Excerpt from an article of Mr. Gopalkrishnan, Chairman TATA, as he talks about the pros and cons of staying in a company for long and being loyal to it. He says…
I find that most of these people are the ones who have stuck to the company, ground their heels and worked their way to the top. And, as I look around I find that people who changed their jobs constantly, have stagnated at some level, in obscurity! In this absolutely ruthless, dynamic and competitive environment, there are still no short cuts to success or to making money. The only thing that continues to pay, as earlier, is Loyalty and Hard work.
But is this the scenario everywhere? or are there only a few companies that can boast of loyalty bonus or a steep growth path if one chose to stay in the company for long. There are a variety of insights on the same, and many of us will have a different outlook which actually goes in a different direction from what Mr. Gopal Krishnan has to say…
For most of us say, lack of loyalty can cost us in numerous ways, but in the corporate world, even being loyal to your company may cost you – Your JOB. Most companies feel that employing a young blood will help improve their productivity.
In recent times, certain organizations have fired 20-30% of its staff by tagging them as redundant and they have not notified them in advance about their termination. They would be called by the HR and asked to leave the company premises within an hour. They would not even be permitted to take their belongings from their desk and their access to Company’s Network and Email would be revoked as well.
Why are the workers who are loyal to the company for more than 10 to 15 years shown the egress? Are they not loyal to the Management? Then, why do the organizations not ponder before executing such strategies, albeit, they might be operating substantially well.
“Employees don’t leave their job, they leave their manager” is the mantra heard for many years in Human Resource circles. To feel respected, employees should be treated as a significant asset to the company; employees should feel that their manager has realistic anticipations about what they can attain, and, managers must be fair and even-handed while dealing with them. In my experience, nothing makes employees angrier than seeing a peer receive special treatment when they’ve broken the rules or have not been performing. Managers have the special role of enforcing company policy while at the same time removing obstacles for employees to perform well.
Let the blood flow profusely
The lifeblood of every Organization is its workforce. Given this critical fact, you may infer that every business has a detailed plan and concrete modus operandi in place to ensure that the employees are engaged. Unfortunately, this is generally not the case. Many companies extensively presume that if they build a good product or offer a good service, and if the customers continue to buy those products or services, then employees should be happy. Employers typically do just enough to ensure that the majority of the employees don’t leave; they train just ample, they offer just adequate benefits, and they give just sufficient positive reinforcement. Is this the right way to approach employee loyalty?
Consider these two startling facts: Each year the average company loses 20-30% of its employee base and substituting a lost employee costs more than that person’s annual salary.
Embrace their Loyalty – Engage them
As an employer, you need to apprehend why your employees are zealously connected to your business – and it’s generally much more than salaries, training, or benefits. Research shows that fervently connected employees are the best employees because they are engaged and productive, and they feel corroborated and appreciated. It’s not inconceivable today, with the right technology and best practices. I hope this entropy will give ideas and motivation to engross your employees more. Eventually, with suitably engaged employees, everyone wins.
The prized possessions
To effectively accomplish the rendezvous of your employees is to start a walk down the road with great rewards, including happier and more productive employees who stay lengthier with your company and willingly promote your business to others. Happy customers will follow, which will then lead to heightened profits and other positive business outcomes. I endorse that we should start working right away on the aforementioned benefits.
If all of you can only initiate just few of them currently, that’s fine. What’s important is that a new beginning needs to be instigated; having highly betrothed employees is one of the most worthy goals any organization can anticipate and their loyalty needs to be rewarded constantly with innovative initiatives and a stable intensification corridor.
