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Loyal employee: to be or not to be? How to measure staff loyalty to the company Loyalty requirements

Loyalty is the tendency to work for one company for a long time. Loyalty is not the same as devotion. It is clear that everything is relative, but still, “long” means a certain length of time, years.

Two opposing traditions have developed in the world. So, in both Europe and Japan it has always been customary to work in one company for a long period. Americans value themselves, not themselves plus the company, perceiving their personality as a separate market value that sells well.

Unlike residents of the United States, a German, for example, thinks like this: me plus a Volkswagen - this is a real combat unit. Russia is still choosing its path. Why is the topic of loyalty becoming more and more pressing for Russian companies? This can be explained simply: the vectors of economic and demographic trends are increasingly diverging. With the growing demand for labor, the supply of professionals is decreasing.

The highly qualified labor market is part of the general labor market. Scientists have never had more children than workers. Despite the craze for higher education, in absolute numbers we are seeing a reduction in professional personnel everywhere. The last surge in mass births in the USSR occurred in the early 80s, and this generation, born then, entered the labor market several years ago. No more such “tides” of specialists are expected

In Moscow, the consequences of the demographic crisis are felt less, because it is a point of application for talents, the owners of which are people from all over Russia. Many employers, both government and commercial, complain about the lack of employees. There is a misconception that Moscow lacks highly qualified personnel, but Irkutsk has plenty of them. In fact, there is a colossal shortage everywhere. In addition, there are now much more people who are ready to easily move from region to region than ten years ago. “My home is where my work is” is a popular motto of today's professional.

Job seekers feel that there are fewer competitors and more jobs. People often have a question: where, how and for what to work? In turn, employers are puzzled by how to motivate people. How to make employees loyal? After all, uncontested loyalty is beginning to become a thing of the past.

This gives rise to various misconceptions, according to which loyalty is a kind of virtue, and a true professional should have it by default. Some, for example, identify it with honesty. But honesty is not loyalty. Loyalty is the tendency to stay with one employer for a long time for various reasons. Because you are afraid to change anything, or because you are satisfied with everything.

The overwhelming number of employees remain in the company, primarily due to certain material reasons. They work conscientiously and for a long time, which means they are loyal to the company. As long as the financial agreements between the employer and employee are observed, the person remains in the company. When a financial relationship goes wrong and an employee leaves, he is not committing a disloyal act.

He commits a market action, and loyalty simply ends when the public or tacit agreement between the parties is actually broken. Loyalty is akin to the rule of good manners in business communication: it is an employee’s response to the fulfillment of his material requirements

But if a company does everything for the growth and development of an employee, for example, pays for professional studies, conducts training, promotes him in position, while the person does not sit at work for days, but still leaves the company - this is the employee’s problem. This attitude can be called disloyalty

It also happens: from a financial point of view, everything is abnormal, but the employee is still working. This is also a manifestation of loyalty, but the essence of the phenomenon is still rational. Perhaps the person is not fully aware of his worth. Maybe he's not sure if he'll sell his powers elsewhere. Or hopes for a career boost after overcoming the crisis

You can't count on pure loyalty. There is a calculation everywhere. But many job seekers today already understand their importance and are not afraid to enter the labor market and look for a new job. If the employer does not find an opportunity to increase wages, he needs to be prepared for the fact that employees will leave, and this will be a normal market situation.

I recommend that all employees rethink their attitude towards the labor market and begin to understand their own value, enormous and growing. And then throw away the psychological barrier and ask yourself: “Am I loyal to the organization in which I currently work? Why?" Carefully analyze your relationships with employers, evaluate your development opportunities both within the company and outside it.

My wishes to those of our readers who occupy leadership positions: pay more attention to whether your employee is satisfied with his work, whether it helps him in achieving life goals that are significant to him - material success, stability, development or anything else. You should be aware of all these factors that determine employee loyalty, observe their dynamics and, as marketers say, track employee satisfaction with your value proposition.

