MightyRecruiterWhy Employee Loyalty Matters
When you are running a business, you need people to run every level of the organization. You need the leaders at the top, people in middle management and people at the very bottom to handle the day-to-day minutiae of the company. Employee loyalty is crucial at every level in order to thrive, especially during tough economic times. However, many employers lack a fundamental understanding of what loyalty really means. If you think a loyal employee is one that has been with you for 10 years, then you should keep reading.
What Makes an Employee Loyal
A loyal employee is not necessarily one that has been with the company for decades. A loyal employee can be someone who has only been working there for a year but has shown the qualities that highlight loyalty. Loyalty should not be defined by blind obedience but by offering critiques of the organization that will help the company grow and succeed. A loyal employee truly cares about the company and will voice their opinion, which may sometimes dissent. Employee loyalty is exemplified by praising peers and telling you what you need to hear, which may not always be what you want to hear. In short, loyal employees are your most reliable resources because they have the best interest of the organization at heart, and they will stick with the company because they want to see it thrive.
Loyal Employees Lead to Enhanced Productivity
It can be difficult to foster employee loyalty during hard economic times. Laying people off is occasionally a necessary business decision in order to keep the company afloat. However, it can also be a time when you see a sharp decline in loyalty. The reason is that you will have created a culture where people are uncertain whether or not they are going to have a job tomorrow. As a result, they may start looking for work elsewhere. Even if they stay with the company, they may not give 110 percent. Loyal employees put in the extra effort and work more hours in order to make sure the business remains profitable. Employees who do not know if they have a future with the organization are more likely to just do the bare minimum in order to collect a paycheck.
Increase in Profits
Far too many employers focus on developing capital assets at the expense of keeping employees engaged and devoted to their work. University of Pennsylvania researchers decided to see which investment pays off more in the long run, and they found that when a company invests 10 percent of its revenue to improve capital, productivity increased by only 3.9 percent. However, when a company invested 10 percent of revenue on employee capital, productivity increased 8.5 percent. During recessions and other difficult times, businesses have a tendency to focus on short-term solutions that often come at the expense of employee loyalty. However, there are solid advantages to fostering loyalty so that employees stick with a company and continue to work hard.
Retaining Engaged Employees
Regardless of how the economy is doing, you should constantly be looking at ways to engage your workforce and build loyalty at every level of the business. This involves actively seeking out what aspects of the company need to be improved upon. That includes asking questions that may yield answers you do not want to hear but will ultimately benefit you in the long run. Some of those questions include:
-Do we give employees the tools they need to do their jobs
-Were you given the training you needed to succeed
-Are employees rewarded fairly for their contributions
-Does this business deserve employee loyalty
-Is there any way that management’s relationship style could be improved
As mentioned above, a loyal employee will be completely honest with you because he or she wants to see the company succeed and grow. Some of the ways in which you can build a solid rapport with your employees is to give them the tools they need and tell them clearly what needs to be done to advance within the organization. Additionally, you need to recognize the achievements of your employees and promote an atmosphere that encourages going above and beyond the call of duty.
You can send out surveys regularly in order to gauge employee loyalty. You can also have more formal sit-down meetings where you encourage people to openly air any grievances or recommendations workers have. If you want employees to be loyal to you, then you need to show that you are loyal to them.
Mighty Recruiter has numerous resources to help you develop a profitable, first-rate business.