A common perspective often equates employee’s loyalty with the tenure of employment. Those workers who continue to serve for longer tenures with an organisation are frequently considered to be highly dedicated and loyal towards a company. Unlike job hoppers, employees who work for long are perceived to be highly satisfied with their job roles and trustworthy, since they are not on lookout always for greener pastures elsewhere.
A commonly established mindset is that workers who have been able to accomplish credits to their success by spending almost half of their lives, working for the same organisation, are these employees genuinely satisfied and highly loyal?
Some employees do continue to stay longer with a company because of blind obedience and unthinking devotion. They are willing to work for a basic salary that merely helps them meet needs to run a life, irrespective of the benefits and other arrangements provided by employer to support their personal and professional growth.
These employees while complying to the organisation rules, are only able to accomplish tasks to fair standards, while longer tenure at work does work they fail to grow in their career and elevate their capabilities. They continue to be a part of the workforce that is not shining.
Truly loyal employees are not just those who work for decades with a company. They are committed to help the company succeed, willing to grow and set aside their own priorities for the sake of company’s long-term advancement.
The trust and high optimism showcased towards meeting company goals and vision drives them to initiate actions and become highly productive in executing their job roles, to be able to accomplish tasks beyond their job description.
Here are some qualities of highly loyal employees a company should recognize:
They don’t always nod to everything. Loyal employees are not those who always give a positive affirmative nod to employer’s decisions, especially in areas that offer room for feedback, suggestions, or any disagreements.
They would actively participate in the argumentative deliberation, (while it might contradict with the employer’s opinion) for company’s good and better improvements in the times to come.
Debating and disagreement is healthy in a workplace in moderation, as employers are able to arrive at the best decision owing to the different viewpoints garnered from employees. If employees almost nod to everything, then employers might miss out on the chances to seek valuable inputs from different perspectives. This would stagnate company’s growth prospects with no brainstorming and differences in opinions.
See: How to Nurture Loyalty among Millennials towards their Organisations?
They know when to leave. Loyal employees don’t always stay forever with a company. They know the most appropriate time to leave an organization to seek for better opportunities elsewhere, effective workplace, more inspiring leaders/management or expand the expertise in other industry.
Since they have made great contributions to the company, most employers will expect the loyal employees to stay. When loyal employees quit organisation, employers have much of learnings that drives them to do self-correction and make improvements in many aspects.
They show high integrity. Truly loyal employees will not always showcase great obedience to every decision. They consistently seek the right thing to do from many resources and references they can access.
These highly proactive attitudes sometimes make loyal employees seem as rebel, disloyal workers who cannot just obey the decision. In fact, they are actively seeking for better techniques or deliberating on ways to seek company advancement.
They support in public. Truly loyal employees set aside their personal feelings to support every final decision made by employers. Even though these employees cannot completely disagree, loyal employees still willingly support the decision. Instead of allowing projects to fail during the course, they support their arguments with effective reasoning.
They generate discussions. Loyal employees feel connected to the company’s growth plans when they are an active part of the discussion. They initiate discussion on some important topics related to the company’s advancement, even if those are not directly related to their main jobs and duties.
Recognising truly loyal employees will help HR managers and employers to see employees more objectively, thus clearing the blur lines between long-employed workers with those who are truly loyal to the organization.
HR manager should provide effective appreciation and recognition for those who perform loyally, as this will help retain employees within the company.
Also read: 10 Inexpensive Ways to Appreciate Your Employees