Konstantin Borisov, Director of ANCOR Services

Each person, guided by intuition, can distinguish the loyal behavior of someone from the opposite. In general, it manifests itself in devotion to someone or something. If we talk about the loyalty of personnel in an organization, then here we are talking about devotion to the company, management and colleagues. A normal level of loyalty indicates that employees strive to conform to the organizational culture of the company, accept its policies and are ready to follow the principles defined by management to achieve common goals.

However, it is not always possible for the management of an enterprise to achieve the required level of loyalty of its own personnel, which entails a lot of problems. This article will help you understand what it is, how to determine the level, and will also tell you about ways to build staff loyalty within the company.

What it is?

Staff loyalty is a positive attitude of an employee or employee towards management, the organization’s policies and the team in which he works. Professional HR managers note that the basis is the desire of the company's employees to benefit it and avoid actions that could harm.

Differences from trustworthiness

It is worth noting that concepts such as staff loyalty and reliability are often confused. Integrity is following generally accepted norms in the organization, doing work appropriately to achieve common goals.

A trustworthy employee can do his job effectively, but at the same time he may be disloyal to management, the culture of the organization, and its principles. In general, an employee's trustworthiness indicates the degree of normativity of his behavior in relation to the company, and loyalty is the degree of tolerance and acceptance of the company.

Essence

From a psychological point of view, staff loyalty is a certain attitude that develops in employees a commitment and a sense of pride for working in a particular company. It should be remembered that such an employee is ready to put up with some requirements and deeply accept others. From this we can conclude that staff loyalty is correct, friendly behavior and respectful attitude towards management and colleagues.

Increasing loyalty in work teams always leads to the fact that employees begin to seek all internal and external resources and reserves to achieve the required, and sometimes maximum, performance. The loyalty of company personnel often helps in crisis situations and allows employees to constantly develop, improve their knowledge and find innovative ways to solve any work problems.

Required attributes

Every company that wants to develop and operate in the long term is obliged to take care of the appropriate level and development of staff loyalty. This is due to the fact that in general it is a key factor in the formation of professional motivation. Motivated, loyal employees value their jobs and strive to develop; they take all issues very seriously and are ready to make every effort to achieve the goals that their superiors have set for them.

Based on the above, it is important to remember that loyalty has its own mandatory attributes, namely:

the employee’s sense of pride in being part of a team or company;
undisguised, sincere demonstration of a friendly and respectful attitude towards management and colleagues;
readiness to prevent dangers that may negatively affect the company;
sincere concern for the success of the company and team;
honesty towards the company, management and colleagues;
desire to perform one's duties in the best possible way;
willingness in certain situations to make small sacrifices for the sake of the company.

If an employee owns most of these attributes, then in this case we can say that he is absolutely loyal to the company and management.

Factors of occurrence

The process of managing staff loyalty is unthinkable without knowledge of what factors can influence its occurrence among employees of the organization. The following factors are identified:

the employee’s existing experience (model of previous business relationships at previous places of work);
personal values;
providing due attention to the employee;
feeling of pride.

It is worthwhile to dwell on each factor in more detail. Speaking about existing experience, they mean the degree of trust in the company that a person had at his previous place of work. In order to understand how difficult it will be to instill a sense of loyalty in a person, it is necessary to clarify with him during the interview how well he got along with colleagues and management at his previous place of work, what suited him and what outraged him, as well as what kind of relationship should be between colleagues and leadership. Based on the answers, you can determine how well a person will fit into the existing level of loyalty and how difficult it will be to instill this feeling in him.

The formation of personal values is directly related to existing experience. A person’s beliefs about certain phenomena are extremely difficult to change. If a person is confident that professionalism does not affect career advancement, and that it is possible to get a highly paid position only by having personal connections, then it is difficult to expect behavior from him that indicates the opposite.

An extremely important factor in the formation of staff loyalty is the attention given to each employee by the enterprise. In this way, the importance of a person for the company can be noted. Perhaps this factor can also be called human, since when working with people it is important to emphasize that he is not just an employee, but part of one whole mechanism, and that he deserves the trust of the company. Here it is extremely important to remember that each person evaluates attention differently, since for one, congratulations on holidays will be enough, while for another there will be nothing better than financial encouragement, and for a third, determining an individual work schedule. But in any case, it must be remembered that the company’s attention to its employees must at the same time be comprehensive, adequate and not harm overall discipline.

