How Leaders Can Strengthen Teams When Morale Is Low
Amidst growing economic uncertainty and job insecurity, employee confidence dropped to a record low of 44.4% in February 2025, and employee engagement reached a 10-year low at the end of 2024. As morale declines, businesses risk lower productivity and higher turnover. So, how can organizations and leaders keep teams motivated, resilient, and focused—even when the future is unclear?
Michigan Ross experts Gretchen Spreitzer, Shawn Quinn, and Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, drawing on decades of research and hands-on experience with executives, sought to answer these questions in a timely webinar recently hosted by Michigan Ross Executive Education. From empathetic attunement to reconnecting to moments of excellence—the panel shared a handful of research-backed approaches that organizational leaders can implement right now to build energy and resilience in their teams.
Start with Acknowledging Emotions
In times of uncertainty, people often default to self-protection, and leaders can’t unlock performance or creativity until they first address what their teams are feeling. “People might be reluctant to engage in anything like this because they don't feel well equipped to manage emotions or change them. They may not have a clinical psychology background,” said Jeffrey. However, he argues that people already possess the effort and skill to make a difference. “Simply acknowledging what people are going through can be extremely powerful.”
Shawn emphasized that without empathetic attunement, even well-intentioned positivity can backfire if it’s not the right response to what a team is actually feeling and experiencing. Teams must feel seen before they can move forward together. “If I can’t feel with you, I’m not going to let you take me on other journeys,” he explained.
Tap Into Your Team’s Best Self
Instead of focusing only on what’s broken, leaders can revive energy by reconnecting teams to their past moments of excellence. “We have a tool that we often use with executive audiences to help people see who they are when they're at their very best, and I think that could be an important exercise for leaders and teams to do,” added Gretchen. She encouraged listeners to “look for booster shots of purpose” by amplifying “kernels of greatness” already in your organization’s system.
Jeffrey echoed this sentiment, adding that by identifying the conditions that made those moments of excellence possible, organizations should explore how to “reverse-engineer and scale” what already works well.
Create Opportunities for Innovation
Throughout the discussion, the panelists stressed that even in times of limited resources and organizational strain, leaders must create space for innovation rather than defaulting into survival mode. “We have to be responsible, right? We don't have unlimited resources to create something new, but sometimes people have an idea, and there just hasn't been the wherewithal to share that idea,” Gretchen said. She highlighted that innovation often blossoms out of difficult circumstances, but in order for that to happen, leaders must be “creating opportunity for people to bring those ideas to bear.”
Shawn stressed that opportunities for innovation must be accompanied by psychological safety, adding, “If your team doesn't feel psychologically safe…people are going to have trouble taking risks of being creative.”
At the end of the session, Jeffrey emphasized the power of humility in fostering innovation, while Shawn reminded listeners that even amid limited resources, teams themselves are a powerful asset. Gretchen closed the session with parting advice: take a moment to reflect and turn one idea from the session into meaningful action.
The full webinar recording is available to watch now at the link below.
At Michigan Ross Executive Education, we’re committed to supporting leaders like you to develop the skills, strategies, and resilience needed to navigate today’s unpredictable business landscape. If you're looking for alternative approaches to help your teams and your organization achieve higher levels of performance and engagement, we invite you to join us in Ann Arbor for The Positive Leader program.
