A serious problem is occurring in the workplace— over the past few years, employee loyalty has reached new lows. This is a crisis, as turnover has increased during the Great Resignation and team productivity and morale has been negatively impacted. The importance of employee loyalty should not be underestimated in preventing attrition. Developing a committed, and capable team is not possible without building employee loyalty first. And this is especially true when facing the ongoing pandemic and the digital transformation challenges associated with remote and hybrid work. Moreover, with labor shortages and skill gaps increasing organizational challenges, loyalty in the workplace is more critical than ever.
Why is employee loyalty so important? Passion for an organization helps reduce turnover and greatly improves workforce resilience. Employee loyalty helps employees adapt to new changes and form more resilient teams. Successful organizations understand that investing in their employee engagement and loyalty is smart business.
Read on to learn more about employee loyalty and how leaders can help cultivate loyalty in the workplace.
The Power Of Employee Loyalty
Employee loyalty isn’t one-size-fits-all. It is a combination of emotions that causes employees to feel attached to their current company and less likely to seek greener pastures elsewhere.
Whatever shape employee loyalty takes, it creates obvious and powerful benefits:
- Employees are more likely to produce their best work when their values are aligned with your organization’s culture.
- Employees devoted to your organization’s mission and their leader will be more productive and efficient.
- Employee loyalty reduces turnover rates. Recruiting new team members is never easy; therefore, reducing the number of times you need to do so per year will benefit your entire company.
- Loyal employees tend to be more proactive with ways to improve the company, contributing ideas and driving innovation.
4 Ways To Improve Employee Loyalty
Improving the general sense of loyalty in your business culture, like many other organizational processes that must be implemented, requires effort and a willingness to adapt. This is especially true for millennials and Gen Zs, who have unique ideals that must be addressed.
Here are 4 powerful ways to build and foster a loyal workforce:
Nurture Employee Potential
Employees who are supported by their employers have the opportunity to grow and thrive in their jobs. If you want to maintain the best talent working for your company, you must nurture them. 70% of employees would be somewhat likely to leave their current job to work for a company that invests in employee growth and learning.
Employers can do this by offering training and development programs like coaching, enrolling them in upskill courses, and providing opportunities for employees to participate in seminars and workshops. As a result of these programs, employees will feel much more dedicated to you and your company’s performance.
Say No To Micromanaging
Micromanagement undermines employees’ confidence and drive. Employees who are micromanaged will become hesitant to make decisions, unless they get explicit consent from a manager, resulting in inefficiencies in decision making and turnaround time. According to one study, 71% of employees said that micromanagement interfered with their job performance, and 69% contemplated changing employment due to micromanagement.
Leaders should focus on human performance. They should learn to delegate, set clear expectations, and encourage feedback. That doesn’t mean you should stop checking in and giving input — the key is to establish open communication and make yourself available to your people. Trust their knowledge and competence. Empowered employees understand that you trust them, appreciate this trust, and feel more loyal.
Practice Employee Recognition
When publicly recognized for strong performance, employees can see that their company values them and their contributions to their team and the company as a whole. It also gives employees confidence, inspiring them to continue doing excellent jobs. Whenever you give your employees praise and recognition, they feel validated. When this happens, people become more open to receiving feedback and acting on it.
A recent survey found that employee recognition was the most important thing for 37% of employees. Management can strengthen a recognition culture by implementing peer recognition programs, perks and rewards, fun activities and workshops, and providing opportunities for employees to create ideas and propose them to leadership. When people see the initiatives designed to reward them, they recognize their own achievements and build a stronger sense of loyalty to the organization.
Practice Two-Way Communication
According to the 2021 Pumble’s Workplace Communication Statistics report, 86% of employees and executives cite the lack of effective collaboration and communication as the main causes for workplace failures. Communication is vital in our daily lives and at work— it either enhances or ruins employee relations. Effective communication can improve morale, contentment, loyalty, and engagement.
Employee-to-management two-way communication also provides employees a voice, minimizes the likelihood of misunderstandings, and may reduce the number of grievances. Collaborative communication improves processes and procedures, resulting in higher efficiencies and lower costs, not to mention increased employee loyalty. To encourage good communication, it is good to establish psychological safety first. When employees feel safe, they are more likely to speak up in open forums, participate in regular performance reviews for both management and rank and file, embrace open-door policy, and participate in surveys and feedback mechanisms.
Fostering Loyalty Through Positive Workplace Culture
Contrary to popular belief, offering good compensation to your staff does not immediately correspond to loyal employees. A loyal employee is not just someone who has been with your company for years; it is someone who has always been focused on the company’s growth and a staunch supporter of all of the organization’s endeavors.
Employee loyalty benefits businesses in a variety of ways. It motivates your employees to do their best and execute to the greatest standards. A team of loyal employees can improve your company’s overall performance. Employees that are loyal to the company are also more inclined to support the organization as a whole. They will propose ideas, push toward increased sales, and generally do everything to ensure the business’s success.
There are numerous approaches to foster and boost employee loyalty inside your organization. To recap:
- Celebrating each employee’s potential and value can help improve their quality of work and show them they are a valuable member of the team.
- Avoiding becoming a micromanager, balancing handling daily tasks, and supporting employee empowerment will boost trust in the organization.
- Getting feedback regularly can help to uncover areas for improvement within your organization. This can boost employee loyalty by allowing them to communicate how they want to feel valued by the organization.
Contact Aduro today for holistic wellness programs for boosting employee loyalty.