Have you ever wondered why staff loyalty isn’t always a good thing?
Faithful workers tend to invest more time and effort in their jobs. But not everything is rosy.
How many bosses could count on their employees threatening to quit en masse if any of them were abruptly fired?
Sam Altman received such a show of support from more than 700 employees after being fired from Open AI that the board quickly reinstated him. But this level of loyalty is not typical and may not always be a good thing.
Loyalty is associated with being “moral and honest,” particularly when it comes to family, friends, and romantic partners. In the workplace it is more complicated. It may be rational (I work here because they pay me a decent wage and the commute isn’t terrible); emotional (I believe my work is valued, my opinions are heard and I want to contribute to the future of this company); or more likely a little of both.
The greater the loyalty, the greater the time of dedication
Management experts say that staff who are loyal to their employer tend to invest more time and effort in their work, which helps create an engaged, higher-performing workplace. In turn, they receive promotions and salary increases. They have a greater sense of belonging and potentially a longer career in the same organization.
But not everything is rosy
According to a 2021 academic paper, people who are overly loyal are more likely to take actions that are considered unethical to keep their jobs and protect their employer.
Others May Overlook Irregularities
This would lead them to be less likely to expose corruption through whistleblowing. Loyalty is sometimes considered to be such a positive force that it can be used to justify bad behavior.
Often, companies and top bosses are the real winners of employee loyalty. Research led by Matthew Stanley of The Fuqua School of Business (Duke University) in North Carolina, United States, published in 2023, found that managers were more likely to exploit loyal people.
Stanley recruited nearly 1,400 managers to read about a fictional 29-year-old employee named John, who worked for a company trying to keep costs down. They had to decide how willing they would be to ask John to work longer hours and accept more work without paying more.
The researchers created several scenarios, including rating John as loyal versus other traits as honest and fair. Managers were more willing to ask loyal John to take on the burden of unpaid work.
“Employers take advantage of loyal and passionate workers because they believe that for [them] the work itself is its own reward,” says Neil Lewis, associate professor of communication and social behavior at Cornell University and author of the 2021 paper .
“It’s a double-edged sword: loyalty has benefits for both employees and companies, but it can also prevent us from seeing and doing things that need to change. It is helpful to periodically step back and reflect on why we are loyal to specific people, things or ideas.”
Companies are trying to increase loyalty among staff to help compensate for a shortage of skilled workers
This can reduce attrition and cut hiring costs. Consulting firm Gallup’s latest State of the Workplace report showed that half of the 122,416 employees who participated in a global survey were looking for a new job. “You can’t guarantee that anyone will stay these days,” says a consultant who advises boards of directors.
How the younger generations act on this
This is particularly true for younger generations, many of whom think differently about being attached to a company for decades. One headhunter says the corporate bosses she works with tend to believe that new graduates are less “forced” than previous generations and are not as willing to tolerate what they perceive as abuse. They trust their bosses less and are not as patient when it comes to career advancement, and see little benefit in keeping their heads down and following orders if they don’t see results quickly.
Not all companies can offer financial rewards (such as stock, higher salaries, and bonuses), so they are turning to other tactics. But wellness offerings like meditation apps do little to combat burnout. Shopping discount vouchers pale in comparison to a pay rise.
There are more meaningful ways to inspire loyalty, such as recognizing good work, empowering staff, eliminating toxicity and communicating better
This can go a long way in making employees feel appreciated and motivated. Still, tracking loyalty is complicated beyond looking at crude metrics like employee turnover.
Some companies obsess over employee engagement, a broader measure that includes the emotional and psychological involvement a person has in their job.
“Emotional loyalty is longer term. “Rational loyalty is fickle.”
This statement comes from Gallup’s Jeremie Brecheisen, who helps companies track engagement.
Scholars like Cornell’s Lewis point out that it’s also important for employers to ask themselves whether they have earned the loyalty of their staff. “Why should your employees be loyal to you? What do you do on a regular basis to ensure they have a meaningful and rewarding experience while working for you?
He adds that staff tend to respond to more cooperative relationships. “If I see that you are trying to help me, I will do my part to help you too. That effort on the part of employers can cultivate the feeling that “we are all in this together.”
