Building Trust and Employee Loyalty

• Author: Gil Keough
• Posted: May 1, 2007
• Category: Employee Retention
• Tags: Attitude, Employee Retention, Leadership Training, Organizational Development, Performance Management
• Comments:

Trust is defined as “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.”
 
Someone who is loyal is “unswerving in allegiance”, “faithful to a private person to whom fidelity is due”.
 
When one considers the significance of these words, it becomes very clear that obtaining this from individuals in the employ of an organization might be a daunting task indeed.
 
How does one give to those who are in our employ, especially individuals who are new to the company, an “assurance of the reliability of our character, abilities, strengths and the truth of who we are?” True strength of character takes years to acquire and is seen in the way we treat others and especially those who are placed under our direction. James Allen, a nineteenth century writer said “You do not attract what you wish, you attract what you are.” So if we want to attract the kind of employee who is trustworthy and loyal, WE must display these qualities of character FIRST.
 
One cannot command a person to believe in one’s character or one’s ability to lead. In the “command and control” methodology of the industrial age it was a simple thing to intimidate, coerce or bribe a person into staying at a company that did little or nothing to merit that person’s continued service. Employees where psychologically conditioned by their supervisors or managers to such a degree, that they were willing to put up with any kind of ill treatment under the assumption that if they “stuck it out” long enough with an organization, it would pay off in the end. This attitude reinforced by periodic “evaluations” might have kept even a disgruntled employee in line for years. But that age is long over. We live in the era of the knowledgeable worker.

After many years of “loyalty” to a company, an employee might have expected to retire with a meager pension and little, if any recognition for their many years of hard work for a company whose leadership changed hands to a younger generation. Instead of providing high hopes of improvements and inspiring renewed loyalty, this gradual transition of leadership might inspire distrust that the new establishment may be exactly as the old one or worse, as new management usually means new rules and regulations that seem to fit the organization more than the employees. So the question remains, how does one build trust and loyalty in both veteran and fledgling employees? And how do we retain those we have?

Reducing employee turnover and increasing employee retention is about building trust and loyalty with employees. In order to keep good employees, these are the areas that an organization must focus on rather than on techniques to prevent an employee from leaving. There must be a better reason to stay than a better pay offer. The question is not how do we make them stay, but instead: How do we provide an environment which they never want to leave? The answer? Building trust and loyalty.

The answer is in building relationships with members of ALL levels of the organization. We all have relationships. We may tend to think of relationships with work mates as less important than our personal relationships. However, we will spend one third of our lives with the people we work with, hence, it would be wise to cultivate relationships with those individuals that are able to bring us success both individually and collectively.

Am I saying that we should start sharing our personal lives with our workmates in hopes of creating a bond that will contribute to working better together? No. Relationships are built on shared experiences, not necessarily sharing your personal experiences with your workmates. Mutually shared experiences, particularly those that might be labeled “fun”, reveal certain things about our personalities that enable others to determine how best to communicate with us and us with them.

I believe that the person we are when we are playing is the person we wish we could always be, but our environment, workplace or fellow adults will not let us be. However, the person we are when we are playing is the person who is most open to input and new ideas from others.

Trust can be seen when observing children at play who are all about the same age. Most young children have an almost innate sense of community. They share readily and take suggestions from one another without prejudice. Give them a bunch of crayons or building toys and they will each freely contribute to whatever is being done. They don’t seem to care about the color of their playmates skin, or how much money their parents make or where they live. All that seems to matter is that they are all on the playground, or at recess, and the object is to have fun. They behave as if they were one big happy family.

So, the idea is to create a “family” environment at the workplace. There are different kinds of families. What I’m talking about is creating a familial environment through fun, shared experiences that break down the barriers between departments and individuals and release the creative energy that contributes to the success of any organization.

Ultimately, it is not the quality of an organization’s products or services that will ensure its success but the loyalty of its workforce to its missions and goals. What are you most loyal to? Who do you usually trust the most? Is it not to your “friends” and “family?” Who would you rather see succeed? Is it not those individuals you feel closest to, or at least feel some type of connection to? If that is true of you, then it is true of all of us, whether we are low-level employees or high-ranking executives.

The foregoing is the reason why multi-million dollar organizations are spending literally millions of dollars every year sending their groups to teamwork camps to undergo team-building exercises. The thrust behind such exercises is to create a fun, relaxed environment in which individuals who were not familiar with one another might get to know things about their teammates that would help them better understand the people they work with. Once these fun experiences have been shared by the group, it is easier to draw on the good feeling created by those experiences, in being more tolerant of a co-worker’s idiosyncrasies and even welcome their “quirky” view of things. A true teamwork culture values the diversity of its members and regularly draws on that diversity to accomplish its goals. Diversity connects the team.

High level executives within organizations are beginning to realize that unless they find a way to connect with those in their employ, especially in this age of “knowledge workers”, the consequences could be dire. Large paychecks and perks are no longer sufficient to secure the loyalty of skilled employees. There is an emotional void that must be filled if employees are to “trust” that their company is looking after their best interests.

What kinds of activities can help create this kind of culture? Well, think what fun did for you when you were a kid. Activities should be a fun, learning experience. Experiential learning has tremendous value and connects teams together. And you don’t have to invest millions of dollars to train your people. Family picnics where you play games that bring people together, cost only the price of the food.

Whatever you decide to use, make sure it’s something the entire group can do. I’ve been to experiential workshops where those who were not in the best physical condition weren’t able to participate and felt left out. Hey, let’s be honest, not all of us are suited to climbing mountains or rappelling down cliffs. The kind of activities I’m talking about engages the entire team and fosters a more cohesive company culture. Think of what brings you closer to your friends and family; ask your teams what they like to do for fun, then incorporate those things into your activities. I wish you well in your endeavors to build better, more united organizations.

All the best.