Loyalty: One-sided or shared relationship?

NEW YORK - July 3, 2013 - PRLog -- Some studies show that 76 percent of full-time workers would leave their job if the right opportunity came their way, while other studies indicate that each year average company losses are anywhere from 20 percent to 50 percent of its employee base.

•    Why does this happen?
•    Is it because the employer lacks loyalty towards their work force or because workers lack loyalty towards their employer and feel unmotivated doing their job?
•    Is loyalty one-sided and meant only for the employee’s relationship to the employer or is shared?  

Times have changed
Business appearing and disappearing at a dizzying pace, as well as the job offering, have caused an attitude change in the working environment. The Great Recession (during which companies laid off huge numbers of their employees with little regard for loyalty or length of services) cutting benefits, training and promotions of those who stayed in the company, left a deep scar on the way workers perceived employers loyalty to them today.

People no longer expect to spend their working lives with the same company. Companies preoccupied with short-term, bottom line thinking often view their employees as little more than resources to be hired, fired, and manipulated in accordance to company’s needs. They have contributed to workers disillusionment to the idea of loyalty to their employer. Hence, lack of loyalty and decreased sense of commitment and trust, on both sides, became a serious problem in organizations today.

What is loyalty?
While trust is about the present, loyalty is about the future. Workers loyalty to the firm became contingent on the firm’s loyalty to them. Loyalty implies sticking with someone or something even if it goes against ones own self-interest. Loyalty is simply an act of putting someone or something else ahead of oneself and willingness to take second place in order to be trustworthy to another person or cause. For loyalty to prosper trust needs to be developed. If we believe that the employer has not our best interest at heart our trust towards him will weaken and our loyalty towards his interests will shrink. Hence, work productivity will suffer since workers and employers’ loyalty and interests will become at odds with each other.

Younger workers today do not adhere to the values of earlier generation. Unlike the older generation they are likely to hold many more jobs in their lifetime. More than the previous generations, present generation wants to know whether their work is meaningful and enough challenging to them. They question themselves whether the job they do fits with their life believes. If the answer is negative they may leave the job and move on. Unlike the generation before, who stayed for years in one job, present generation attitude towards a job is: “I had a great experience, and I am taking this knowledge with me” and they move with no hesitation onward to a new job(s).  This generation’s loyalty is temporary and conditional.

Daring to build a stable, long- term relationships again
According to a Wall Street Journal, 70 percent of people don’t like their job.  Employees at all levels feel there is lack of trust or loyalty in their company. They believe they must watch ones back at all times, resulting in high turnover, high stress and declining productivity.

In order for the employer to build trust and regain and enhance loyalty among his workers he must:
•    Have frequent face-to-face meetings instead of impersonal memos type communication:
o    Direct face-to-face meetings facilitate detection of first hand knowledge about what workers real needs and concerns are
o    Direct meetings fosters the development of bonding amongst worker and the employer thus helping trust and loyalty to flourish
•    Be fair and impartial
•    Lead by example
•    Break down traditional hierarchies and clique
•    Often acknowledge and praise the workforce
•    Be honest
•    Keep our word and match it with action
•    Offer more than just a job
•    Pay workers well
•    Empower employees
•    Invest in training and development
•    Share company’s vision
•    Recognize, encourage and reward
•    Treat employees as individuals
•    Foster strong and secure relationship
•    Be willing to sacrifice, and
•    Help the employee see the big picture.

Loyal employees are the best employees. They are engaged and committed to succeed, emotionally attached, and are involved with the company’s vision and future achievements. Loyal workers are more productive at work, take less sick days and exhibit highly engaged behaviors. Additionally, loyal employees are stable workers they won’t jump the ship and go to work for the competitors rather they will look to promote companies interests knowing that by doing so they are promoting their interests too.

About Dr. Ivan Kos
Dr. Ivan Kos is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and a member of the International Association of Applied Psychology, among others, and lives in New York City.  Originator of the Fear Stage Theory (FST), he is also the author of "To Dare: It is Easier to Succeed than To Fail" which offers an antidote that empowers people with the ability to learn from fear, overcome negativity, and transform lives.

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