5 Reasons Your Company Has Low Employee Loyalty
The state of employee loyalty (or lack thereof) begs the question: Is employee loyalty a thing of the past?
Research suggests yes. More than any previous generation, those born between 1980 and 1996 are more likely to make a rapid transition from one company to another throughout their careers.
When asked why?, one possible answer is that workplace demographics are changing.
Millennials who are now ages 25-39 will officially dominate the workforce starting in 2020 (35%).
The way millennials approach their careers is very different than their baby boomer parents.
«Career employees no longer dream of the day they retire with gold watches at the age of 65. Today’s employees consider themselves more like free agents in a sports franchise.»
The average tenure of workers between 25 and 34 years old is now just 3.2 years.
It’s clear that employee loyalty has changed, which could be a direct correlation to the fact that technology has changed, education has changed, access to new opportunities has changed, and the traditional career path has changed. The list goes on….
We’ve put together five reasons why employees are switching companies faster than ever and why employee loyalty is declining.
Why do employees abandon ship?
POOR COMMITMENT
According to Gallup, only 33% of American workers are engaged at work. 52% say they are «just showing up» and 17% describe themselves as «actively disengaged.»
Understanding the workforce mindset is critical because employee engagement is about how people feel about their responsibilities, their environment, and their purpose.
The risk of many actively disengaged employees
Even a handful of actively disengaged employees can have a net negative effect on the workplace and lead to turnover or a toxic company culture. Maintaining employee engagement should be a top HR priority, especially as a company grows. Employee engagement strategies will be different for each company.
HIGHEST SALARY
More than 35% of people between 18 and 34 years old considered remuneration as the main motivating factor for leaving their job (Ceridian). However, a higher salary is not always a sufficient motivating factor to change jobs for an employee who is very happy with the role, responsibilities and environment.
The impact of labor flexibility
45% of working adults are willing to give up some percentage of their salary, around 8.6% on average, all for greater flexibility at work.
Motivated by money
Unfortunately, there are people motivated by money who can boost their purchasing power at an accelerated rate by simply changing companies rather than staying in the same position for an extended period.
Nearly a third of millennials say they will look for higher salaries at another employer within five years (Staples). The corporate ladder is no longer vertical, it is more of a zig-zag shape and it is a path in which high performers no longer have to accept being limited by glass ceilings.
LACK OF LEARNING AND GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES
Breaking news: Employees want opportunities to learn and grow, and we’re not just talking about promotions. We’re talking about companies that give people the option to expand their skill set and knowledge and take on new challenges that aren’t always within the scope of their job descriptions.
Imagine doing the same task day after day with no room for skill development or any advancement
The job would be pretty boring, wouldn’t it? As humans, it is in our nature to learn, mature and advance as we age, and this applies to our careers as well.
A job that lacks growth opportunities and avenues for leadership development is a job that 67% of millennials would leave.
Millennials who either grow up or go away
Research shows that 90% of Millennials want to grow their careers at their current companies; They just aren’t allowed to do it, so they go somewhere they can.
FEATURE ADVANCE
People also leave jobs for a higher title and leadership responsibilities.
From the 1950s to the end of the 20th century, people typically stayed at their company between 5 and 25 years. The goal was to advance from a junior position to mid-level, management and beyond. Eventually, one would hit a glass ceiling depending on one’s skills and experience, where advancement was unlikely.
However, in the 21st century, when the Internet era exploded, things began to change.
With the click of a button, employees have access to thousands of career opportunities. They are no longer confined by location, as the amount of remote work available continues to increase.
High performers, especially in-demand jobs like software engineering, literally have a carrot—shiny new opportunities—dangling in front of their faces every day.
42% of millennials are contemplating leaving their current job to advance their careers. Companies that do not offer their employees the opportunity to promote and advance will end up losing their high-performing employees.
POOR CULTURE
The conversation about culture has become a hot topic in the era of social sharing. With the click of a button on websites like Glassdoor, employees are quick to voice cultural issues, ranging from a lack of inclusion and diversity, poor communication, ineffective senior management, or team conflict.
According to the report, «employees who rate their culture poorly are 24% more likely to leave.» It’s much easier to join a new company with a unique company culture than it is to change the culture of the company you’re currently at on your own.
