Loyalty is a word based on such definitions as unswerving in allegiance: as (a) faithful in allegiance to one's lawful sovereign or government (b) faithful to a private person to whom fidelity is due (c) faithful to a cause, ideal, custom, institution, or product.
Employee retention is a key factor in any organization's success. Is there a difference between longevity and loyalty? As a business leader your goal should be to have a workforce that is both longstanding and loyal. Usually longevity goes hand in hand with loyalty. Most loyal employees and customers have no real reason to sever the relationship.
It is difficult to know who is sincerely loyal to you in business and life and who is not, without simply watching their actions and behaviors. That is not too profound, but some people are paranoid about team loyalty but can’t really produce any reasons they feel this way. You can always manage behaviors but it is hard to manage those more intangible things.
As “soft skills” oriented as it may sound, leaders should include loyalty as a part of the job description. Talking about loyalty in the hiring process is imperative and describing what loyalty looks like in the organizational culture is important. This may sound less than profound, as well, but I am finding that many hiring interviewers do not discuss loyalty as an essential to excellent behavior.
excerpts from Rick Forbus, Phd.
