Loyalty in the Workplace
by Sonshi.com
Like the dinosaurs, loyalty in the workplace seems to be a thing of the past. Sure that's a harsh statement but look at the current business environment. Employees are not hesitant to switch companies on a moment's notice. Job sites like Monster.com and Headhunter.net thrive on this trend. The cost to companies to obtain new workers is great...more if they're star employees. But why shouldn't they? Corporations that were proud to say they have never laid off their employees in the previous decades are now doing so in droves. Not only is it not shameful but their stock prices may even go up. Reminds us of a parody article in the Wall Street Journal where the Dow increased 10,000 points in one day because every employee in America was handed pink slips; unemployment isn't so bad when your 401K just doubled!
Granted, shifting to different companies may be good for some people. Their skills may be better utilized and so on and so forth. Reduction in staff can actually be beneficial when there is excess headcount in regards to the work that needs to be done. Managers will sometimes build departmental empires to gain more power. This of course needs to be stopped. Thus, the increase in stock price we mentioned above. Wall Street thinks the company is trying to be as efficient as possible by laying off unneeded workers. Just good business practice.
However, what you will find in many cases is the remaining employees' workload tends to dramatically increase. The duties never disappeared with the eliminated positions. In a way, companies are being more efficient with the aid of their workers' willingness to take on more responsibilities. With this comes perpetual stress and overtime. Not a way to treat your "most valuable assets." They will eventually leave for greener pastures -- and fast.
So businesses that want loyalty from their employees must show loyalty themselves. What we say is nothing new and most everyone is aware of it. But hardly anyone is executing! Whenever a CEO tells a reporter how "tough" it is to let his or her 5,000 employees go, we roll our eyes. This person has no clue. If anyone who will have it tough is the employee being laid off. The total cost to society is enormous in these times and is mostly unaccounted for in pure monetary terms.
But what if a company has to cut costs or else perish? Though we admire a fast reaction, a properly staffed company will rarely have this issue. You hire what you need and stop when you don't. Disciplined recruiting practices need to be enforced. And when tough times hit, you stick with the employees you have. Paraphrasing the undefeated swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, even the most unskilled employee can be put to good use. Executive perks should always be the first to go. Perks are for performance. When performance is not good, these benefits should accordingly be discontinued. Your executives threaten to leave if these benefits go? Let them go. Not the types of people you want running the business anyway. Imagine how your workers will feel when they know management, i.e., their leaders, is doing all it can to keep the company's members intact. Loyalty manifested. In turn, loyalty will be reciprocated.
Lee Iacocca of Chrysler cutting his salary to one dollar so he can get a much needed reduction in the hourly pay rate of autoworkers is what loyalty is all about. It was manifested, and it was reciprocated. The maneuver helped save the company and their jobs. Therefore, loyalty is about giving and taking...a two way street.
Like the dinosaurs, loyalty in the workplace seems to be a thing of the past. Sure that's a harsh statement but look at the current business environment. Employees are not hesitant to switch companies on a moment's notice. Job sites like Monster.com and Headhunter.net thrive on this trend. The cost to companies to obtain new workers is great...more if they're star employees. But why shouldn't they? Corporations that were proud to say they have never laid off their employees in the previous decades are now doing so in droves. Not only is it not shameful but their stock prices may even go up. Reminds us of a parody article in the Wall Street Journal where the Dow increased 10,000 points in one day because every employee in America was handed pink slips; unemployment isn't so bad when your 401K just doubled!
Granted, shifting to different companies may be good for some people. Their skills may be better utilized and so on and so forth. Reduction in staff can actually be beneficial when there is excess headcount in regards to the work that needs to be done. Managers will sometimes build departmental empires to gain more power. This of course needs to be stopped. Thus, the increase in stock price we mentioned above. Wall Street thinks the company is trying to be as efficient as possible by laying off unneeded workers. Just good business practice.
However, what you will find in many cases is the remaining employees' workload tends to dramatically increase. The duties never disappeared with the eliminated positions. In a way, companies are being more efficient with the aid of their workers' willingness to take on more responsibilities. With this comes perpetual stress and overtime. Not a way to treat your "most valuable assets." They will eventually leave for greener pastures -- and fast.
So businesses that want loyalty from their employees must show loyalty themselves. What we say is nothing new and most everyone is aware of it. But hardly anyone is executing! Whenever a CEO tells a reporter how "tough" it is to let his or her 5,000 employees go, we roll our eyes. This person has no clue. If anyone who will have it tough is the employee being laid off. The total cost to society is enormous in these times and is mostly unaccounted for in pure monetary terms.
But what if a company has to cut costs or else perish? Though we admire a fast reaction, a properly staffed company will rarely have this issue. You hire what you need and stop when you don't. Disciplined recruiting practices need to be enforced. And when tough times hit, you stick with the employees you have. Paraphrasing the undefeated swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, even the most unskilled employee can be put to good use. Executive perks should always be the first to go. Perks are for performance. When performance is not good, these benefits should accordingly be discontinued. Your executives threaten to leave if these benefits go? Let them go. Not the types of people you want running the business anyway. Imagine how your workers will feel when they know management, i.e., their leaders, is doing all it can to keep the company's members intact. Loyalty manifested. In turn, loyalty will be reciprocated.
Lee Iacocca of Chrysler cutting his salary to one dollar so he can get a much needed reduction in the hourly pay rate of autoworkers is what loyalty is all about. It was manifested, and it was reciprocated. The maneuver helped save the company and their jobs. Therefore, loyalty is about giving and taking...a two way street.