The environment and the way team members treat each other is a crucial part of employee happiness
Employees who say there is a low level of respect among their colleagues are 26% more likely to quit their jobs.
In the future of work, culture matters more than ever.
Final thoughts…
Think of your employees as fantastic Airbnb guests who you want to stay, but know will eventually leave and move on to their next adventure.
Making the employee experience as positive and engaging as possible will help retain star players while also helping to attract new talent to replace those who end up leaving.
Loyalty in the workplace is not dead; it just requires a new perspective and ownership on the part of companies
It is necessary to understand that employees need to have a sense of belonging and purpose in order to feel continually engaged at work.
Is loyalty in the workplace gone forever?
The modern workplace has become increasingly transactional, a marked transformation from the postwar era, when employees stayed in their jobs until they retired with a party, a gold watch and a nice pension.
Walter Orthmann has worked for the same textile manufacturer in Brazil for more than 84 years, last month setting the Guinness World Record for longest career with a single company.
It’s a remarkable stretch, considering that American workers now spend an average of 4.1 years with their employers, according to federal data collected just before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted a spectrum of industries and spurred the so-called Great Resignation.
Record resignation rate
The record rate of resignations, more than 40 million in 2022, has made the American labor market the tightest in decades, and employees use that influence to make decisions and find better jobs.
They are renegotiating everything from their salaries and shifts to remote or hybrid work, and forcing employers to be more flexible.
The modern workplace has become increasingly transactional, a marked transformation from the postwar era, when employees stayed in their jobs until they retired with a party, a gold watch and a nice pension. The dramatic shift raises the question: Whatever happened to loyalty in the workplace?
“The balance of power continues to shift back and forth. Sometimes the employer does not need to make that effort. They have to make that effort now,” said Matthew Bidwell, a management professor at Wharton.
Janice Bellace, a professor of legal studies and business ethics at Wharton, believes loyalty is an outdated concept.
Instead, companies should ensure that employees “feel engaged and well treated.”
“Loyalty implies something more about the relationship” being reciprocal, she said. “If you are in a company and you feel productive and well treated, you can still go to another company if they pay you 20% more. But if people feel very engaged and well treated, they will not only feel productive, but they will want to stay.”
“It is very easy to see the cost of increasing wages by one dollar. It is very difficult to calculate the cost of wear and tear,” Matthew Bidwell rightly states.
The high cost of billing
Lack of longevity in the workplace may seem like a recent trend, but it dates back at least two generations, to the 1970s. Manufacturing was in decline, the oil crisis sparked a recession, and high inflation followed. Companies were looking to cut costs, so perks like Christmas parties and access to the company golf course (little extras that gave employees a sense of belonging) began to disappear.
In the 1980s, globalization and foreign competition, especially from Japan, threatened American economic dominance. Factories closed without warning, layoffs were common, and attrition was an easy way for companies to stay in the black.
“All of this made people much more cynical about the company, and they really saw it as transactional: I work for you so you can pay me. That’s all. There is no relationship,” Bellace said.
In the 1990s, a new wave of downsizing eroded any remaining sense of loyalty because it was often done to increase profits rather than save the company, Bidwell said.
When was it good and when was it bad?
“This wasn’t, ‘We’re losing money, so we have to let people go.’ It was, ‘We’re doing well, but we can make more money by letting people go,’” he said. “That was a change in the contract. Before that, there was a feeling that the contract was much more paternalistic.”
Bellace traces workplace loyalty along a timeline of decades, with the employee-employer relationship slowly weakening to the present. Along the way, employers came up with new terms to revive the dying relationship, such as referring to employees as associates, team members, or even family members.
«It’s very strange. “What family would say goodbye to you then?”
Over time, changing jobs became normal and even expected.
However, according to professors, it is still detrimental to business owners. There is a huge cost associated with turnover. Recruiting and training employees is expensive, time-consuming, and often results in lost productivity as new employees make mistakes and catch up.
«What most companies tend to overlook is that there is a cost to employee turnover that they don’t include in their spreadsheet: experience and institutional knowledge,» Bellace said. “If a new person doesn’t know how something is done in the company, he has to take the time to find out. How is that calculated?
