Grappling with staff loyalty

Grappling with staff loyalty

By June Bennett

JAKARTA (JP): It has been reported that some organizations choose loyalty over skills when recruiting staff. These organizations should consider the ramifications this could have on their operations.

Loyalty has several interpretations. It is obedience, faithfulness or being firm in one's belief in something.

Even if employers think they know what they want in terms of loyalty, how do they measure it in an interview, and likewise, how do they assess whether an individual has the aptitude to be trained to be a proficient worker?

Psychometric and aptitude tests are available but they may not be reliable or suitable for your purpose. It is a well-documented fact that decisions on whether we engage an individual are often made within the first few minutes of an interview, when it is impossible to have had the opportunity to fully explore an individual's abilities.

Employers should engage in professional recruitment and selection practices if they want an effective and efficient workforce.

For organizations to be successful, Belbin suggests they require workers who have between them a variety of personal characteristics, including conservativeness, discipline, reliability, maturity, confidence, trust, outgoingness, dynamism, imagination, cleverness, unorthodox, extroversion, enthusiasm, curiosity, soberness, intelligence, objectivity, and the ability to communicate.

The team of workers also needs to be social, accommodating and perceptive.

The ramifications of this need to be considered. For example, a team can become more loyal to itself than to the organization. Employees who are "company workers" may be loyal to the organization, but an organization that is mainly resourced by such employees will not have all the ingredients to enable it to move; it will stagnate. There will be individuals who will try to organize and those who use unorthodox methods to solve problems. It cannot be guaranteed then that every worker will take the company line.

Some employers say they want employees who will do as they say. They wish to control them, which is shortsighted. On the other hand, employers across the world say they need people who have initiative, are creative and entrepreneurial. These individuals are not going to do as they are told. Employers have to accept that they cannot have it both ways and they do need these people in today's rapidly changing work environment.

These situations may feel uncomfortable or undesirable but they are a necessity if the organization wants to be successful. It is exactly these challenges to the status quo which, if managed professionally, can help both the individual and the organization to grow.

What people want from work changes as economic and employment situations change. If individuals feel threatened, where will their loyalty lie? When there is high unemployment, workers look for job security. This should not be interpreted as loyalty to the company. Individuals could be loyal to themselves and their family. In times of full employment, workers look for appreciation and recognition of work done and a feeling of being involved. Loyalty comes way down the list.

Companies must move forward and integrate new techniques and technology if they are to be competitive in the marketplace, and even more so as globalization increases. If this requires change, and it is mismanaged, then people will feel insecure. Some people may lose their job or be redeployed. What price loyalty then?

If loyalty comes from fear, then it is not so desirable. There is a saying in the west "the worm eventually turns". This could result in your employees working to rule, being unhelpful, withdrawing their goodwill, taking long spells in the restroom and on the company telephone, an increase in absences, poor quality work, theft and sabotage, to name but a few practices.

The employment of such tactics is likely to be the result of some long term grievance. The employees consider the psychological contract has not been met. The consequences for your company could be dire and this is well documented. If you want employees to be loyal to you then you must be loyal to them.

Employers may hope that control in the workplace will avoid conflict and that employees will not challenge the way things are done. Many people cannot handle criticism but we should remember it is usually specific and not personal.

Conflict handled badly can lead to the negative practices identified earlier. Employers who cannot manage conflict will look upon it negatively from the beginning and will "go for" the employees who they think will not challenge the status quo. These employers should consider the consequences of such decisions.

Employers must learn to manage conflict and criticism constructively. It must be identified as a positive force in the workplace as it is an important factor in an organization's development.

Employers have every right to be concerned if they invest in training individuals who then leave and take their skills to another company. Surely, it is unethical and immoral to keep someone "tied" if they are dissatisfied. To be considered, also, is that the quality of their work will be poor and that training goes on all through our lives. In our rapidly changing environment today's training could be out of date tomorrow!

Retraining unsatisfactory employees, or holding on to staff when there is no work for them, because of this "loyalty thing", could be about saving face. It certainly is not an effective use of a resource, nor is it loyal to anyone.

How does loyalty manifest itself in the workplace? I was always taught that loyalty in the workplace works two ways, both up and down. It is not just about the employer being benevolent, paternalistic and keeping someone in employment. It is about both parties fulfilling a contract objectively set at engagement. It is about the psychological contract and the fulfilling of promises.

Organizations that support this philosophy suggest it engenders loyalty. They recruit individuals with the appropriate skills, abilities, attributes and experience to enable them to undertake their duties efficiently and effectively. Individuals obtain job satisfaction. This, and praise, engenders loyalty. You have a team that is self motivated, productive and controls itself. There is no need for control or coercion.

If the psychological contract is not fulfilled employees will feel, rightly or wrongly, that the organization has been disloyal to them, resulting in their energies, motivation and enthusiasm being focused outside their place of employment.

Employers should recognize the fact that loyalty is engendered by the fulfillment of the psychological contract, and that loyalty works both ways and is only one of many attributes being sought at recruitment. If there are to be changes, inform your employees. This is being loyal. Not informing people is disloyal and cowardly and is the domain of those who have not learned to manage conflict. There is a need to realize that people who ask questions are beneficial to an organization and that they should not be shut out. These individuals are actually demonstrating loyalty.

It should be accepted that it will not always be possible to get a return on their investment in training. If employees wish to leave, then a release fee could be negotiated, but, it is also necessary to identify why individuals wish to leave your organization. Usually this has nothing to do with money but about promises unfulfilled. Individuals may wish to leave because their talents are not being used.

In conclusion, we should not employ someone just because it is thought they will be loyal. We do not want an organization of clones as there would be no dynamism.

Organizations may not get a return to their training investment and if an employee can be more gainfully employed elsewhere, we should not stand in their way. We must avoid making promises we cannot keep. We want individuals to be faithful but as situations and environments change, so will the needs of the workplace. If this causes conflict, then it must be managed constructively. Organizations can benefit from strong minded individuals but they need to be managed and their energies channeled for the benefit of the organization.

Organizations that make too much of this loyalty concept at recruitment stage are creating problems for themselves in the future. A professional approach to the recruitment and selection process is recommended.

The writer is a management consultant based in Jakarta.

WIndow: Loyalty in the workplace works two ways... It is about both parties fulfilling a contract objectively set at engagement. It is about the psychological contract and the fulfilling of promises.