Leading with Loyalty
Recently I worked with a team in the hospitality industry in a 2-day leadership workshop. As a small resort with a seasonal summer business, their CEO wanted to instill the principal of loyalty in the team ahead of the next peak. This CEO, who just weathered two brutal summers of hiring challenges and employee turnover, had a brilliant idea to set the foundation. He wanted to build employee loyalty from the ground up, right alongside his leadership team.
The fact is loyalty is a two-way street. A leader must demonstrate loyalty to their team to earn loyalty in return.
Loyalty certainly has been tested in the last 2 years. While we all know “you work for people,” that principal has been put to the test as well. Defined, loyalty is giving or showing firm and constant support or allegiance to a person or institution. What we value varies from person to person. It’s more than having culture committees, fun Friday’s or defined happy hours. We are learning the hard lesson that employees have more choices than ever what company to work for. They now have the choice how and where they want to work.
The fact is employee loyalty is a big piece of delivering to the bottom line. According to a recent Gallup poll, loyal employees demonstrated higher Employee Engagement (81%). There were also key metrics tied to companies with more loyal employees. The companies saw, vs. companies with less loyal employees:
o Greater revenue (21% better)
o Better Guest Experience (10% higher)
o Improved Employee Retention (41% better)
o Reduced Shortage (28% less)
Why Is Loyalty Important? Employee loyalty is when an employee believes in a company’s values and mission, feels respected and appreciated, and plans to stay with a company for a long period of time.
“Loyalty is a two-way street.
A leader must demonstrate loyalty to their team to earn loyalty in return.”
Think about the grocer, Wegmans based in Rochester, NY. With just over 100 stores and 50,000 employees, mostly front-line workers, they continue earn deep loyalty from their team. They have been on Fortune’s “Best Places to Work For” List every year since 1998. But in 2021 something extraordinary happened, they were 4th on the list and the #1 retailer. During a global pandemic. How do they do this? Their motto is: “In order to be a great place to shop we must first be a great place to work.” And they seem to live by that every day demonstrating and earning loyalty from their team.
How do you instill loyalty in a broader, newer team? This is what I’m working on with my client next. It’s certainly a challenge, earning loyalty from a seasonal team. But it is a challenge worth tackling to support the business. More importantly, instilling loyalty will improve engagement with the team and help deliver a great guest experience. This CEO is on to something for sure. As he looks down the road he knows, as the leader, loyalty starts with him.