Restaurants, retailers and other businesses that rely on low-skilled workers have tried to mitigate turnover by «skilling» their jobs as much as possible with automation, Bidwell said.
But that’s still not enough to offset the money saved by retaining an experienced employee.
Perhaps that’s why so many stores and restaurants are trying to attract new workers with offers of $10 to $15 an hour, significantly more than the current federal minimum wage of $7.25.
«They’re starting to understand that it makes sense to pay a little more and have people stay longer, compared to a world where you pay people as little as you can, but you get higher costs elsewhere in the world.» system», Bidwell. saying.
«Right now it’s more likely that if someone sees that they can make a lot more money at another company, they’re just going to up and quit,» says Janice Bellace.
There have been numerous studies on the cost of billing and the numbers vary greatly depending on position and industry.
That variation contributes to the complacency many companies have when it comes to retention.
“It is very easy to see the cost of increasing wages by one dollar. It is very difficult to calculate the cost of attrition,” Bidwell said. «It’s hard to measure and we tend to focus on things that are easily measurable.»
Besides money, there is also the question of organizational citizenship. Companies are better off when their workers are emotionally involved.
“If everyone works exclusively for themselves and does the bare minimum, nothing will get done,” Bidwell said. «Organizations need people who want to look after their interests and do the right thing.»
The effect of the pandemic on loyalty
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a curious effect on the emotional component of workforce loyalty, particularly for office workers.
The massive shift to remote work has led people to rethink their priorities. For many, that has meant changing careers.
Bellace is not surprised by what some have called “the Great Rethink.” Working from home may be convenient, she said, but it eliminates the social contact that fosters “good, fuzzy feelings” about going to the office.
Things that have disappeared from the offices
“You chat over coffee in the morning, someone shows up with a birthday cake, there’s a baby shower because someone’s having a baby,” she said. “All those things that would build a relationship in a work group have disappeared in the last two years. So I think it’s more likely now that if someone sees that they can make a lot more money at another company, they’ll just up and quit.”
With workers leaving their jobs in droves, employers are on the losing end of the currently tight labor market. Bellace cited figures showing the labor force participation rate is down 1% to 2% compared to before the pandemic.
“It may not seem like much, but it is,” she said.
But the job market is cyclical, and both Bellace and Bidwell don’t expect this situation to last.
Nor do they expect a resurgence of workplace loyalty. Orthmann, the Brazilian textile worker who celebrated his centenary last month with his co-workers, could be the last record holder of his kind.
“It’s always a moving target. It’s a calculating loyalty,” Bidwell said. “As long as I think I will do well, I will stay with you. But when trust is gone, people will leave. That has always been the case. “I don’t see a big change in that.”
Is loyalty only for fools?
On the contrary, organizations often underestimate loyal staff. They may also earn less than job seekers.
Matthias Spitzmüller is Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior, Smith School of Business, and he gives us a very interesting set of insights into our discussion today.
Featured
A recently published study came as a splash of cold water to do-gooders around the world and confirmed their worst fears. The study showed that loyal employees are selectively exploited by their managers; that those who agree to be exploited gain a stronger reputation for their loyalty, creating a “vicious cycle of suffering”; and that, perversely, disloyal workers are the ones who are rewarded.
Combine that with studies showing that job seekers make more money than loyal employees who stay with the same organization, and others showing loyalty can be a gateway to unethical behavior, and you may begin to question the wisdom of being a loyal soldier.
We tend to see loyalty as a shining quality of virtue and moral rectitude
This type of behavior usually is. Loyal workers are rightly revered for their ability to foster trust and cooperation and for their self-sacrifice.
Loyalty breeds authentic relationships and strengthens motivation. Ruthless and selfish behavior is not the solution, but as research shows, blind loyalty carries risks and situational challenges.
The question then is whether your company adequately rewards employee loyalty?
If organizations were serious about encouraging loyal behavior in the workplace, there is an obvious solution, as Smith Business Insight senior editor Alan Morantz learned in this conversation with Matthias Spitzmuller, distinguished professor of organizational behavior at Smith School of Business (on leave).
Spitzmuller says employers could design incentives that align loyalty, citizenship and collaboration with financial rewards and opportunities for growth and development in the company. This is what else he had to say.
