4/1/12

Is Employer Loyalty A Trait of the Past?  
Last week I asked if employee loyalty was a trait of the past and I received well over 160 responses.  So this week I decided to share with you a “few” excerpts from those response.
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“….Is corporate loyalty a thing of the past? Works both ways. If companies want loyalty, they need to 'care' about their human resources, not just the bottom line. It seems to me that companies don't care that they are losing their most precious resource. I guess everyone is replaceable. In today's environment companies are willing to get inferior help in the interest of not paying a fair wage for experience.”
“….loyalty is a two way street. I think loyalty can be gained, particularly in a small business, by simple gestures.”
“….companies are not invested in their workers and so the workers will search for the best job, with the best benefits and highest pay, it is what we have come to expect in America today.”
“….Employee loyalty is directly related to and proportional to Company loyalty to their employees.”
“….It goes hand in hand with employer loyalty. In the past, a good employee kept a job for years or life. Employees were assets. Now, CEOs drawing bloated paychecks with obscene benefits packages, view employees as a liability. When employees are "laid off" (fired, let's face it). Stock prices rise and CEOs get huge bonuses. No one today can count on their job this week, month, year or decade. To be hired, you must be under 40, have many degrees (even without real world experience), pass a background check, pass a credit check, and give up all your computer passwords so your every word and thought may be investigated. Employee loyalty?”
“….Sadly, most companies don't do much to earn their employees loyalty. No appreciation is shown and reviews seem to focus on the negative and not the positive. Companies that will remain nameless dump people for the bottom line, while the top executives announce a bonus year and their personal bonuses are in the millions.”
“….If employers recognize high performing employees with perks, awarded compensation and expectations then loyalty becomes the link between the two.”
“….The truth is, at least in my personal case, it's not that I am un-loyal or don't desire to have loyalty to a company...I think I just hold companies to a higher standard of earning that loyalty more than my parents might have. Same desire to be loyal, I am just much more cautious to give it away.”
“….Watching fellow coworkers and friends get laid off to save a percent of a percent at the end of the year has a negative impact on the remaining employees. Workloads are often increased by employers as they reduce staff and the employee has little recourse. So, yes I would say loyalty is at risk when the power is on the employer's side for now.”
FROM GMAN:  Many responses talked about friends and family working at the same company for years and then one day, they were unemployed.  These unemployed people then read about the executives getting a huge raise or bonus.  Just this last week the CEO of Bank of America got a 600% increase, as an example.
Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
President
Client Growth Consultants