Creating Loyal Employees

In today's business world, loyalty is a very powerful concept. Decades ago, most younger employees would stay on a job for several years at a time. Older employees would stay longer, especially if they were concerned about building a career with that employer. But times have changed, and many employees, especially those in their 20s and 30s, don't consider loyalty to an employer to be as important as it once was.

But what exactly does loyalty mean in a business setting? In its most basic sense, it's the relationship between an employer and an employee -- an abstract, often unwritten contract in which the employer agrees to provide the materials and resources the employee needs to get the job done, matched by the employee's agreement to work at an optimal level to fulfill the goals of the company.

Loyalty is really the glue that ties an employee to their job, and that tie is a function of the respect and allegiance the entrepreneur attempts to develop in their employees. When it comes right down to it, loyalty is a key reason many employees remain on their job

But when either party to this contact fails to fulfill their role, the contract that's hard to build in the first place gets broken. And then it's extremely difficult to rebuild the trust that existed between the employee and the boss.

But why are loyal employees so important -- even critical -- to the success of your business? Loyal staffers help create a history and a culture of stability. People who've been around awhile know the road, the rules and the "how it's done around here."

Loyalty reduces costly turnover rates by eliminating the time needed to advertise for new hires, then interview, screen and train them, and wait till they get up to speed. Loyal employees are usually also satisfied, productive employees.

Steps to Take to Develop Loyal Employees

So how do you go about instilling loyalty in your employees? Stephen Robbins, the author of Organizational Behavior, offers several ideas in his book. The important thing to remember is that it's all about you -- how you behave, how you treat your employees, how you perform as a manager. While it would be nice to think you'll be able to hire people who will be loyal and stay the course, it's really comes down to their interactions with you, because you are the company, and if they like and respect you, chances are, you'll have loyal employees.

First, you've got to prove you have what it takes to get the job done -- you've got to be competent, or you'll get no respect. This means you need to show a high level of knowledge, skills, and ability when performing both your operational and leadership functions. If you can demonstrate that, your employees will come to respect you -- a major step toward building loyalty.