Employees with reputations for loyalty often bear the brunt
But these are the people organizations should value most. What is happening?
I remember a talk a few years ago by Henry Moon, who researched multidimensional approaches to conscientiousness. Conscientiousness is one of the Big Five personality traits and he said it has subdimensions: one is duty orientation and the other is achievement orientation.
Henry said these two facets don’t always work together. In his own research, he asked a group of managers in an executive education program who they were most likely to promote: the individual who has a high sense of duty or one who has a higher sense of achievement. It turns out that the vast majority opted for achievements.
It is simply about upward potential
It’s the feeling that if you want to come up with something new, if you want to take the organization to new heights, then you need people who have the potential to reach the level of a star and not those people who are always doing it. The right thing. This is quite widespread.
There is also research in the context of organizational citizenship behaviors that has looked at the dark side of helping others. This research finds that those individuals who go above and beyond the call of duty for organizations (who are loyal, speak positively about the organization, mentor younger employees, and so on) receive higher performance evaluations, but are less likely to be promoted and are less likely to be promoted to receive a raise. There is a distinction between someone who is a star and someone who is the glue that holds a team together.
If I feel like I’ll never be a star artist, maybe it’s smart to play the loyalty card
I agree with that. For some people, it may actually be a good strategy to advertise themselves as loyal because they may not be able to compete solely on maximum performance potential. And there is certainly a role for those people on teams.
But (and it’s a big but) to understand the value of cooperation and loyalty, it is necessary to change the level of analysis from the individual to the collective.
For the individual, being loyal may not be an advantageous strategy. But it’s a tremendous asset to the organization to have people like that. Organizations compete against other organizations, so it is very easy to see how the group will only survive if you have members who are more loyal than the others.
From an employee perspective, when do you think it makes sense to be loyal?
First, I think loyalty is psychologically rewarding. Being a valued member of a team and cultivating meaningful, long-lasting relationships should not be underestimated.
Over time, you also develop business-specific capital that can give you an edge over others. You know how decisions are made. You know what skills are needed. That may not give you an advantage in the external job market, but it could make you valued internally.
It is also worthwhile for an individual to be loyal when the organization’s incentive systems reward him or her.
Companies have to train people so that they are not limited to seeking achievements and maximum performance and selfish individual behavior. They must find a way to align incentives and reward those types of behaviors associated with loyalty, such as working as a team.
The study I referred to earlier, on individuals who engage in citizenship behaviors and have higher performance evaluations but lower salary and career progression, was conducted in a law firm. And the reason is very clear because what matters there are billable hours. If you are nice to others, it can be detrimental to the time you can bill a client.
Therefore, we must develop an internal currency in professional services companies that also recognizes when people are good citizens and puts a price on that. Or make sure loyalty is taken into account when taking people to the next level.
Should employees view loyalty through the lens of self-interest rather than through the lens of morality?
When you say self-interest, you can say that having meaningful relationships at work is selfish, right? So the question is whether we are saying that it is only economically motivated, and even in that case we have to differentiate between the short term and the long term. I’m not sure the dichotomy is clear.
There are many nuances when we talk about self-interest or moral behavior. You can be loyal and selfish at the same time. So let’s not just look at bad employees who exploit their employers or bad employers who squeeze everything they can out of their employees, but at how they can sometimes work together.
There are people who have always stood by, who are always loyal, and who are not as appreciated by their organization as they should be.
And for those people, it makes sense to realize that their value is actually greater than they realize. I wouldn’t say that’s immoral.
I would say this is developing awareness of how you contribute to the organization.
A 2019 study showed that employees who were highly passionate were also prime targets for exploitation. It appears to be a similar phenomenon to what loyal employees experience.
Absolutely it is. A context that comes to mind is nursing.
These are people who have a high degree of passion and idealism but who sometimes feel exploited, sometimes just exhausted, sometimes all of that. To me, this shows that in our healthcare industry, the only resources that are basically infinite, that can always be used more, are the idealism and commitment of healthcare providers to their patients. It’s the idea that I only have a third of the time I had years ago, but if I don’t go further, this patient will have adverse consequences. This is a great example of an environment where employees’ passion or idealism is harnessed.
