Guardian

NO doubt, employees’ loyalty and dedication to duty is crucial to the survival and sustainable growth of any organisation.

Indeed, among the various factors of production, management experts have repeatedly identified the roles of loyal and dedicated employees as key to attaining set goals and objectives.

But, the basic question that has over the years raised concern among observers is the possibility of measuring employee loyalty.
Besides, some argue that if loyalty is defined as being faithful to a cause, ideal, custom, institution or product, “then there seems to be a certain amount of infidelity in the workplace these days.”

According to experts, loyal employees are the heart of successful companies. When people feel fulfilled at their jobs, they go the ‘extra mile’ to help the organisation improve, they share expertise, resolve conflicts, suggest improvements, boost morale, help co-workers, conserve resources, among others.

“Those behaviours make groups and organisations more effective, sales are better, production loss is lower, everything is better,” says Diane Bergeron, an assistant professor at Case Western’s Weatherhead School of Management in Cleveland.

To explore the benefits of loyal employees, management expert, Bergeron is of the opinion that organisations should take time to understand what their employees need and provide it for them, “As in any relationship, if you get what you need, you’re more likely to stay,” he added.

Emphasising that loyalty is largely inspired by flexibility and individual attention, he identified techniques that should be adopted: “Invest more time in the hiring process. Hiring takes a lot of time, but a rigorous process pays off when you find the right person.

“Person/organisation fit is huge,” Bergeron says, adding: “If you’re selective on the front end, you lose fewer people later.” Well-matched employees are naturally more loyal, so retaining them takes less effort. 

“As you hire, introduce the candidate to several people on your team, ask them to complete a project or share samples of past work, and screen for personality. Make sure their values match the values of the organisations.

“A good match will blend naturally with the others on your team, rounding out their skills and fitting in with the overall culture. Make your employees marketable. A good working relationship must be beneficial for both of you, meaning that employees need regular opportunities to enhance their professional skills. Many companies worry about investing too much in employees in case they leave, but you want to do just the opposite. The more (employees) feel they can leave, the more likely they are to stay,” Bergeron added.

Managers are the most important source of growth and inspiration. “The relationship with the manager is the number one predictor of whether or not someone stays (at a job),” Bergeron says. Make sure your managers are trained to inspire their employees, share their expertise and offer opportunities for growth.

Allow many paths to promotion.   Your employees’ needs are ever evolving, so you can help them grow and inspire loyalty by offering opportunities for advancement tailored to their skills and goals. For example, many computer programmers want to move up without shifting into management, so technology companies often offer a choice between a technical or managerial career path.

Go one step further by helping an employee create a new job based on their skill set, or allowing them to rotate between different roles. “If people have the flexibility to tailor their job to their needs, they’re less likely to leave to find what they need.”

Empower employees to make choices. Inspire loyalty by giving employees a sense of freedom and control. “When people feel that they’re trusted, they respond to that,” explained Bergeron. You might let employees work from home when needed, make decisions autonomously, or adjust their work schedule to balance family. Those freedoms show confidence and help employees tailor the job to their needs.

“Trust is this basic component of society,” said Bergeron, pointing out: “Without it, (organisations) cease to function.” Trusting companies have less rigid management, greater creativity, and higher employee satisfaction. They also inspire employees to go above and beyond, making the workplace better for everyone.

While loyalty is clearly not on the same level as revenues or profits, for example, which directly affect the bottom line, “there is some evidence that an organisation’s more satisfied employees perform better,” says another expert, Bidwell, “but the link is not that compelling.” Using employee loyalty as a performance metric has merit, adds Cappelli. “The issue has been to put a dollar value on this. How much is it worth if employees consistently place the company’s interests ahead of other factors in those situations where they have discretion? Probably a lot, but it’s hard to put into dollar terms.”

According to a 2011 Career builder report, 76 per cent of full-time workers, while not actively looking for a new job, would leave their current workplace if the right opportunity came along.

Other studies show that each year, the average company loses anywhere from 20 per cent to 50 per cent of its employee base.

The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have repeatedly emphasised need to create a conducive working atmosphere for workers.

The apex labour movement in the country believes that creating more quality jobs in the long run would address adequately employees’ anxieties and by extension enhance dedication and loyalty.

President of NLC, Abdulwaheed Omar identified unemployment, insecurity and corruption as some of the challenges confronting the country.

Omar said: “We (NLC) have chosen to focus specifically on three key challenges which, if not dealt with decisively and in a timely manner, could very well undermine the survival of our nation. These are the challenges of unemployment, insecurity and corruption.”

He added: “Comrades, you will agree with me that today, the country is faced by a monumental unemployment problem. Official statistics put the national unemployment rate at approximately 24 per cent. As high as this rate is, it nevertheless camouflages the enormity of the unemployment crisis in the country. If underemployment and disguised unemployment were to be added to the figure, the monumental crisis will become more glaring.

“More importantly, an analysis of the disaggregated unemployment data shows that the youths bear the greatest brunt of the unemployment problem. The unemployment rate among the youths has been put at 37.7 per cent. Some estimates actually suggest that the figure is over 50 per cent!

“Whichever way we look at it, it is obvious that we are facing an unemployment time bomb in our nation. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that 197 million are unemployed worldwide in 2012. Of these, 74 million are young people between 15 and 24 years of age.

“With an estimated 80 million youths in the total population, 30 to 40 million unemployed youths constitute a veritable army of the hungry, disillusioned and angry that can undermine the stability, security and peace of any nation if left unattended.

“There is an urgent need for decisive intervention to rein in the unemployment problem. The signals of strife and insecurity today are warning banners we cannot afford to ignore.

“To overcome the problem of unemployment, Nigeria must promote strong industrial policies that recognise manufacturing as a key engine of growth and decent mass employment for the national economy,” the NLC leader added.

But President of TUC, Peter Esele, maintained that Nigeria’s economy had not come to grips with the common man, adding that it “has defied all logic.”

He said: “Since the beginning of this year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has repeatedly told us and the rest of the world that Nigeria’s nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is to reach $300billion within the year, with an annual GDP growth rate of 7.03 per cent mainly driven by the non-oil sector.

“This is very good news. But one cannot help but ask some pertinent questions. Which are the non-oil sectors that have contributed so much to our economy? We are now in the second quarter of the year. How far has the economic growth postulated by the CBN reflected in the life of the average Nigerian? How much extra naira has it put in our pockets? Has it provided more food on the table? How much impact has it had on housing, education, job creation, and basic infrastructure, among others? Is it real or superficial? Is it the kind of growth that makes the rich richer and the poor poorer? Questions, questions and more questions! My fellow comrades, I leave them all for you to ponder on,” Esele said.