How to Make Mondays Less Miserable: Motivation Boosters for Starting the Week

 

Mondays have a poor reputation, as it symbolises going back to work after taking a break, which may affect motivation and engagement. In HR terms, it is essential to solve the so-called Monday blues that will help to keep the workforce and wellbeing of staff members. Structured HR interventions that may be used to increase motivation include flexible start time, team huddles, recognition moments and wellness activities. This kind of intervention can be consistent with modern HRM, where engagement of employees and organisational culture are regarded as strategic drivers of productivity (Bratton and Gold, 2017).

These strategies are very applicable in the state of Sri Lanka economy in the private sector that is majorly in the apparel industry. The workload and strict production deadlines can be unpredictable to employees in the merchandising and industrial engineering industries as well as to HR. Monday engagement programs are essential due to the stressful nature of fast-fashion needs and the demands of buyers at the beginning of the week because it is essential to relieve stress and enhance concentration (Brewster et al., 2017). HR can also improve employee commitment and minimize absenteeism by addressing the problem of demotivation at the beginning of the week.

Other organisational examples of motivational practices include Monday kick-off meetings, wellbeing check-ins, and rewarding minor wins, which organisations like MAS Holdings, Brandix, and Omegaline have tried. The initiatives also demonstrate how power and leadership can influence the organisational culture: once the managers are involved and lead by example, the barriers between the hierarchies diminish, encouraging the team to work and trust each other (Clegg, Courpasson & Phillips, 2006). Nevertheless, such activities should be considered carefully; the introduction of programs without a relevant change in workload is likely to cause pressure instead of relieving it (Farnham, 2015).

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Tactically, making Mondays less miserable is not necessarily a wellbeing program, but it will reinforce high-involvement culture, improve communication, and entrench practices that will enable employee engagement and organisational performance in the long term (Purcell and Boxall, 2022).

Conclusion

In order to turn Mondays into a productive day, one will need a mix of motivation, supportive leadership and work load based interventions. The Sri Lankan apparel and the private sector can use these practices as part of HR strategy to boost morale, engagement and productivity; and this shows that small behavioural and cultural changes can have dramatic organisational effects.

    

References

Bratton, J. & Gold, J. (2017) Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.

Brewster, C., Sparrow, P., Vernon, G. & Houldsworth, E. (2017) International Human Resource Management. 4th edn. London: CIPD.

Clegg, S., Courpasson, D. & Phillips, N. (2006) Power and Organizations. Newbury Park, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Farnham, D. (2015) Human Resource Management in Context. London: CIPD.

Purcell, J. & Boxall, P. (2022) Strategy and Human Resource Management. London: Palgrave.