Keeping up morale

Happy staff make for a better company, writes Sara Yirrell

Sara Yirrell: Staff morale is something larger firms tend to ignore

The largest scandal to hit the IT industry this month has been the Mark Hurd debacle.

It has been over three weeks since Hurd stepped down as chief executive of HP after being accused of sexual harassment by former soft-porn actress Jodie Fisher, and discrepancies in his expenses claims forced the HP board to act.

Hurd was popular with Wall Street and had caused HP’s share price to soar, but on the flip side, company morale was at rock bottom as cost-cutting measures continued, and the size of Hurd’s bonus payouts grew.

Hurd was recently met with just a 22 per cent staff approval rating, according to research by glassdoor.com. Compare this to Apple’s Steve Jobs, who scored 91 per cent.

Staff morale is something many larger firms tend to ignore as they chase profit and shareholder satisfaction. But most directors of smaller firms tell me how important staff satisfaction really is.

One even said staff happiness is more important than customer happiness, because happy staff provide the best service. That is something a lot of firms, and not just HP, should take into account.