in office gossip, the gossipers will eventually stop including you in those conversations.

Answer: Ask them!

Except, of course, it’s not quite that simple. If you ask the typical employee with a healthy respect for the boss and a strong desire to keep his job if he’s happy at work, he’ll almost certainly say “yes,” regardless of how he actually feels.

So you really can’t ask that question. But what you can do is regularly ask employees other questions that will give you insight into their level of job satisfaction while demonstrating that you really care about how they feel.

I’ve already blogged about the most important question a boss should ask, and that is: What can I do to make your job more rewarding, interesting, and satisfying? That question should be posed at least quarterly. And here’s a list of some other questions you should ask from time to time.

1. How do you think our customers would describe our company?
2. What would you say is our company’s greatest strength? And what’s the thing the company needs to improve on the most?
3. What can we do as your employer to help you achieve your goals, both personally and professionally?
4. What’s the best day (or best experience) you’ve ever had on this job?
5. If you won the lottery and became wealthy, what would you do and how would your life change?
6. What could this company do to give more recognition to employees for their contributions?
7. If you had the chance to learn a new skill or become an expert in something other than what you do now, what would it be?

Asking questions like these will engage most employees in an interesting conversation that will really add to the boss-employee relationship. That means that in addition asking the question, the boss must listen to the answer, take it seriously no matter what is said, comment on it, and convey sincere interest. Don’t ask the questions one after another, which would inevitably make employees feel like they’re being interrogated. Just ask one of these at the end of a conversation or when they’ve come to you for information or direction. When there’s a calm, appropriate boss—employee opportunity, seize it-and ask a question that will show your employees they really matter to you.

I really did plan to do that. But last night, someone told me about something her boss had done that is so terrific, and compliments yesterday’s topic so well, that I just have to write about it.

This woman works for a boutique hotel with about 100 employees. She said that like many other businesses, the hotel dramatically scaled back its employee holiday festivities last month. Apparently, some employees were not too understanding of the situation and the boss caught wind of some complaints.

Rather than dismiss the comments as trivial, or respond with anger because, after all, we’re in the middle of a recession, this boss was concerned. So concerned, that he wanted to hear exactly what the employees were thinking. (And when I say “boss,” I’m talking about THE boss—the general manager of the hotel. There are a number of VPs and lower level managers and supervisors at the place, of course. The majority of employees report to one of those people.) He was, I’m sure, aware that the complaints about the holiday party were symptomatic of other issues.

So this guy took the time to meet one-on-one with every single employee. Imagine! I mean, even if he only spent 10 minutes with each employee it would take nearly three days, allowing for a few breaks and lunch! And I’m sure many of these individual sessions were longer than that.

The woman telling me about this said that this guy just really wanted to know how employees were feeling about their jobs and what it was like to work there. He in essence asked them, “What can I do to make your job more rewarding, interesting, and satisfying?”

She said, “Since he’s talked with everyone, the mood is a lot better and everyone seems a lot happier.”  I’ll bet they are! Morale increases almost instantly when employees know that how they feel matters. And in this case, the fact that the person at the top cared enough to talk to everyone sent employees the message that every worker wants to hear and that immediately makes them want to work harder: We value you, and you’re important to us.

My next post: more important questions to ask your employees!

A group of employees working in a small office told me that they each have a certain number of paid sick days each year, but to discourage their use the company has a policy of paying $50 for every sick day not used at the end of each year. (I don’t necessarily support this policy, but that’s beside the point!)

Most of the employees said they try hard to stay healthy (or at least, not call in sick) throughout the year and like the opportunity to get an extra $250.00 at holiday time. So last month, they were expecting the boss to distribute the sick day checks, as he’d done every year for quite a few years.

Except he didn’t.

At the very moment the employees were anticipating the extra money they’d earned by following company policy, the boss said he couldn’t afford to pay them this year for the unused sick days. No warning. No advance notice. No apology. And no attempt by the boss to limit his description of the Christmas lavish gifts he had purchased for his wife and kids.

We all know that as revenues decline, benefits and perks get cut. We get that. But in this small office with just a handful of employees, the sick pay payout didn’t add up to a large amount (especially compared with the cost of the boss’s holiday vaca). To those employees who had faithfully come to work over the past 12 months, though, the abrupt removal of the benefit-after the benefit had been earned-felt mean and unfair. And you can bet that this boss won’t get it when his employees don’t go an extra mile for him. He’ll be lucky to get an inch or two.

I think it’s really smart. Zappos has a distinct culture, and wants employees who completely buy in to their over-the-top customer service philosophy and super-friendly work environment. They want every employee (now 1,600 of them and counting) to be incredibly dedicated—no matter what their position, responsibility, or job description. They want people who care about Zappos, care about their jobs, and care about their co-workers. They’re looking for a certain type of person who will fit and love being a part of the Zappos world.

And clearly, things are working well in the world Zappos has created. Five years ago, sales were about $70 million…and this year, they expect revenues to exceed $1 billion. They do so many things right at this company, in terms of how they keep morale high and motivate employees to work hard and care. And it all starts with making sure they’ve got the right people in every job.

You might be thinking, wow, that’s a tidy sum to pay someone for up to a month of training, then pay another two thousand dollars to quit. And you’re right. But it’s nothing compared with the financial hit a company takes when they retain employees who don’t work hard, don’t go the extra mile for customers, aren’t team players, and aren’t concerned with the quality of their work. These apathetic employees end up alienating customers, clogging up business systems, irritating other workers, and dinging the company’s reputation. It’s not worth it, from any standpoint.

We laugh when we talk about employees “drinking the company kool-aide.” But it probably shouldn’t be treated as a joke. It’s important for employees to feel connected with their employer; to buy in to the business strategy and philosophy; and to have a temperament and personality that simply fits. Do you know what fits for your company?

Today I’m offering even more ways a boss can raise employee morale that have absolutely no money involved.

1. Give a hard-working employee a new responsibility or ask them to head up a project or task force, or to evaluate a new idea and provide feedback.
2. Say a cheerful good-bye to employees as they’re leaving work (or as you’re leaving, if they’re still working), tell them to have a great evening, and thank them for all their hard work. 
3. Call an employee into your office. Ask them to sit down. Then say, “We just haven’t talked for awhile and I want to know how everything’s going for you!” Then really listen.
4. Deal with negative, difficult, or chronically under-performing employees who are dragging down everyone else. Put them on probation with an improvement plan, and if they don’t improve, terminate them.
5. Establish a no gossip policy in your workplace. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/WaterCooler/Story?id=3857737&page=1
6. When an employee completes a project, handles a difficult customer, or comes up with a solution to a problem, tell them, “I just don’t know what we’d do without you! We are so fortunate that you work here!”
7. During staff meetings, lead rounds of applause for individual and group successes that have taken place since the last meeting.
8. Communicate as much information about the organization as you can to all of your employees, regardless of their position. Throw any notion of “need to know basis” out the window and give them all the info you can about every aspect of what’s going on.
9. Apologize whenever it’s appropriate: you interrupted; you came across as short or impatient or irritated in a previous conversation; you neglected to adequately demonstrate appreciation for something
10. Never yell at, embarrass, humiliate, belittle, or curse at employees. No matter what. Under any circumstances.