The next factor influencing the formation of loyalty is pride in belonging to the company and team. When a company achieves success, each employee experiences certain feelings, and if at the right time you point out to the staff that this is the merit of each of them, then you can increase the feeling of joy for the goals achieved and make employees proud of the team, themselves and the company as a whole.

Levels

The higher the level of staff loyalty, the more reliable the employee is for the company. The following levels are distinguished:

The first level, which consists of external attributes indicating belonging to the company. Wearing branded clothing, using branded ashtrays, cups or stationery is where any company should begin to work to increase staff loyalty. At this level, it is difficult to talk about complete trust in the enterprise, but there is a high probability that the employee will be able to feel part of it.
At the level of behavior, which involves following rules and complying with norms. At this level, loyalty manifests itself in the form of discussing business events in the company, collective congratulations to the management team, or sharing a snack at lunchtime.
At the level of abilities, it is expressed in accordance with the abilities of each employee to the requirements of the company. The right employee, when performing his daily work, adheres to the principles that his position requires, thereby reproducing the expected behavior. The formation of this level of loyalty should occur during the selection and hiring of personnel, taking into account the personal qualities of each candidate.
At the level of beliefs, it is expressed in full acceptance of the principles and beliefs of the company. This level is one of the highest, and achieving it is an extremely difficult task for management.
At the level of identity is the highest degree, since here every employee must believe in himself, the company and his colleagues. This level is expressed in the full acceptance of all beliefs, performing their work in the best possible way, and, most importantly, employees are ready to constantly improve themselves in order to comply with the company’s ideology.

Staff loyalty assessment

When studying loyalty in an enterprise, it should be remembered that research must be scientifically sound and necessarily comprehensive. When assessing the level of staff loyalty, it is best to resort to indirect methods.

At the time of study, it is necessary to take into account that it is directly related to the feeling of satisfaction, which subsequently has a connection with motivation. Thus, these indicators need to be assessed first. Even if an employee is loyal and decent, if he experiences any discomfort in the workplace, sooner or later he will leave it.

Just like motivation, loyalty has emotional and rational components, where the first includes faith in the idea, attachment to the team and management, and the second includes payment for work, conditions, professional development and social package. Therefore, it is first of all necessary to study these indicators in order to understand where staff may experience discomfort. Owning this data, any manager can eradicate the problem and thereby increase the level of loyalty on the part of the staff.

Determination of staff loyalty

As a rule, in order to determine the level available at an enterprise, various methods are used, but the most popular and effective is the method of O. E. Koroleva and L. G. Pochebut.

Its essence lies in the fact that employees are given cards with affirmative judgments, where they must indicate their agreement or disagreement with them, using a gradation of answers expressed in a numerical range from 1 (disagree) to 11 (completely agree). It is extremely important that out of 36 questions proposed in this methodology, only 18 are assessed.

Loyalty development programs

Having determined the level, it is important to answer the questions whether it sufficiently satisfies the company today, whether it is worth raising it, and if so, how to do it.

For most organizations, the first two levels are sufficient, since there is no point in increasing loyalty among those employees whose activities are strictly regulated and all processes are controlled. In this case, even with zero loyalty, the company will not suffer. But if we are talking about middle and senior managers, then it should be taken into account that they must have a high level of commitment and faith in the company.

Each company independently chooses ways to increase loyalty based on its capabilities. However, in order to expect a level increase, it is important to satisfy the following three components:

increase the level of trust in superiors;
increase job satisfaction;
build fair relationships within the enterprise.

The main conditions for increasing loyalty

Increasing loyalty is a complex event, so it is important to remember about special moments and conditions. In this process, you should remember the following conditions:

All company managers should be interested in promotion.
Increasing loyalty is only profitable if the company is committed to long-term employment relationships with staff.
The owner must be prepared for additional material costs.
The person responsible for increasing loyalty must have the authority that will allow him to coordinate and manage this process.

