7 Ways To Develop And Maintain Employee Loyalty
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Thu, 27 Apr 2017 || Nigeria,
I know a lot of entrepreneurs out there that go through hell with hiring the perfect kind of employee who is loyal, creative, dedicated and smart. Unfortunately, the problem of not getting your kind of employee may not totally be the fault of the employee but of the employer.
We should remember that humans are beings that thrive on motivations.I bet when you have the right motivations in place, you’ll have your employees sticking with you with extraordinary loyalty.
Do not also forget that the loyalty of your employees is the first crisis management tool that you have. Once you can have them on your side, you can withstand almost any storm including recession.
So lets see 7 ways to develop, and maintain your employee loyalty
- Create an environment for emotional attachment: The easiest way to determine whether employees are loyal is to gauge their level of attachment to the organization. The more attached they feel attached to their boss, the more they feel attached to the organisation. How do you do this? You have to become interested in their welfare, surprise them with complements, be aware of their psychological dispositions and you';ll have them loving you right back.
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Make them feel truly important: Even though employees cannot always be preferred to be given the driver’s seat, they can be made to shoulder more responsibility through empowerment. C’mmon you did not employ morons, they are thinkers and that is why you hired them. So you have to start trusting them, especially when you are not around. Let your employees have the responsibility of taking decisions and not receiving commands only. This creates higher engagement that brings them closer to the organization as they start feeling to be a part of it.
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Flexible Work Execution: Creating flexible work hours that are left to them for working out and allowing them to work remotely when they feel that it is needed are some ways of increasing employee engagement that can turn them more loyal to the company. However, her in Nigeria some entrepreneurs want to maxmise their employees. Oga!!!, they are not machines. Even if you cannot afford to create flexible working hours, allow them to have some leisure while they work. Your focus should be that they deliver on their target. Leave them to achieve the target the way they deem fit.
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Recruit through referrals from employees: There is a popular yoruba saying that a needle with a thread attached to it can easily be found. So please, just so you can guarantee loyalty right from the first day, get your employees through referrals you trust. Of course they’ll(the referee)have a great influence on the attitude your employee bring into the organisation. Another thing is to make them loyal and turn them into referrals during recritment. Since the employees have found it worth to stay attached to the company they would be interested to refer the company to their friends who could strengthen the force of loyal employees. There are enough statistics available to support the theory that higher recruitment of referrals has significantly lowered employee attrition and even brought it down to as low as 5%.
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Fair compensation that is competitive too: Unhappy with what you earn, you would be keen to look for places where you get better compensation. This has been one of the most prominent reasons why people seek change. Paying less to employees than the industry benchmark could result in employees feeling that they are losing in value. This feeling could drive them far away from being loyal to the company. Bringing more transparency to the compensation plans and making it public would instill more confidence in employees about the fair policy of the company in treating their employees. This measure would obviously build trust that drives them to stay loyal to the organization.
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Showcase the pool of talents: Everyone wants to work for companies that have earned a reputation for being employee oriented. The trait of employee oriented companies is that they would like to showcase the pool of talents that they have. On the other hand, employees also feel very proud to be part of the company that acknowledges their talent. This approach pays off well as it increases the retention rate of employees which is the purpose of creating loyal employees.
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Maintain transparent communication with employees: Change is the way of life today and industries are facing the problems of uncertainty due to changes in the economy. Another reason for disruption that creates instability in business is the high flow of innovations that has become a necessity to beat competition. Uncertainty and instability in the work environment builds stress that cannot be avoided. Communicating transparently with employees to keep them informed in advance about impending uncertainties is quite effective in winning their trust as they are able to see what lies ahead
Try these steps and you’ll definitely be smiling as a boss. Remember, humans are emotional beings, they are more productive when appreciated and the best crisis manager you can have are loyal employees.
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