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Loyalty; Does it Really Exist or a Mirage of Corporate Definition?
Most companies strive to make their environment a great haven or a corporate destiny for employees to grow with them. They want to cultivate a sense of affinity and develop a corporate identity within their workplace which can stimulate growth, cohesiveness and a homey environment. In a rat race society, employers are dying hard to create local address for job seekers to have residency with their companies. The typical way to make their first catch is to design and put on their best baits. Even when candidates nimble and take their first bite, will they even welcome a gesture of loyalty? Are they looking at each company as transit points?
What is loyalty then? Is it just an illusionary goal of corporate organizations?
You may have your arguments.
But having survived the savage sea of career challenges, I have observed and occasionally mulled over the tendencies, preferences and priorities of close friends and other employees whose career path is like a meandering river. And I have arrived at a convincing conclusion that loyalty is nothing more than just another typical business transaction. In fact, I believe loyalty is a 21st century survival facade. In a survival quest, all of us are drawn back to the basics. It merely means people need jobs and loyalty happens to be a by-product.
A better way to put loyalty into perspective is to understand it from a retention standpoint. To certain extent, it is a synonymous with loyalty and a chief reason why human capital management is investing so much effort to keep talented breed within their parameters. However, the rationality behind retention strategy would always put employees at an advantage edge. With the advent of globalization, their options are far greater than their employers; they can wait, decide, take, plan, decline or move on. Hmmm....real loyalty hardly works in the corporate world nowadays when a cauldron of global competition has set the heat on.
Certain industries where war for talent is a crucial drive, it has turned out to be a culprit to loyalty. A paradoxical cycle is usually what happens. For example, a company that has lacked of talent must learn to foster healthy competition to flourish in the market in order to harvest a reasonable good pool of talent supply. This births multi-companies. And when multi-companies becomes a community of competitors, loyalty is put to the real test. It's easy to see the ebb and flow on loyalty. The loyalty tide rises when competition decreases and subsides when competition increases.
Another strong trend is on the rise. Aspiring employees are looking for a common factor that can add credibility to their market value; A place for personal development and growth with a reasonably good reciprocal reward system. But can an employer always take a great interest on every individual? For such attention to prevail requires a robust oversight structure. Lest we forget, a company exists to be a profit seeker first before it can make financial sense to develop employees' needs. But to most hopeful staff, it doesn't matter what the company position is. Their aching void needs to be responded to. The adverse effect is showing up on the turnover spike that is driving employers frustrated.
Finding the right description for loyalty is so elusive. You can't quantify it with a discrete indicator or concoct a formula. It merely operates on the scale of tolerance. Some even call it a function of time.
Take trade-off as a factor. In a typical example you'll find that most individuals put salary and reward above everything else. It bodes well with the great proverbial "pay me more...and I'll stick around". Except for monetary drive, all else are backdrop. Loyalty articulates itself as “no matter how the working environment is, salary matters most”. Then there are others who prefer flexible hours over salary. They remain "satisfied" for as long as a once rigid working hours becomes bendable. Trade-off like this is the reason why "loyalty of convenience" becomes favorites among job seekers! And putting these “frogs in a kettle” is often an employer strategy to keep their employees under the lid but that hardly come close to the true meaning of loyalty.
In the same tone, the practice of loyalty is also fluid and often subject to circumstances and personal satisfaction. Many factors can change the course of loyalty. Subtle elements like feelings or maturity level have a lot to do with it. Check out these familiar scenarios; If a staff gets reprimanded by his boss, will loyalty be put on the line? Among peers, if a salary of a staff tips the scale, will a dark cloud be hanging over their loyalty? Will quit ablaze in the minds of some if a much touted promotions do not arrive on time? Yet another classic example. Do most of us just throw in our towels when the political air becomes too thick? These real situations are related to the fluctuation of our emotions. Did I strike a cord with these examples? Perhaps one of these could also be the reason of your departure. So, take stock of your feelings. It does determine the loyalty factor.
Interestingly, loyalty is also a game of identity and alignment. I don't think I am making a stab on this definition as most of us have experienced it. Ask yourself this question. Are you a typical quintessence of "specific people" loyalty or "organization" loyalty? In the corporate world, this again challenges our position as an employee. Emotional factor ties to specific people obscures the real measure of loyalty to an organization. This simply means there are some of us who choose to favor individuals over organizations as a simple reason to stay on with the company.
Metaphorically speaking, loyalty works out like a game of "hide and seek". The market reality is a big chessboard. When market demands are high, loyalty is put to the test. The market climate provides more options for employees. Employers, on the other hand, go into a seek mode, finding ways to retain them. On the other hand, when market demands take a dip, true loyalty is camouflaged. In this instance, we might speculate that employees are still hanging on to their jobs because job openings are scarce at that juncture of time.
The meaning of loyalty is therefore very subjective. It totters between personal gain and what a company has to offer. If we take a hard look at its real definition, it won't take long for us to discover that loyalty is self-centric. It has a great appetite to serve self rather than putting others first. Maslow pyramid unmasks the true definition of loyalty. The higher you go up the pyramid chain, the more of self-emphasis is revealed. Loyalty conceals the dawning reality of self-fulfillment and personal security
Traditional business cue has taught us how to measure loyalty. Using years of service alone to measure misses out the personal aspects. Man is made of emotions and feelings, thus not durable bound like machines with expiry dates. It’s the manifestation of dedication that speaks incalculable depth; the ability to preserve during peaks and troughs of a company business lifecycle, the ability to stand the test of time, the excellent display of resoluteness and humility during turbulence times.
I cringe each time this flamboyant-like word is referred to as though loyalty is a quantifiable appeal. The term loyalty has been so widely misused since companies exist on borrowed time from their employees. In a business driven world, loyalty is moored to contractual factors. Employees are not "bond slaves", they are obligatory employees. There are no genuine ties between employers and their employees except on obligation terms. After all, an employer-employee is a conditioned relationship hinged strictly on stipulated agreement by mutual consent.
Perhaps, the abstractness of definition in relation to an ever changing business landscape has led us to look at superficialities instead of excavating for the real thing. The truth is that we are all in an adventure of surviving in this jungle of life and loyalty happens to be a way of measuring it.
So, who is worthy to take on the loyalty appellation?
In your own career journey, here's a possible litmus test. The next time when you observe your level of perseverance, faith and determination remain unchanged during good times as it is during bad times, then perhaps you are beginning to see the silver lining of your own loyalty forming around your company clouds.
My final thoughts. However loyalty is defined, if it is real, it is because there is a prevailing cause that convinces people to believe in what they do is right and worthwhile. Loyalty is an investment of life both present and future. And it takes true maturity to understand the true meaning of loyalty and of course to apply it !
May your career achievement is worth your “loyalty” !
About the Author
Melvyn Lee has worked with various IT organizations for 19 years, taking on several job roles such as Analyst Programmer, System Analyst, Product Specialist, Pre-Sales, IT Project Manager, System Integration Project Manager, Offshore Development Manager, Resourcing Manager, Technical Manager
Entry level road bike?
I have been searching for an entry level road bike and I found two that caught my attention because they both seem to be good bikes at a reasonable price. Which one is the better buy?
Tommaso Imola (carbon fork) or Motobecane Mirage Pro?
http://www.giantnerd.com/tommaso-imola-with-carbon-fork-road-bike-beginner.html
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/mirage_pro_x.htm
I'd take the Motobecane, which has better drivetrain components (Tiagra and Sora). The Tommaso is one grade lower (2200-series components).
The Motobecane also has a carbon fork, by the way.
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