It is best to assign this responsibility to the head of the personnel department or first deputies. In this way, all the above conditions will be met.

Impact on staff turnover

If a company has set a course for long-term work, then increasing loyalty is one of the first activities that it must implement. Therefore, managers at all levels should remember this factor and make efforts to prevent a conscious decrease in the level of loyalty.

Dissatisfied, unmotivated and disloyal employees will leave the workplace at the first opportunity, finding a more suitable one for them, which will bring certain losses to the company (temporary, financial). And, conversely, employees who have a good attitude towards management, the team and the company will not simply leave it.

Conclusion

To summarize, it is worth noting that staff loyalty is the key to the success of any company. Therefore, it is extremely important to remember that by paying due attention to this issue, you can create a highly professional team that can solve any problem and achieve the necessary goals for the benefit of your company.

Loyalty— unconditional: a positive attitude and emotional attachment, which are the determining factors in making any decisions regarding the object of loyalty.
(TCG definition)

When we say that the client is loyal to the company, we mean exactly that: his attitude and affection determine his decisions regarding the company.
(instead of “company” you can substitute “product”, “brand”, etc.)
A loyal customer prefers your company, despite the fact that someone else offers him better prices, location, assortment, quality, time, continue the list yourself.

In order for the Client to become loyal to your company, the company must become loyal to the client.
In our experience, this idea is the most difficult for many people in business to understand.
We encounter this difficulty at seminars and trainings, but most of all during consulting, when we help build loyalty systems.

Although it's actually quite simple.
Long-term loyalty, like Love, can only be mutual.
How long does unrequited Love last? As a rule, not very much.
It's the same with loyalty.

What is “Company Loyalty to the Client”?
Let's look at the beginning of the text, at the definition.
...
Exactly!
A company's relationship and commitment to a customer determines its decisions regarding that customer.
Many now remember how they or they (it doesn’t matter) said: “Well, we’ll do this and that for the client, but how can the client not buy even more from us in return? It won’t take long to go broke!” and refused to introduce any improvement.
Firstly, if it is " let's do it” refers to discounts, bonuses, etc., then yes, we agree, this is indeed the path to both the loss of customers and losses. (for more details, see text)
Secondly, please remember any “client case” that friends or acquaintances enthusiastically told you about. Let me guess, this was due to the fact that an employee of some company made a decision in their favor, and, as a rule, unexpectedly for them.
Go back to the definition and re-read it again.
Thirdly, for contrast, remember how your friends told you about a situation when they were dissatisfied with some store or service. There, the decision was made in the interests of the company, not the client, right?

And when you come to the understanding that customer loyalty is essentially secondary, and is derived from the company’s loyalty to him, you inevitably have a question “But how can we achieve this very loyalty of the company to the client?”
We know how to do this for you.
We know how to do this.
And we will definitely talk about this.
But next time.

Every leader wants his subordinates to begin their official duties with zeal. Indeed, I want them to come to work with joy, and move mountains during the working day. Therefore, it makes sense to ask what loyalty is. They should work solely for the idea and without worries about increasing wages.

What is the concept of loyalty?

Many managers, dreaming of a loyal employee, mean a trustworthy person. But these concepts are significantly different. Integrity is about following the norms, laws and rules that are accepted in the organization. But such actions may simply be a formality. Loyalty is based on the goals and desires of employees, which must completely coincide with the aspirations of the company.

What is employee loyalty? This is a situation where each employee strives to achieve the company's goals in his activities. This becomes possible if the aspirations coincide with his own vision of the future of the organization. Such a person is ready to put up with the current requirements of the company, as well as accept a number of others. If a company plans to operate in the market for a long time, then it must take care of the loyalty of its staff. This point in the work should be one of the leading ones. It is very important to be able to motivate employees. After all, the success of the company depends to the greatest extent on how deeply the manager understands what the loyalty of his subordinates is. This is a very important quality. And in the absence of one, it needs to be developed.

