Locking in Loyalty

Locking in Loyalty by James Sharpe   Employees, particularly high-potential talent and pivotal leaders, are important to any company's success. However, many organizational leaders fail to recognize how to foster employee loyalty.   Once company executives recognize how essential their top employees are, they often rely on monetary rewards or promotions to keep them on the job. These traditional tactics alone won't work as we emerge from the recession.   An innovative strategy to retain top talent centers on the concept of employee loyalty, but not in its traditional sense:   1. Loyalty is no longer synonymous with retention. Just because employees stick with it doesn't mean they are engaged and therefore as productive as they could be.   2. Employee loyalty no longer means one-directional communication. It is not just an employee being loyal to his managersand the company.   Employee loyalty should be thought of as circular communication. It starts with leaders creating initiatives that will earn employee loyalty. When employee loyalty initiatives begin with leaders who "walk the walk" and treat employees how they want to be treated, results can be tremendous. Employees will respond positively and be more loyal to the company and the managers they work for. High-potential talent and pivotal leaders will not only stay with their current employers, they will do more business-critical work and will do a better job at it, since they likely will embrace the challenge. Thus, employee loyalty efforts also will help propel the company to a more competitive position.   How to Earn Employee Loyalty   Many leaders believe they currently have loyal employees. In reality, many seemingly loyal employees are far from it. Take John, a midlevel manager who was recruited away from a small food manufacturing plan to a larger frozen foods company. He left his old job not only for a promotion, but also to become part of an organization he deemed prestigious. But months after he made the move, economy-driven layoffs began. John survived the layoffs, but now does the work of two people. His responsibilities also became more mundane, and the shimmer of working for a big company and developing more advanced, in-demand skills began to fade. John still comes to his job every day and completes his projects on time and above expectations. But he isn't really engaged. His work is not fulfilling, and he doesn't feel like his new employer is using him to his full abilities. He understands the routine tasks need to get done, but he needs a stretch assignment to complement his current workload and help him develop more strategic skills that will advance his career.   Gaining employee loyalty isn't easy. It must be earned through a well-thought out company process. First a company needs to go through a kind of self-recognition. Leaders need to examine what their employees are saying - and feeling - about their organization and its leaders and why. Then, use those lessons learned to implement an employee loyalty program that will ensure loyalty from employee to supervisor and from supervisor to employee in a circular approach.   Phase 1: Company Diagnosis   Leaders must first understand just how essential key employees are to their organization's success. If high-potential talent and top talent leave when the job market starts to turn upward, companies will suffer. Further, most companies will need their toptalent more than ever to rebound and succeed in 2010.   Employees will have a different mindset post-recession. Take John, for example. He is bitter about the way he perceives his laid-off colleagues were treated and the extra work he was forced to take on. These negative feelings are shared by his peers. In fact, many employees don't trust their managers or the companies they work for. They want and expect something different from their employers going forward. Think of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. As economic conditions improve, there is a shift toward more personal levels of self-actualization. Key associates will look for an environment where they can actualize their own potential. This conclusion is essential for companies to grasp the factors that contribute to employee commitment and employee loyalty and to focus on these factors immediately.   Once a company has a better understanding of its employees, it must examine its near- and long-term goals. It should align its employees' professional objectives with the company's goals. For example, if increasing sales is a top company priority, employee goals should include honing in on specific sales strategies. Top talent and pivotal employees should be given stretch projects that align with those goals, and it should be communicated that their personal successes have a direct positiveimpact on the business. This will help leaders keep talent challenged, motivated and likely more engaged in a project. Further, the employer is helping top employees obtain in-demand skill sets that will make them more employable in the marketplace.   This may seem counterintuitive, but the single most important thing a company can do is recognize that it can't guarantee employment forever, but it can guarantee it will help keep its employees employable. Think about John at the frozen foods company, and imagine how much his mindset and enthusiasm would change if he were in conversations with his boss that gave him focused, stretch assignments that developed new skills and had a direct impact on the business.   Based on the statistical research and experience of talent management expert Dr. B. Lynn Ware, one of the top retention factors is for managers to keep their employees engaged and challenged. The trick is to find alignment between individual and organizational needs. When done correctly, the company will benefit.   Phase 2: Implement Employee Loyalty   Once leaders understand their employees' mindsets, company priorities and staff skill sets, it is time to begin a formal employee loyalty program.   First, a company should expand its development programs and work with organizational leaders to establish that employee loyalty is a circular process - be loyal to employees first, and then they will return the favor. Formal programs should be executed through a mix of in-person. Web-based and peer-to-peer networking sessions, so leaders understand how to create and earn employee loyalty. This initial investment should be supplemented with ongoing informal interactions between peers and managers to reinforce messages and to ensure it's not a flash-in-the-pan program of the month.   Leadership development should discuss the importance of transparency. At this point in the global recovery, leaders need to be as transparent as possible. Now is not the time for ambiguity. Leaders need to be open and fortright with employees about the company's direction and goals. That way, employees believe in the company's health and understand where things are going, and they can be a part of its emergence.   Once initial development sessions are complete, managers will need to start having career advancement conversations with their reports to learn their short- and long-term goals. This is a major shift for many managers, especially those of the baby boomer generation who have had a different career mindset. Older workers typically believe if you go to work, do what you are asked and do the best job you can, you will be seen as an asset to the organization and be promoted. Younger employees have a greater focus on self-esteem and respect for others, and while the down economy was a strong dose of a new reality, they still believe their managers should facilitate their careers or be career coaches. While older managers might not take on this job willingly, if they understand this mindset and do what they can to develop their employees, they will benefit too.   Ongoing career development conversations facilitate the process by illuminating employees' career goals and helpingmanagers better align the right employees to the right projects. As we move from "cut and do whatever it takes to survive to fight another day" to a more competitive longer-term focus, companies should not guess what employees want to do. They should take a proactive approach to keep an engaged workforce that will win long term.   In 2002, the U.S. Navy was concerned that training and developing sailors with skills that were in demand for employers outside the Navy would encourage them to take up civilian jobs. But after an executive review of Navy training, it was found that sailors given in-demand skills were more comfortable with their self-worth and were willing to continue on for additional years of service knowing the Navy would continue to invest in their careers.   The scenario is no different today. Organizations that keep their employees employable will retain a more loyal workforce. However, managers cannot underestimate the value of ongoing career development conversations to ensure they give the right stretch projects to the right employees and measure results effectively. These conversations also help manage the managers' expectations. Clear goals with quantifiable, desired results and timelines should be identified so the employee has a clear understanding of the company's goals and the important part he or she plays.   Employee loyalty should be at the center of any discussions for companies looking to rebuild in 2010. Employers must think about it differently, and those that do so and execute related programs effectively will benefit. They will not only keep more of their top talent and pivotal leaders, they will have a more engaged workforce that develops and uses more business-critical skills on projects that benefit employees, managers and the company as a whole. Big things can happen when everyone is motivated to accomplish aligned goals.     [About the Author: James Sharpe is senior vice president of strategic solutions for PDI Ninth House.]