In many ways it was inevitable, and at times has been justified. Loyalty can work only when the street is two-way. Companies are being gobbled up, and then carved again, and we don't know who the boss is any longer. Companies are demanding loyalty from their employees, yet giving little of it in return. The psychological contract between man; employers and employees no longer exists.
The loyalty pendulum, like the ethics one, is although perhaps not beginning its swing in the opposite direction as yet, but is close to reaching its own maximum arc. It will take a new breed of managers to start it in a direction characterized by a sense of loyalty that cuts both ways. That new manager could be you, along with millions ofothers who progress into positions of authority. As the managerial ranks begin to swell with men and women who approach their own careers with a renewed sense of loyalty, their attitude will become company policy, turning today's one-way street into one with two lanes. It will happen. Too many companies and individuals have been hurt by a lack of loyalty and will begin demanding it again-from both directions.
The generation of the forties placed career and family above personal fulfillment. The “Me Generation” of the seventies and eighties preached ‘loyalty to yourself’ above all else. Like many ideas, these were taken too far by extremists. There is a fair and sensible middle ground upon which loyalty in the workplace should and will be established again.
Yes, we must be "loyal" to ourselves. If you find yourself in a work situation in which you're being unfairly treated, underpaid, abused, or stymied in your career climb, you owe it to yourself to look elsewhere. Leaving a job for something better isn't an act of disloyalty. But so long as you accept a salary from an employer, you owe that company your best efforts. You owe it the courtesy of not bad-mouthing it to others, particularly competitors. And if you really want to be loyal to yourself in your quest for a better job, don't automatically assume that you must look elsewhere. That's something else that this crazy world has fostered, a belief that job hopping is the only route to success. Headhunters have no problem recruiting these days. Employment industry surveys claim that more than 90 percent of executives return calls to headhunters. The figure was 80 percent ten years ago and only 50 percent twenty years ago. People now quit good jobs at the drop of an offer.
Years ago, someone who often changed jobs was viewed with suspicion. Yet, even in today's chaotic work place, years of hard work with one company pay off. The majority of corporate presidents and CEOs have been with their companies for ten years or more.
Losing employees and having to replace them is costly and time-consuming. Estimates vary, but there is a general consensus that it costs a company about one and a half times an employee's annual salary to hire and train a replacement. And, of course, replacing an employee means lower productivity for a period of time, and an unsettling effect upon all others in the department.
Companies are realizing this with increasing regularity and are going back to rewarding good employees. Again, this takes a change in attitude on both sides-management and employee. It's beginning to happen, albeit slowly, because it has to happen, and men and women who approach the search for a better job with ethics and loyalty as part of their basic attitude stand a better chance than ever of being rewarded over the long haul.
Someone looking for a new and better job instantly displays a lack of good judgment and discretion when telling an interviewer how mismanaged, unpleasant, and generally fouled up his or her current company is. The same image is conveyed when rapping your present boss. Don't, no matter how justified you might feel such comments are. The interviewer may seem interested, might even give the impression of enjoying what you're saying about your employer, but knows that you'll end up saying similar things about him or her.
The longer you work in a field, the smaller that field becomes. Each of us establish an image of ourselves with employers and co-workers, and that image is hard to change. It travels with us as we seek greater opportunity and better jobs. The person you work next-to today may well end up being in a position to hire you five years from now. Present to that person, every day, an image of a loyal and ethical person. That's an image you'll never have to think about changing.
Respect your employer's time and money. If your company doesn't prosper in this competitive world, neither will you. Avoid the game that became popular over the past couple of decades, the one in which you go out and make as much as you can for doing as little as possible. Do more than you have to do to just get by.
There has been an interesting shift in attitudes towards work lately, one that everyone seeking a better job should take note of. Back in the 1950s, when the economy was booming, housing was plentiful and cheap, and jobs were easily available. The work ethic that characterized that period of prosperity started to be questioned. There was a growing emphasis on leisure time. It wasn't a negative thing; it didn't represent a generation lazier than the previous one. In fact, it was perceived by many as the first opportunity for this nation to move into a classical "golden age." A special issue of Life magazine focused on this, the writers proclaiming that America was about to become "freer and bolder than the Greeks, more just and powerful than the Romans, wiser than the Confucian, saner than the French, more responsible than the Victorian, and happier than all of them together."
The idea was that as more Americans became prosperous, they would enjoy more free time and use it for the betterment of society.
That was a nice concept, but it didn't work.
Many things caused the eventual disillusionment with it, primarily the reality of our corporate society as we entered the 1980s. Many of those who had become successful and prosperous not only were uncomfortable with an excess of leisure time, they found it impossible to indulge in it because of economic reality. As some of the well-to-do returned to the workplace with a vengeance, an unfortunate attitude developed among average workers that were harbinger of the Me Generation to come. A survey in 1968 showed that 58 percent of the people interviewed felt that hard work truly paid off. The same survey done in 1998 indicated that only 36 percent felt that way. I believe that if the survey were taken now, the percentage of those subscribing to hard work would be close to the 1968 figure. Hard work has always paid off, and always will. The fact that those who don't need to work hard are working harder than ever is a good indication of this.
Why do these people work as hard as they do?
It's obvious that they take tremendous pride in their daily business lives and are committed to seeing things done in the right way, even if that means long hours and extra effort.
A much appreciated advice given to the young people is to give them a chance to enjoy the challenge of a hard day's work. It’s a good feeling, one that is being increasingly appreciated by a growing number of men and women. The demand for instant gratification that has characterized many of our bright and educated people will, unless abandoned, keep them from achieving the level of success to which they aspire.
Ethical, loyal employees are the last to be let down when a company runs into difficulty. It makes sense, just as hiring someone with a reputation for being ethical and loyal makes sense. In a climate in which those traits are especially plentiful, those who possess and practice them stand a significantly better chance of getting a better job in this frequently crazy, unethical, disloyal world.
Reminders on Loyalty
- The psychological contract between employer and employee no longer exists.
- Be loyal to yourself. Looking for a new and better job does not indicate a lack of loyalty to your present employer.
- Don't bad-mouth anyone.
- Loyal employees and loyal employers are about to become a precious commodity once again.
- The longer you work in a field, the smaller that field becomes. Be nice to everyone, and be known as a loyal and ethical person.
- Respect your employer's time and money. If your company doesn't prosper, neither will you.
- Commit yourself to the sort of work ethic that has been lost in the past few decades.
- Men and women known as loyal, ethical individuals get hired faster and are the last to be let go.