Undoubted benefits of loyal employees

Why is employee loyalty so important for a company? It is necessary to increase the success of the organization. Loyal employees are people who are highly valued for a number of qualities. They have the following characteristics:

The company is experiencing temporary difficulties.
Accept all organizational changes that occur in the organization.
They value a job in a particular company.
They try to perform their official duties as best as possible.
They use a creative approach in their activities.
Demonstrate responsibility.
They make every effort to improve the company's performance.

The importance of trust in work

The basis of all interpersonal relationships is trust. You should take care of him first, and then figure out what loyalty is. In the workplace, trust is demonstrated between a boss and an employee. Once this quality is lost, loyalty also decreases. Therefore, maintaining trusting relationships between immediate supervisors, top managers and employees is of no small importance.

Nowadays, almost every person who enters the labor market chooses an employer. He independently searches for a suitable vacancy. In this case, a considerable number of criteria apply. As if the applicant should interest the employer with his candidacy. But this is not the only factor. The employer must also be interesting to the applicant. This becomes possible through building mutual trusting relationships. The company's loyalty program is built specifically on them. Moreover, this process cannot occur instantly. It is characterized by long-termism.

In the absence of trust, loyalty actually decreases. Information is also essential in getting dedication from a person. The loyalty program of a successful company should give employees a clear idea of the purpose of their work. A person experiences a desire to stop an action that he finds purposeless. When an employee lacks a sense of the company's goals, the quality of his work is greatly reduced.

In addition, with high rates of staff turnover and lack of initiative among employees, the atmosphere in the team deteriorates significantly. This leads to a decrease in the level of loyalty among colleagues. But if in a company there is external agreement among employees with all existing norms, then this is a signal. It is worth considering that such behavior does not actually indicate a complete consonance of interests. Most likely, such an attitude indicates indifference to what is happening in the office.

Mutual interests of the organization and employees

The management of any company must be, first of all, attentive to its subordinates. In this case, employees see that their opinions are noticed. That is, management values each employee’s vision of the situation. In this case, team members become bolder, think better, and express their point of view. There is no need to accept their wishes completely. It is enough to listen to all opinions and tell what exactly will be implemented. If there is a divergence of interests, you need to voice the reasons and make sure that employees understand everything correctly. Thus, the loyalty system creates in people a sense of involvement in what is happening. As a result, the level of trust increases. And a place to work in an organization where the staff is treated humanely is valued quite highly.

The Importance of Personal Interests

Don't forget about the interests of your employees. They usually work not for an idea, but for the sake of earning money, career growth, a good entry in the work book, and gaining experience. The option of performing familiar duties in a “warm” place also has a right to exist. Therefore, an employer interested in the success of the company must take into account the personal wishes of its employees. Trust in the organization will undoubtedly increase if the manager uses an individual approach to each person. Increasing loyalty fails if cliché techniques are used. Employees see themselves treated as a faceless crowd. They quickly identify the behavior patterns of the company's top managers. And in their behavior they simply adapt to their superiors. There is nothing more behind this.

Employee Relations

When working, you should pay attention to relationships between colleagues. The more united the team is, the better the performance of the department or the entire company as a result. In any organization there are problem employees, as well as employees who are role models. But in this case, there is no need to identify the “axis of evil” and engage in its obvious elimination. This approach usually does not produce the expected result. You need to understand the situation by communicating with people. They must understand that a leader is not an overseer. A good boss is one who knows about the company's goals and how to implement them. Using the professional skills of each employee, a good manager will ensure that the company truly becomes successful. Employees see this approach and trust the organization more. They begin to take an interest in what is happening, reflect and introduce quite original ideas.

Incentive system

If a company has an incentive system, that's just great. Unless it should be monitored to ensure that all promises are actually fulfilled. Otherwise, the manager must go to the people who fulfilled the plan and say that there will be no increase in salary. He needs to explain the reason for what is happening. The immediate supervisor cannot say that the central office made a decision not to pay this bonus. He must explain the situation, for example, by the harsh machinations of competitors. This moment is very unpleasant. And usually such topics lead to a sharp decrease in employee trust in the company. If everything that the manager promises actually comes true, then employees work better. They trust the organization. Of course, they try harder to earn as many bonuses as possible.

