Watching a movie with my son the other night the main character announced that his company had “never fired anyone”. He went on to explain that “because of this they had loyal hard workers as they were secure in their positions and future”. While this is obvious fiction it does make one wonder. Where does company loyalty really come from?

Not conducive to company loyalty.

Work hard and you’ll be rewarded.
Growing up I was told to “keep your head down, work hard, and you’ll be rewarded”. What I have seen and experienced is that this is not necessarily true. That hard work is not recognized many times. This is definitely not conducive to loyalty.

Some of the key factors in an employee being happy, productive, and loyal is having a voice and being recognized. Something to think about.

Greater company good.
Over the years, when I signed up to go to work for someone, I would really dig in and become an evangelist. I would put in crazy hours to become the “go to” guy. I would tell everyone what a great company I work for and sincerely mean it and appreciate the opportunity. I would work when I’m sick and miss precious family time to hit company goals. Even today I am willing to pay the price to help the company I’m working for in becoming successful. I help in all departments as I can for the greater company good and future. I was and am loyal.

Then one day, like a light switch being turned off, I found that my ideas were credited to others. That my efforts were unnoticed or not cared about. That I was really not thought of any better than anyone else in the company. That I was easily dispensable in their eyes.” A major deterrent to loyalty.

Company direction, politics and bottom line.
I’m a big person and I totally get that companies have bottom line responsibilities. I also understand that companies make decisions that don’t include their employees. I am not such an egotist to think that any company should consider an employee first in their companies focus and direction.

With that said… it just makes sense to me that the loyal productive employee, not just dollars and cents, should be part of the equation at some level. They are hard to find and can add so much to not only the bottom line but a company’s culture and brand. They are the evangelists that companies so desperately want and need.

Irony.
What I find interesting is that companies are shocked at the lack of loyalty from their employees. Their historical examples of non-loyalty are a non-issue to them. They take no responsibility for any of this.

“It is best not to swap horses while crossing the river.” -Abraham Lincoln

All companies demand loyalty from their employees. And that makes sense to me at some level. What doesn’t make sense, however, is that they don’t feel it needs to be reciprocated many times. That’s really the rub isn’t it?

A company’s justification is, of course, they have given them benefits and a paycheck. Isn’t that enough? The idea that they earned those paychecks and benefits never really seem to come into play.

Truth be told. I am always loyal.

I will always be loyal to the company that writes my paychecks. That is just how I am built. I don’t try to beat the system by working other jobs and putting in a less than effort.

“Whose bread I eat, his song I sing.” -German saying

There are terrible employees that lie, cheat and are not loyal. I have experienced this first hand being let down by some that I “had their back”. The same could be said for companies I have worked for however.

Employers need to re-evaluate the worth of a loyal productive employee. Managers and upper managers need to understand the total loss of letting someone go like this. While it might look good on a spreadsheet is it really good for the long term bottom line?

True Loyalty takes place when both the company and employee participate. You really can’t have one without the other. At least not for any length of time. I believe most employees want to be loyal when they get hired. Unfortunately, many times, it is not reciprocated by the company. At the end of the day that really doesn’t work does it.

Chris Lott

Chris has over 15 year’s Sales Management experience including Business Ownership, Product Management and Web Design/Marketing. He’s a national sales team strategist and trainer. Chris is the designer of the popular totallysales™ sales playbook with thousands of copies downloaded. He’s a nationally syndicated author with his articles on SalesBlog! rated as a “top must-read” on consultative selling.