Loyalty isthe stepping stone for all the skills required by an organization.
Loyalty canbe described as the dedication or dependability to what individual feelshonored to belong to. Loyalty for an institution of work can be a vital qualityin the makeup of an individual. It can great benefits for the organization andcan also lead the individual to success in its career. As times are changing itis becoming very difficult in finding loyal employees who remain in the sameorganization for more than five years. Younger generations are become moreloyal their individual career and less to an organization. This shift iscosting organizations a lot of money to replace the employee.
Loyalty is a keyfactor between the employee and the organizations relationship, it’s aperpetual give and take relationship.BodyLoyalty isan attitude of commitment of an individual employee with the organization andis manifested in the things that the individual is willing to give and do tosacrifice for the good of the organization. Organizations often strive toincrease employee loyalty and trying to steer away from employee turnover. Theenvironment and employee satisfaction are key factors obtaining employeeloyalty. It is essential to clarify what is organizational loyalty.
Loyalty isnot being compliant with the requirements of the organization and performingits task are required. Loyalty is the behavior that go above and beyond therequirements of the organization. True organizational loyalty is where anindividual is committed to the organization during times of adversity, theywork hard for their pay and are always committed for the success of theorganization. A loyal individual always is the constant support for theorganization, showing gratitude for the organization, performing at theirtop-level and frequently putting the interest of the organization ahead of itself.Coughlan, considers that employee loyalty has a more moral basis thancommitment.
An on-going ethical behavior on the part of the employee, whereby theindividual considers the appropriate intentions before acting upon. (Coughlan2005). For instance, the implicit understanding of the loyal employee of not harmingto the organization that its working for. In thepast, the idea of loyalty was linked with job security. Nowadays, organizationsare becoming a source of identity for an individual.
Loyalty is a value thatmust be acquired and practice by its own conviction. Organizations arestruggling to with employers to identify with the organization. According toCareerbuilding.
com, seventy six percent of employees working full time wouldleave their current job if an opportunity was offered to them. Companies arelosing a minimum of twenty percent of their workers annually. A loyal employee helps an organizationbenefit, it allows for an organization keep a healthy environment. The moreloyal employees in the organization more positive the culture. The bettermentof an organization relies on a loyal relationship between the employee and theorganization.
An employee who works for many years in an organization does notprovide enough sense of loyalty. A new employee who works hard for growth as anindividual and for growth for the organization is what measures loyalty in anemployee. He who is dedicated and committed to the growth of the organizationand possesses strong feelings of responsibility, of bond and care are deemed asloyal.
An employee becomes loyal when the individual puts the interest of theorganization before its own. Employee loyaltyis a mutual system and if any organization wants their employees to be loyalthen the organization needs to fulfil the employee’s needs. Earlyorganizational theorist such as Frederick Taylor and Max Weber placed their emphasison a command and control management environment. Organizations ensured theirefficiency by placing a superiority type of management style. This type ofmanagement style in an organization prevented the creation of loyal employees.Every aspect of the worker was calculated to ensure a maximum level ofeffectiveness and efficiency. The human relation aspect, collaboration andsocialization were of nonexistent.
These same missing human relation aspectsare key for developing loyal employees. Other organizational theories such as MaryParker Follet, declared that collaboration was needed in an organization.Follet idea gave power to the employee bringing the conception of a loyalemployee closer to reality. The affection for the employee gave a sense ofbelonginess that manifested as a wish to want to commit to the organization. Furthermore,Elton Mayo brought the conception of employee loyalty even closer torealization. Mayo’s studies proved the importance of individuals as people andnot as machines. People want to be a part of a team, a group, and organizationthat enables growth. These are symptoms of what enables loyalty in anorganization.
The individual attention and recognition by an organization to anemployee creates a sense of satisfaction and commitment which leads to loyalty.The increased attention to employees, according to Mayo, produced an increasedin productivity, the Hawthorne Effect. Simply put, the human relation theory ofmanagement gave rise to organizational loyalty.
The human relations theorybrought out the desire of employees to maintain a continuing relationship withthe organization, it fashioned individual commitment. The commitment by anemployee can be theorized as a key precursor to loyalty.An organization thatis efficient translates into saving money and saving money improvesprofitability. Profit driven organizations rely on the employee in theorganization and even more on loyal employees. This is why employee engagementand loyalty translate to profit for the organization.
Loyal employees bring morerevenue and cost less when compared to disgruntled employees.