That is, inducing employee loyalty is a very real task for every company. To do this, you just need to show a little attention to each subordinate in order to identify his personal expectations from this company. And based on this information, build relationships between this employee and the organization.

Loyal employees are ready to put up with the company’s temporary difficulties and accept the necessary organizational changes. Such employees value their workplace in this company. They not only strive to do their job as best as possible, but they often encourage their colleagues to do the same. Only loyal employees are ready to take a creative approach to solving emerging problems, take responsibility, and make every effort to achieve the company's goals.

Loyalty and trustworthiness

According to the famous Russian trainer-consultant K.V. Kharsky, loyalty determines the expectations, attitudes of employees, and the characteristics of their working behavior. Loyal employees use all resources and reserves to achieve maximum work results. They are able to engage in self-education on their own initiative and seek advice from specialists. In addition, loyalty is an important condition for the security of the company, which has a significant impact on the reliability of employees. For example, the secretary, company security officers, and managers at all levels of management cannot be disloyal to the company, and in particular to the management.

The connection between loyalty and company viability

Since the topic of loyalty is quite new for domestic scientific and practical literature, there is a need to define this concept. Loyalty is sometimes identified with the trustworthiness of staff, but these concepts are not synonymous. Theoretical inaccuracy can lead to certain practical errors in working with personnel. An example of such a mistake is an attempt to study the loyalty of a newly hired applicant for a vacant position, instead of focusing on the personal prerequisites of trustworthiness. So, the trustworthiness of an employee is defined as a person’s compliance (desire to comply) with legal and moral norms accepted in a given group. Trustworthiness is sometimes interpreted as law-abidingness. Trustworthiness, therefore, acts as a characteristic, a personality trait.

And loyalty is acceptance, a person’s positive attitude towards something specific. Experts note that the basis of loyalty is the desire to be useful, devotion, and avoidance of what can harm. Staff may be loyal to the company's management, clients - to the company providing the services. If an employee is loyal to the manager, then this implies recognition of the high level of his competence, respect, and the authority of the manager in the eyes of this person. Sometimes such loyalty includes a feeling of sympathy, empathy, and a willingness to sacrifice one’s interests. Loyalty of clients, consumers of a company, is associated with recognition of the high quality of its goods, services, and trust in the personnel of this company. Consequently, loyalty is an indicator of a person’s attitude towards a certain object.

Mandatory loyalty attributes:

Honesty towards the object of loyalty
- sharing basic beliefs and values with the object of loyalty
- worry about the success of loyalty
- open demonstration of loyalty, friendly attitude
- readiness to prevent danger to the object of loyalty
- willingness, if necessary, to make certain sacrifices in favor of the object of loyalty
- a sense of pride in being involved in the object of loyalty
- desire to best perform assigned duties, functions, mission

The difference between the concepts under consideration is that trustworthiness is a largely unrelated to anything (to a specific object) characteristic of a person. And loyalty has an object of focus. However, these concepts are closely related. An employee’s loyalty is one of the factors that ensures his reliability in a given company, i.e. his desire to comply with technological and legal requirements, defend the interests of the company, and not intentionally cause damage to it.

Close in meaning are loyalty and devotion, fidelity. Sometimes they are used as synonyms. But these concepts also have different semantic connotations. Commitment can be considered the highest level of loyalty.

In each specific case, in relation to individual people and in relation to various objects, loyalty and trustworthiness can be combined in different ways:

Trustworthy and loyal (for example, the employee strives to honestly comply with all norms and regulations and has great respect for management)
- unreliable, but loyal (a person who has a penchant for theft, fraud, but for certain reasons recognizes the authority and competence of the company’s management)
- trustworthy, but not loyal (in general, a very law-abiding employee can be extremely disloyal to the company, realizing that management is treating him unfairly)
- unreliable and disloyal (perhaps the most dangerous combination, when the tendency to violate norms is enhanced by a negative attitude towards the company and its management)

Within the same company, it is also possible to combine loyalty and disloyalty of the same employee to various objects. In one of the state law enforcement agencies, I observed a seemingly surprising phenomenon: an employee hated the company in which he worked, but was loyal to his immediate superior, on whom his promotion depended.

