[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he most prominent sign of employee loyalty in any organization is reflected in the trust they repose in the organization that makes them empathize with the management. Employee loyalty is also demonstrated in the attitude of loyal employees who are ready to clear the mess created by leaders. Above all, they are ready to make any sacrifices for the leaders and work alongside them in good times as well as bad times. They would never dream of deserting the company.
It pays off in the long run for companies to have loyal employees that minimizes employee turnover and helps to create a stable work environment. As teams remain unchanged, the teamwork gets boosted that improves efficiency and productivity shoots up. Company objectives are looked upon as employees’ priorities. The whole thing adds up to better employee relations, more employee satisfaction and above all better business results. Building employee loyalty takes time and efforts that have been discussed in this article.
Employee loyalty can make business prosper
Despite so much of positives, the real picture about employee loyalty is quite dismal. The majority of employees cutting across industry segments find enough reasons to look out for new jobs. Most companies lose about a third of the workforce annually. The recruitment process is often tedious and it is not always easy to find the right man for the right job. Moreover, replacing an employee would cost the company about 20% of the average employee salary. Overall, companies are always on the losing side as a result of high attrition rate. Therefore, it is worth to work towards building a band of loyal employees that can make business prosper. How to build employee loyalty has been discussed below.
Focus on emotions that create attachment
The easiest way to determine whether employees are loyal is to gauge their level of attachment to the organization. More the employees are loyal, more will they feel for the company and stay attached to it. The sense of attachment is generated by myriad emotions and all of these together constitute employee loyalty.
The fundamentals about creating loyalty are hidden in the measures that can be taken to increase the positive vibes within the organization. This would touch the employees who could get a feel of the positive emotions and be driven to get closer to the company. The closeness would then translate into more attachment, which is the goal that you want to achieve. Be careful to distinguish between the behaviors that emanate from the emotions and the emotions that are at the roots because you have to focus on the latter to get the results. A lot has been written on the subject and you can look for more info at getabstract.com, that offers summarized reading of the latest books, articles and videos.
Make them feel truly important
Even though employees cannot always be preferred to be given the driver’s seat they can be made to shoulder more responsibility through empowerment. Employees have to be entrusted with the responsibility of taking decisions and not receiving commands only. This creates higher engagement that brings them closer to the organization as they start feeling to be a part of it. Creating flexible work hours that are left to them for working out and allowing them to work remotely when they feel that it is needed are some ways of increasing employee engagement that can turn them more loyal to the company.
Recruitment through referrals
Having created employees who are loyal to the company, you can now turn to them for referrals during recruitment. Since the employees have found it worth to stay attached to the company they would be interested to refer the company to their friends who could strengthen the force of loyal employees. There are enough statistics available to support the theory that higher recruitment of referrals has significantly lowered employee attrition and even brought it down to as low as 5%.
Fair compensation that is competitive too
Unhappy with what you earn, you would be keen to look for places where you get better compensation. This has been one of the most prominent reasons why people seek change. Paying less to employees than the industry benchmark could result in employees feeling that they are losing in value. This feeling could drive them far away from being loyal to the company. Bringing more transparency to the compensation plans and making it public would instill more confidence in employees about the fair policy of the company in treating their employees. This measure would obviously build trust that drives them to stay loyal to the organization.
Showcase the pool of talents
Everyone wants to work for companies that have earned a reputation for being employee oriented. The trait of employee oriented companies is that they would like to showcase the pool of talents that they have. On the other hand, employees also feel very proud to be part of the company that acknowledges their talent. This approach pays off well as it increases the retention rate of employees which is the purpose of creating loyal employees.
Maintain transparent communication with employees
Change is the way of life today and industries are facing the problems of uncertainty due to changes in the economy. Another reason for disruption that creates instability in business is the high flow of innovations that has become a necessity to beat competition. Uncertainty and instability in the work environment builds stress that cannot be avoided. Communicating transparently with employees to keep them informed in advance about impending uncertainties is quite effective in winning their trust as they are able to see what lies ahead.
Lastly, workplaces can lose the tag of being safe and comfortable for working due to some mischievous people who make it worse for others. It could be co-workers or even bosses who can turn workplaces ugly and compel others to dislike the place. The management has to come down heavily of errant employees and ensure that the environment at the workplace remains cordial and healthy that promotes employee loyalty.
