I have sometimes heard business owners say they were very happy with worker X because he caused no trouble, was punctual, very obedient and never questioned their orders. They referred to him as one of their most faithful and loyal workers. Since I assume such a business owner wouldn’t put a dog on the payroll, I take it he was talking about a person.
That is what most companies want, but the truth is that it is not what companies need. It is true that we should look for loyal employees with integrity, but many companies confuse loyalty and integrity with other things. I don’t know what to call them, but if we are talking about a company, we couldn’t call it loyalty.
Loyalty is often confused with obedience, an obedience that frequently comes across as thoughtless and blind, even when your own boss is heading straight for a cliff. If that is a loyal employee, I wouldn’t want that kind of loyalty among my workers.
Good companies stand out for having good managers or leaders, and good managers stand out for having the best professionals in the sector under them and building a good team. A good team is a group of people who contribute ideas for the continuity and shared success of the company. A good team debates, disagrees and proposes.
The most loyal worker is usually the one who sparks discussion while others nod along, even when they don’t agree with their leader’s decision. Many employees are afraid to express their personal opinions or feelings in a group setting, and they feel constrained from questioning their leader’s decisions in private.
The loyal employee your company needs tends to ask questions or raise important issues, always thinking about ways to improve some details of your company.
A loyal employee feels they are working for something bigger than themselves: the future of a company, its customers, a mission within the company… Loyal employees don’t criticise their colleagues; they praise them and help them. Caring for the company, and for the people around them in it, is one of the clearest signs of loyalty and integrity.
A loyal employee will be capable of sparking great debate and disagreement in private, but will never question one of your decisions in public.
They will never tell you what you want to hear, the way everyone else does. They will tell you what you need to hear.
Loyalty is not staying by your side, as many business owners believe. That loyal worker will leave the company when it is time to leave, and will be loyal wherever they go.
Just as this kind of employee is loyal, they ask for loyalty from their boss and their company. So in most cases they end up leaving because the company does not recognise or reward their loyalty, or lets them down in one of the ways an employee can be let down.
“If you want a company of slaves, hire obedient people. If you want success in business, hire people with new ideas and contributions: hire loyal employees.”
Remember that a healthy habit in many companies outside Spain is to set aside one day a month, or every six months, just to listen to employees’ ideas about what could be changed or improved in the company.
Further reading
- 5 mistakes people make when changing jobs
- Leaders’ advice for students and entrepreneurs
- 10 signs you are burned out at work
Featured image: sethoscope, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.
