Loyalty

A corporate HR department is not designed to protect the employee. The purpose of HR is to protect the company from the employees, to reduce the risk of legal action from employees. It’s been my experience at every company I’ve worked for that HR is never really focused on employee welfare.

Likewise, employees no longer see any advantage to working for one company for their entire career. Job counselers will often say that you shouldn’t stay with one company more than five years at a stretch. This is probably true if you have a strong desire to move into ever-higher levels of management.

All of this doesn’t mean that loyalty doesn’t play a part in today’s work environment, though. It’s just changed. In the past there was loyalty to a company; now the loyalty would be towards the team. A good manager can build a strong organization that bonds as a team, and the team will be loyal to each other.

A key part of doing this is a manager must always do what they say. Your staff will quickly figure out how honest and authenic you are by how well you follow through on your promises. Think about your own experiences – have you had a boss you’ve been very comfortable with, one who you trusted and willingly followed their direction? What qualities did they display that made you feel that way? Try to emulate those positive experiences, and if you’re open and honest with your staff then you’ll earn their loyalty.