There are other investigations that have demonstrated the phenomenon of citizen displacement
What this means is that if you go above and beyond the call of duty once, the next time the expectation is that that is where you will start. It’s this idea that your passion defines new standards that others will hold you accountable for.
Post-Covid, there appears to have been a major shift in the psychological contract between employee and employer. The work-from-home issue is just a tipping point. This should have an effect on loyalty bonds in the workplace.
Without a doubt, the trend is toward a redefinition of the psychological contract that de-emphasizes loyalty and emphasizes a more instrumental orientation. This is seen in the increase in people who are not part of the permanent workforce.
Basically, they are purchased for a very limited period of time and precisely because of the value they add. No benefits, no security attached. It reflects a lower value placed on long-term loyalty.
This has interesting implications. What does this mean for internal cohesion?
What does it mean for an organization’s innovative capabilities, both good and bad? What does it mean for an organization’s ability to develop and maintain a unique culture?
To me, these are really interesting questions that haven’t been answered yet. But I agree that the psychological contract is being radically redefined and that it is an ongoing process.
The customer is not always right: employee loyalty is more important than customer loyalty
Why investing in your employees is a profitable strategy
«The customer is always right; the customer comes first.» We’ve all heard these mantras, whether as part of our jobs or as clients in the marketing materials of countless companies.
However, extensive research shows that customer satisfaction is built more effectively by focusing on employee happiness first.
At the July 2022 Executive Symposium, Todd Coerver, CEO of P. Terry’s Burger booth, expressed his belief that «the customer is not always right.»
He demonstrated the way he invests in his employees because investing in them is as important as investing in the company.
Coerver’s stance on the ever-familiar rule that “the customer is always right” begs the question: “Is employee loyalty more important than customer loyalty?”
The idea of putting employees before customers seems counterintuitive, but it’s not entirely new.
More than 20 years ago, a group of business professors at Harvard University had been working on a model that validated this concept. James Heskett, Thomas Jones, Gary Loveman, W. Earl Sasser, and Leonard Schlesinger were comparing the results of their own studies and synthesizing other research to build a model to explain the outstanding success of the most profitable service companies.
It began with Sasser’s research, conducted with his former student Fred Reichheld. The duo pointed to a long-standing business assumption: market share is the primary driver of profitability. If a company can increase its market share, it will increase sales while taking advantage of economies of scale to reduce costs and thus increase profits.
However, when the pair examined a variety of companies and existing research, they discovered that while market share is a factor in profitability, another factor better explains the most profitable companies: customer loyalty.
Based on their research, Sasser and Reichheld estimated that a mere 5% increase in customer loyalty can lead to a 25 to 85% increase in profitability.
This finding laid the foundation for five Harvard professors’ search for the causes of customer loyalty.
After studying dozens of companies and a wealth of research, they created a model that traced the origins of customer loyalty that they called the «service-profit chain.»
The service-profit chain links various elements of the business model in a linear relationship
Profit and growth are driven by customer loyalty. But first let’s take a step back… How is customer loyalty achieved? Loyalty is influenced by customer satisfaction.
Customer satisfaction is stimulated by a high perception of service value. Value is the result of productive employees. Productivity arises from employee satisfaction.
Put another way, profits are driven by customer loyalty, customer loyalty is driven by employee satisfaction, and employee satisfaction is driven by putting employees first.
According to Forbes, a recent study showed that managers play an important role in employee satisfaction and the service-profit chain.
A trio of researchers led by Richard Netemeyer of the University of Virginia
It collected data from a single retail chain that included 306 store managers, 1,615 customer-employee interactions, and 57,656 customers.
The researchers were testing the effect of managers’ performance and satisfaction on employees and, therefore, their effect on customer satisfaction and the managers’ overall store performance.
They found that managers’ actions, customer satisfaction, and stores’ financial performance were indeed linked.
These results support Heskett and his Harvard colleagues’ argument that management support for employees contributes significantly to internal service quality, the first link in the service-profit chain.
The results of Netemeyer and his team’s research also suggest that reversing the organization chart really works.
