I think management (in general) has trouble seeing morale issues. The reason is that for them, their goals are clear, their goals are tied to the company’s, and they are naturally motivated by their level of importance in the company.
Non-managerial employees have a different life. Different goals, that may not involve management or company goals. And that’s 100% ok. We can’t have everyone be perfectly aligned with the company. To think otherwise is just naïve.
Unfortunately, humans have a lot of biases. One of them is confirmation bias. The other is something along the lines of “what you see is all there is.” (TODO: link to bias book here.) Employees tend to hide bad thoughts from their managers. It’s natural. And managers want to believe their employees are happy and perfectly aligned with company goals. But reality is much messier than that.
I have no proven solutions. But I do have a direction: make sure you get to know your coworkers’ wants and needs. And try to fulfill those as much as possible, while still pushing forward company goals.
Work is an imposition on personal life, and as long as you make space for personal wants/needs/whims, you’ll have a happier (and more productive) workplace.