In the workplace, as in life, loyalty is hard to earn and easy to lose. To complicate matters even further, there are no shortcuts. Loyalty is yours only when you deserve it, and in these days of the Great Resignation, your employees are paying attention and deciding whether or not they want to continue their careers with you.
When employees don’t feel recognized and valued for the good work they do, there is little infrastructure to foster their trust and loyalty. When leaders align their team with a vision, mission, and core culture values, they infuse a loyalty that creates a unique bond with their team members.
Here are three ways that leaders can build a loyal workforce.
Recognize employees authentically. Send a personal email or a handwritten note to show your team members that you are personally aware of and appreciate their hard work. Make sure you celebrate milestones – birthdays and anniversaries – to make the employee feel special on their big day.
Empower employees to do their job the best way they see fit, while managing the accountability process. When you treat employees like you trust them to do a great job, they usually do just that.
Terminate toxic employees. When employees see their coworkers getting away with bad behavior and toxic attitudes, it demotivates them and they no longer want to give their best. When employees see that you are willing to get rid of employees who don’t support the organization’s core values, they will feel more loyalty to the leadership team.
Employees remain longer with an organization whose leader show respect, bond with them and create a sense of unity and purpose toward the company vision. If you want your employees to have your back, you must first have theirs.
