I had an interesting conversation this weekend about employee
loyalty. There was a concern about the effect of a lack of employee
loyalty on businesses today. I replied that I was not worried about
employee loyalty because I don’t think there is any reason that
employees should be loyal to a business.
It is a business’ responsibility to make employment something
that their employees want. The easier it is for employees to
change jobs, change careers, or start businesses the better. As
more and more Fortune 500 companies lay off workers, demand more
productivity while cutting wages, and in general show no
appreciation for employees as assets, a revolution is taking place.
Small and mid-sized businesses have been the driver of employment
for some time. In that area, the balance of power in the ‘war for
talent’ is turning to employees. More people are turning down the
industrial-age proposition of trading ones values and ideals for
economic benefit. These days, more people want both - and they
deserve it.
While this presents challenges for all companies today (mine
included), I am confident this is actually a good thing for any
company that wants fast-growth. I’ve felt this for some time, and
reading Fred Reichheld’s, The
Ultimate Question, made me sure of it. According to the book,
Bain & Company surveyed North American employees who had worked
ten or more years for the same company. Here’s what they
found:
- Only 39 percent trust their leaders to communicate openly and
honestly
- Only 28 percent say their company values people and
relationships above short-term profits
- Only 19 percent (less than 1 in 5) can be considered a ‘promoter’ of
their company
Here are my thoughts:
- If this is how my people feel, I don’t want them, so it’s a
good thing if they leave.
- I place the blame for the way employees feel on the employers.
It is management’s job to make their people feel valued and, in
turn, make their people value the customer.
Think about all of the money spent on marketing and sales -- all
of the ‘customer outreach’ initiatives, loyalty programs, special
offers, etc. How much money is spent to support making employees
‘raving fans’ of the employer? How much do you spend? How
worthless is money spent on attracting customers only to have them
end up face-to-face with employees who don’t feel valued?
Companies that create an environment where the employee wants to
be a promoter for their employer will have an unbeatable advantage.
Your employees are harder to satisfy than your customers. So if you
can turn your employees into fans, you’re probably already doing
everything it takes to make your customers big fans, too.
