Is Your Culture Differentiated Enough to Keep Your Top Talent LOYAL?

I have been taking time to call my clients and ask why they pay us. Gratitude filled my heart when long time friend and client of HRBOOST®, President of AR-EN Party Printers, Gary Morrison answered my question with “Loyalty”!

Is Your Culture Differentiated Enough to Keep Your Top Talent LOYAL??

By Ted Garnett, Strategic Alliance Business Partner (see footnote)

In the midst of a global pandemic, the war for talent is heating up making a focus on developing a healthy CULTURE ADVANTAGE more important than ever.  64% of Americans are looking for a new opportunity…a whopping 76% of up-and-coming talent under 30 are actively looking for a new employer*. (*Workforce Wire Nov, 2020)

+What is your organization’s culture advantage?

+What if your competitors develop one and you don’t?

+What does LOYALTY mean for both employer and employee?

The question of loyalty is a difficult one as things have changed over the passing of time.  I read somewhere that 30 years ago the average college graduate had 3 job changes over the course of their career.  That means many had 0 job changes!  Recent data says that the average college graduate has 3 job changes in the first 3 years after they graduate!  Talent switching jobs has become the norm.

Some say the younger generation lacks commitment to the organization…” loyalty”.  Some say seeing the corporate layoffs and downsizing that started in the 80s and continues through today has set the tone for the absence of loyalty from the organization to the employee.  Whichever school of thought, you need to weigh some factors to determine how you define and create loyalty in your culture.

The hard fact is that the USA is a free capitalism, market economy and most people work in a For-Profit business.  This means that if a company needs to look at other options besides employing someone in order to make a positive impact on that bottom line, they are likely to look hard at those options.  It’s not that they don’t care at all, but this is a business deal…and the economic pressures of the pandemic are making that expressly clear as MILLIONS have lost their job due to closures and layoffs.  Providing jobs is necessarily SECONDARY to making money.  Part of their caring mission may be to serve the community and their “why”, but NO MARGIN=NO MISSION=NO JOBS!

EMPLOYEES:  Your career is something you need to manage.  You should constantly keep updating and evaluating options just like a business.  Keep your skills improving, keep your resume up to date, keep your options open and keep contributing at the highest level possible in your job.  This way you’ll always have options.  You deserve to work in the best culture for you.

Your employer is rare if they will take ownership of your career, so you better do it.  This actually benefits the company as well.  By constantly knowing the employment market you will constantly keep progressing your skills and therefore continually be in high demand by your own employer!  Looking at other employment options can help shore up why you should stay where you are, and therefore might be the most “loyal” thing you can do for your company.  Learning the grass isn’t always greener creates a lot of loyalty for deserving companies with strong cultures!

EMPLOYERS:  There are companies, typically smaller, who have demonstrated a less corporate and more caring approach to intentionally creating a culture advantage.  If your employer got your family through a tough time or has invested a lot in your professional development these things should be weighted in your loyalty factor.  People often ask me how much notice they should give.  My reply is, “What would they give you?”  If they’d give you 2 weeks give them the same, if they’d give you a month, give them the same!”  If they’ve shown outstanding loyalty to you as an employee, show them the same!  

One executive coaching client of mine told me he was having trouble getting a talented employee back to work off workers comp so he called the guy and asked what he could do to help.  The guy said, “My lawn needs mowing.”  The manager mowed the lawn for 9 weeks while the guy recovered.  The talented employee returned to work and found out from the company attorney that he could sue for further settlement money and that the company would like to know his intentions so they could just settle and get it out of the way.  The guy asked for a waiver, they said, “huh?” and he said, “you don’t sue a manager who will come mow your lawn.”  Saved the company thousands and got the talented employee to come back to work because he APPRECIATED THEIR CULTURE of collaboration, accountability, and teamwork.  I use this example when we work on improving employee engagement.  It puts the return on investment of loyalty in perspective.

Ted Garnett is co-author of Build The Culture Advantage and owner of PS Culture Matters certifying culture coaches like HRBOOST® around the world to create sustainable performance cultures through Accountable Culture Management™ and Generally Accepted People Metrics™ culture measurement.  Call HRBOOST® if you would like to measure your culture and create a culture advantage!