How to build employee loyalty

Regardless of size, the commitment and dedication of employees are some of a company's biggest assets. Employee behavior, their activity, hard work, and achievements result from how well a company manages to secure their loyalty. It takes time, but it can be lost in a blink of an eye.

How to do it?

The level of loyal employees in a company is largely contingent upon how the organization and its managers treat them.

Of utmost importance is to devote adequate time and attention to employee needs.

Disloyalty towards an employer may not be reflected only by slander, it could come from leaked internal information or abuse of corporate resources; what's equally significant is a decline in trust in the management or any individual manager, along with a unilaterally enforced strategy that disregards any belief that the efforts to change things for the better is worthwhile.

So what should managers do?

• They should keep their promises and treat everyone equally.
• They should take an interest in the professional and the personal troubles of employees and ask   for their opinions and investigate whether it is possible to improve the operations of their department.
• They should show that they care about who works for him.
• They can offer financial rewards.

The results are loyal employees who fulfill their tasks proactively. They will work to the best of their abilities, even without any positive reinforcements, they will talk about their employer in a positive light in public and will be willing to work extra hours.

Loyalty and study

Employees will appreciate it if they are given the opportunity to pursue higher education. Instead of inhibiting them from expanded their knowledge base, they should be encouraged to do so.

A good option that employees can be offered is the opportunity to be enrolled in an MBA program. If it helps employees to become more efficient, the company should reimburse or pay for all or part of it, and thus gain their loyalty. An effective manager could even take the time to track the level of performance that increases after someone or a group of employees have completed a higher education program.

LIGS University offers working professionals the opportunity to study in an Interactive Online MBA program, which in terms of time consumption is possible to combine with full-time employment. Thanks to this program, potential students will not miss work and can devote time to studying on weekends or after work.

Loyalty is not built automatically

What kind of management behavior patterns prevents employees from unifying their company together? Here are few supporting points:

• Underestimating the importance of mutual communication, when the management believes that it is not necessary to present the company‘s intentions and reasons for significant decisions to employees – assuming that they would not understand them anyways.
• A tendency to underestimate employees and micromanaging.
• Lack of leadership ability. People in any organization need a leader who will make them feel secure and believe that they have a stable future, while at the same time giving them space; thereby trusting them to apply their skills and perform their tasks with little or no supervision.

It is necessary to realize that loyal employees are consistent and fair, they feel solidarity with the company and their colleagues and never harm the interests of the company. Their loyalty is solidified when they are tasked with relevant and meaningful work, when they get support from their superiors and an opportunity for personal development – this includes the possibility to study in an MBA program that will enable them to be more productive and promotable in the future, making it easier to promote from within.