Loyalty levels

From the point of view of studying the loyalty of company employees, making forecasts of their behavior, and planning activities aimed at increasing loyalty, an idea of loyalty levels is of great practical importance. The very idea of distinguishing between several levels of loyalty was proposed by K.V. Kharsky. By supplementing the levels of loyalty he described, we can construct a visual scale representing their ratio:

The scale has a zero point, indicating the so-called zero loyalty. Having this point is fundamentally important because it demonstrates that lack of loyalty is not disloyalty. An outsider who has not formed his or her attitude towards a certain object may have zero loyalty. Loyalty to the company may be close to this mark for a person who goes to work there, but is not informed about the features of its corporate culture.

According to K.V. Kharsky, employees whose loyalty does not have a pronounced positive or negative orientation can be considered as employees with zero loyalty. They can sometimes act as loyal, in other cases they can show signs of disloyalty. The main feature of such employees is that they are less predictable than loyal or disloyal employees. The increase or decrease in their loyalty significantly depends on whose influence they fall under at the beginning of their activities in a given company.

Above the zero mark on our scale there will be levels of loyalty, and below - disloyalty. Let's look at this scale, starting from the lowest points, that is, from disloyalty. Here we can distinguish two levels: hidden (secret) disloyalty and demonstrative (open).

Psychologists point to the following signs of demonstrative disloyalty:

Lies, deceit
- sarcasm, ridicule, disregard for values important to the object of loyalty
- consumer attitude, priority of personal interests
- violation of reached agreements, etc.

The danger posed by disloyal employees is related to their influence on other people. They destroy the values and beliefs of their colleagues and raise doubts about the appropriateness of certain actions.

Hidden disloyalty manifests itself as follows: being in plain sight, people regularly follow the prescribed rules and requirements, but the reason for such behavior is not a positive attitude, but fear of punishment or expectation of reward. Often, it is those employees who have hidden disloyalty who spread negative corporate rumors and gossip.

K.V. Kharsky gives several signs that help identify employees who have hidden disloyalty:
- after communicating with such employees, others change their positive point of view and positive attitude towards the company to the opposite;
- disloyal employees never openly challenge the orders and instructions of management, but set up or provoke others to criticism and indignation;
- in the presence of management, these people usually take an emphatically neutral position;
- There are multiple emotional connections between these people and openly disloyal employees.

At the organizational level, the consequence of employee disloyalty is high staff turnover. And this, in turn, increases the cost of searching, hiring and training new employees, increases the risk of leakage of trade secrets and other costs. Therefore, some companies are attempting to implement employee retention programs. The purpose of such events, in essence, is to increase the level of staff loyalty.

Above the zero point on the scale, loyalty levels are represented. The higher the level, the higher the degree of employee involvement and dedication.

The first level is loyalty at the level of external attributes. With such loyalty, a person is ready to wear distinctive symbols and signs of the company, branded clothing, signs symbolizing status in the company (for example, salesman, senior salesman, salesman-instructor). At the same time, as Konstantin Kharsky emphasizes, external attributes do not allow their owner to demonstrate disloyal behavior. As long as it is visible, the person will reproduce the behavior determined by these attributes. Therefore, “if you want temporary staff to be devoted to the interests of the company and praise the product when presenting it at a fair, put on branded T-shirts and caps.”

In companies specializing in the sale of certain goods, this level of loyalty assumes that company employees become active consumers of these goods. The opposite statement is also true: by encouraging the consumption of goods, we increase the level of people’s loyalty. This principle is actively used, for example, in network marketing.

Loyalty at the level of actions and behavior is associated with compliance with rituals, traditions, and customs accepted in the company. Such traditions can be a special tone in dealing with clients, formal and informal meetings (parties), etc. Employees who are loyal to the company at this level participate enthusiastically, or at least without difficulty, in such events. K.V. Kharsky notes that almost no effort or resources are required to create such a level of loyalty among employees.