It is essential for managers to understand that their role is to support employee satisfaction and, therefore, customer satisfaction, largely because their success in this role clearly has a significant impact on their company’s financial performance.
The belief shared by many corporate leaders that hierarchies should be reversed and customers put second is simple in theory, but difficult to put into practice.
To transform the organization it is necessary to transform loyalties
Leaders must demonstrate that their loyalty is to employees first, trusting that their employees will then be more loyal and attentive to their customers.
It’s a big bet, but the results speak for themselves.
How can you demonstrate an employee loyalty policy in your workplace?
All companies want to attract the best possible talent to their workplace. But who would want to work with a company that treats its members as disposable assets?
Investing in your employees is a great business opportunity and builds a strong reputation for your company.
People want to work for organizations that promote their growth and value their opinions
When you recognize the importance and value of your employees, you remind your team what you’re working on and what they’re doing well, which in turn inspires them to continue doing better.
This abundance of inspiration and praise allows for a more open environment for idealization between you and your direct reports. Engaging with your team will enable an engaged work environment in your organization.
If you are looking for an efficient way to track your progress with your team as you participate in them, you need to ensure visibility of all ongoing activities: task performance, manager performance, organizational citizenship, team performance and objectives for direct reports.
Implementing employee loyalty in your organization is great. But tracking overall performance throughout this process will be crucial to understanding its long-term impacts.
Just like the research conducted by Harvard professors James Heskett, Thomas Jones, Gary Loveman, W. Earl Sasser, and Leonard Schlesinger, happy employees equal happy customers.
When you inform your employees that the customer is always right, you pit the employees against the customers, and the customers always come out victorious.
This creates problems on multiple levels:
– Undermines the authority and control of employees.
– Often causes resentment among employees against managers.
– Points out that management supports customers more than employees.
– Shows a lack of confidence that employees can adequately resolve difficult situations.
The reality is that supporting your employees will lead to happier customers
It is important to remember to side with your employees in a positive way so that the customer understands that you and your employees are the experts of your business and that your goal is to help the customer.
However, some customers may not be happy if they are not treated as if they are right, and that is okay.
Believe it or not, there are some clients you DON’T want. If a customer constantly complains, abuses employees, or causes stress in your company, it’s not worth it. It doesn’t matter how much money they pay.
A bad client:
– Erodes employee morale.
– Requires an unusually high amount of resources.
– Increases employee stress levels.
There may be times when you have to “fire” a client to protect your company and your employees. If you plan to stay in business long term, you need to avoid terrible clients.
Leaving bad customers may cost you some revenue in the short term, but it’s better for your business in the long run.
Why you should NOT be loyal at work
Devoted employees are more likely to receive extra tasks and ask for unpaid overtime, according to a study.
Researchers have found that company loyalty is a double-edged sword, as managers tend to exploit loyal workers over less committed colleagues.
You might think that being a loyal worker is key to going far in your career. But being a dedicated employee could make you more likely to be assigned extra work and unpaid overtime, a study suggests.
The core traits of TOXIC bosses l
Scientific studies identify 5 key characteristics, since without delving into the world of cinema, which is a faithful reflection of society, from Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada to Mr Burns in The Simpsons, bad bosses have been elements staples of blockbusters for years.
Matthew Stanley, a leading researcher at Duke University, states that “we value people who are loyal. We think of them in positive terms and they are often rewarded. It’s not just the negative side. “It’s really complicated and complex.”
The microbreaks
Bad news for bosses: The ‘quietly quit’ microbreak trend actually makes employees BETTER at their jobs
‘Silent quitting’ is a trend that has taken over TikTok in recent weeks, with Gen Z workers doing the bare minimum at work to avoid burnout.
The trend has been widely criticized by experts, with one calling it a «short-term solution.»
However, a new study suggests that the trend could actually make employees better at their jobs.
Researchers at the West University of Timișoara (Romania) found that taking microbreaks can increase energy and reduce fatigue at work
«Microbreaks are effective in maintaining high levels of stamina and relieving fatigue,» the researchers wrote in their study, published in PLOS ONE.
While micro breaks did not appear to affect performance on the tasks, the researchers found that longer breaks did.
Based on the findings, the researchers suggest that bosses should offer their employees a combination of microbreaks and longer breaks.