By Olatuja Gabriel-Wealth It seems difficult for some employer to trust their employees because they have had awful experience with different employees in the past. Employees’ loyalty is a big factor that determines the results achieve by an organization. If an employer has been able to gain employees’ loyalty, such an organization will achieve great results.

 

The part that employees play in an organization or team members in a team cannot be undermined. When employees’ or team members are set to success, the organization or team is on the verge of success and vice versa. In as much as there may be erring employees or team members, there are also trustworthy individuals who are ready to make your organization or team a success if enabling environment and factors are provided. First, I will like to say that every employee or team member deserves the right to be trusted. If they sense that they are not trusted, they will reciprocate same. They are humans. That way, they would never be loyal to you. In fact, they can become internal threat to your organization or team. On the other hand, if they observe that you trust them and can go to any length for them, not few of them will reciprocate same.

 

 

Gaining Loyalty

Employee or team member loyalty is important for overall success. As am employer, always be aware that you can’t gain employees’ loyalty for free. Also, never think you can use money to buy their loyalty. That is a very wrong approach. Money can’t buy loyalty. Never think the salary will buy their loyalty. It’s more than money. Caring will go a long way. When you care about your employee(s) or team member(s), you have touched their bosom. This doesn’t cost so much. It takes being friendly and caring. It takes being considerate. I have heard a team leader tell her subordinate, “if you know you have any emotional problem or family issues, drop it before coming to work.” This is not realistic. It is not possible.

 

It easy to say someone should forget their problems, but psychologically, it has never worked. You can’t inconsiderably tell someone who’s loved one is sick to forget about out and face the job. Even if you say so, you have said nothing but also added salt to the individual’s sores.

Approach to Gaining Employee’s or Team’s Loyalty

The loyalty we are talking about here is more than the normal loyalty that anyone may think. Someone can be loyal to another because of what one stands to gain. One can be loyal to someone because of the money, power, influence the other person has. But the loyalty we are discussing here is not all that. We are talking about ardent loyalty that’s devoid of instant gains or gratifications. We are discussing the type of loyalty in that’s beyond explanation. We are talking about the loyalty that’s from the heart.

 

A loyalty that one will stand for and with the other. As earlier said, you need to know about the wellbeing of your employees or team members, feel their pains, know where the shoe pinches them. One may say, what’s mine to do all that, “after all, in not their family members, I play them, blab la bla… Yes, you do all that, but, you need to need to feel what they feel. That will help you to know-how help them. Someone may need a little word of encouragement, advice or motivation and they will begin to fly. That is a part of caring. I may not be able to list all that caring entails in this article, but I need you to localize it to your environment and for the people around you. When they are happy, they are more productive. They are more creative and innovative. They will achieve better goals when they are happy. You may not be the source of their pains, but you can be a solution to them. If you successfully do this, they will forever love you and be loyal to you. Yes, I understand that the work must be done. Note that it can be done your own way with little or no results. But when they are motivated, they will do it the best way to achieve a great result.

Leadership Models

I want to quickly mention some leadership models that are common in teams and organisations. These models are all good, but some are better than others. They are 1. Touch-coercive – Here, the leader coerces the employee(s) or team member(s) to do things his or her way, not minding their feelings or opinions. 2. Touch-Controlling – where the leader wants to achieve a great result at all cost, without considering the subordinate(s). 3. Touch-Caring where the leader cares about the team members or subordinates, without losing track of the goals ahead and the job to be done. To achieve loyalty, touch-caring is the way to go. Here, they are free to talk to the leaders on personal issues and issues about the organization. They are sure that when they discuss that “big” issue with you, it will be dissolved. They are confident in you and they want to always protect their own interests by protecting your own interests at all cost. This is an enabling environment where they want to be.

 

A healthy environment! In this type of environment, you would observe that the turnover rate – at which employees leave is minimal. They see that environment as a place of comfort, irrespective of the pay. In conclusion, you need to care about your employees or team members to gain their loyalty. Be close to them. Care about their personal lives, family, health and other challenges they may be going through. They will see you as a savior and no one wants to leave or do even to his or her savior. Your loyalists will be your advocate, they remain with you, even after they leave your organization or team. Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your opinion or experience in the comment section.