Methodology for observing loyalty

When diagnosing observational loyalty, it is necessary to take into account that the list of signs of loyal behavior can be increased or redesigned in accordance with the characteristics of the company’s corporate culture. Additionally, it is important to understand that employee loyalty is dynamic. And it can change significantly when the leadership style changes, for example, with certain management decisions.

Development and increase of loyalty

After determining the real level of loyalty, two questions arise: what level of employee loyalty will satisfy the company and how to increase it if it is not high enough?

Answering the first question, it should be noted that for most companies the first two levels of staff loyalty are quite sufficient. For the lowest executive level of employees, whose activities require strictly regulated and controlled procedures, even zero loyalty is sufficient. But middle and senior managers should have a higher level of loyalty. That is, the higher the position, the more loyalty it requires.

If the hired director does not become loyal at the level of conviction, then the owner should not expect much success in business.

Analyzing modern trends in personnel work, experts note a general decline in the level of loyalty of people towards their employers. This, on the one hand, is due to the low level of competence of managers and executives, and their inability to purposefully form staff loyalty. On the other hand, the emergence on the labor market of a fundamentally new category of hired workers, who began to be called “knowledge workers” - “knowledgeable” or “workers armed with (possessing) knowledge.” Russian scientist S. Shekshnya emphasizes that the main feature of these employees is their ability to create new value through their own knowledge, rather than material resources. Unlike the proletarian of the industrial era, knowledge workers do not depend on the material factors of production; they already have everything they need to be productive. Therefore, such employees tend to behave more independently, change jobs much more easily, and maintain relationships with several companies at the same time.

The question of how to increase loyalty requires an analysis of its components. A generalization of modern publications on this topic gives grounds to identify at least three components of loyalty:

Staff trust in company management
- fairness of relations between the employee and representatives of the company administration
- job satisfaction

The development of loyalty, therefore, consists in increasing its components. Work aimed at increasing loyalty is cyclical in nature and consists of successive stages. The first stage is diagnostics (study) of the level of staff loyalty. The information obtained during the diagnostic process is the basis for making a decision about the need to increase loyalty and develop a loyalty development program. After implementing the program, it is important to receive feedback, i.e., again diagnose the level of loyalty and make sure of the effectiveness of the implemented program. Naturally, the implementation of such a cycle is extended over time and is designed for the long term.

Work related to the development of staff loyalty is usually assigned either to employees and heads of human resources departments of companies, or to external consultants. But, as experience shows, developing loyalty usually requires a significant change in management style (leadership style), introducing serious organizational changes and improving corporate culture. Therefore, the successful implementation of programs to increase staff loyalty is impossible without the direct participation of the company’s top management.

To successfully implement measures to develop loyalty, K. V. Kharsky suggests observing the following conditions:

1. The owner and senior management of the company should be interested in such work. They are the ones who make the decision to implement the program.
2. The owner of the company must be prepared for subsequent changes, material and intangible costs necessary to implement the plan.
3. The person responsible for implementing the plan must have a status in the company that will allow him to coordinate the efforts of various services and departments.
4. The company is interested in long-term relationships with those employees in respect of whom the loyalty development program is being implemented.

A loyalty development program may include defining or adjusting the company’s long-term and short-term goals and value guidelines. Initially, you need to predict contradictions and obstacles in achieving your goal. In some cases, it may be necessary to get rid of some disloyal employees who are hindering the implementation of activities. Just as with any other organizational change, it is important to create an active support group. It’s sad to admit, but employee loyalty, like customer loyalty, often has its price. Therefore, such work often involves additional financial costs.

Experts are convinced that creating employee loyalty is the best investment that can quickly and significantly increase the company's efficiency.

Turning a neutral employee into a loyal employee is not an easy journey. It is impossible to predict in advance how long this process may take. And the strength of the resulting result cannot be verified until someone tries to destroy it. And yet, many companies are making attempts to increase staff loyalty. In any case, this concerns the loyalty of leading specialists, on whose work the viability and very existence of the company depends.

Konstantin Kharsky, expert on loyalty and business ideology