A couple of weeks ago, I asked somebody how long he had been at his particular job, and I was quite surprised when he said that he had been there 5 years. I said to him, “Five years is a long time to be in a job these days. Are you thinking of moving?” He replied, “No, not really! I am here and things are going really well.”
I thought that in today’s economy of high attrition rate, it was almost strange to see somebody in a job for 5 years. As I reflected on my response to his statement, I thought that, 10 years ago, this thought would never have crossed my mind. I know people who have been in jobs for 35-40 years; in fact, people who have got their first job with a company and they have retired with that company. Quite a few of them were quite happy, with no rancor or bitterness; they’ve enjoyed it and in fact, a lot of them have promoted their company’s product as if it were their own.
How things have changed! It seems that more and more as we look at the changing face of corporates all over the world, loyalty to a company that gets translated into staying with the company for the long haul, is almost over.
I read an article in the Financial Times; ft.com entitled ‘Is Workplace Loyalty an Outmoded Concept?’ Interestingly, they talked about a gentleman called Michel Balthazard who had worked for the car maker Renault for 31 years and was then fired when the company linked him to corporate espionage. But Renault said later that it might have been hoaxed. The writers asked the question, “Should 3 decades of service have bought Mr. Balthazard the benefit of the doubt? Or is employee loyalty outmoded in the modern workplace?” what they are basically saying is, “After 30 years, could they not have done better due diligence and given him the benefit of the doubt?”
Management guru, Tom Peters, when faced with this question, says this: “Loyalty matters as much as it ever did; both ways, I might add. By definition ‘organization’ is built on trust and enduring relationships, as is society as a whole. The bottom line – loyalty matters a lot; yesterday, today and tomorrow. I’m inclined to say: Renault quick-triggered on this issue.”
But work expert Lynda Gratton, who is also a professor at London Business School and author of the book ‘The Shift: The Future of Work is Already here’ says, “Loyalty is dead, killed off through shortening contracts, outsourcing, automation and multiple careers. Faced with what could be 50 years of work, who honestly wants to spend that much time with one company? Serial monogamy is the order of the day.”
Loyalty! I wonder if that’s something that you in different corporate offices and
work spots all across India think about. What is loyalty? Is there a need to be loyal to companies? Isn’t there a quid pro quo with loyalty or is it just unwavering loyalty?
Eva Rykr says, “There’s a false sense of loyalty that pervades our understanding. In years past, both companies and individuals welcomed blind loyalty. Even today, many people display a false sense of loyalty. According to the dictionary, ‘loyal’ means unswerving in allegiance. And this just doesn’t translate well into relationships, which are often built on trust and fair give-and-take. Unwavering loyalty doesn’t help anyone. It doesn’t help the individual making a commitment at the expense of their own well-being. Taking a relationship for granted and labeling it as loyalty, is not loyalty.”
I like the fact that trust is included in talk about loyalty. Because when we look at companies and the relationships that we have with companies, at the very heart of the relationship, good and healthy relationship, is trust. You cannot have a good relationship if you don’t have trust. And trust is two-way; it cannot be one-way.
Phyllis Korkki writing in an article ‘The Shifting Definition of Worker Loyalty’ says, “If loyalty is seen as a commitment to keep workers of all ages fulfilled, productive and involved, it can continue to be cultivated in the marketplace to the benefit of both employer and employee. But the key here is that it’s seen as a commitment to keep workers of all ages fulfilled, productive and involved. But there is something that management has to offer to workers to gain their loyalty.”
She quotes Lynda Gratton who says that ‘Workplace loyalty has been killed off through shortening contracts, outsourcing, automation and multiple careers.’ “The old reason for loyalty was that at the end of the 30 or 40 years, you retired, got a pension or a golden handshake or something like that. Today workers are able to give loyalty when it also benefits them even if it is in the short-term; and that needs to be the order of the day – that we must be able to offer them a fulfilled, productive and involved tenure for the time that they are available.”
If that is at the heart of what loyalty is, then I believe that there must be room for disagreement, there must be room for dissenting and differing voices. Because that is what is involved in communication and in trust.
I love this quote by former Secretary of State, General Colin Powell who says, “When we are debating an issue, loyalty means giving me your honest opinion whether you think I like it or not. Disagreement at this stage stimulates me. But once a decision is made, the debate ends. From that point on, loyalty means executing the decision as if it were your own.”
So well put! A loyalty that allows place for diverse differing opinions might be the loyalty that works in today’s short-lived business environment, where one is able to speak one’s mind, offer a differing opinion; but at the end of the day be able to say, ‘If the decision has been taken, I am going to now back it.’
How do you bring trust and loyalty back to the workplace? Roger Hall, in an article entitled ‘Bring Trust and Loyalty back to the Workplace’ says “The key is effective communication.” He offers 5 points for effective communication.
1. Make sure you have ‘face time’ with employees. So often these days, the mode of communication is just to send out an email and not have face-to-face meetings with people. But when you have face-to-face meetings, it increases trust.
2. Choose appropriate communication channels. There may be people who don’t access email (those who work in a plant for example). Make sure that you use the communication channel best suitable for the persons who work with you and around you – more of a ‘horses for courses’ kind of approach.
3. Offer acknowledgment and praise. Be free with that. Be able to say, “You did well” and do it in front of people.
4. Be honest. People like honesty even if sometimes it is not very palatable. Because ultimately the grapevine will create much more trouble than your honesty might have done.
5. Walk the Talk. Do what you say you will do.
Effective communication builds trust and trust, I believe, is central to harmonious effective productive working in the marketplace. Loyalty as it was known might be outmoded, but trust begins to be the centerpiece of even short-term contracts, out-sourcing, automation and multiple careers. Trust must be integral to our workplaces. Just a thought; mull it over and see what you think and apply the things that you thought were worth applying.
God Bless You All.
I thought that in today’s economy of high attrition rate, it was almost strange to see somebody in a job for 5 years. As I reflected on my response to his statement, I thought that, 10 years ago, this thought would never have crossed my mind. I know people who have been in jobs for 35-40 years; in fact, people who have got their first job with a company and they have retired with that company. Quite a few of them were quite happy, with no rancor or bitterness; they’ve enjoyed it and in fact, a lot of them have promoted their company’s product as if it were their own.
How things have changed! It seems that more and more as we look at the changing face of corporates all over the world, loyalty to a company that gets translated into staying with the company for the long haul, is almost over.
I read an article in the Financial Times; ft.com entitled ‘Is Workplace Loyalty an Outmoded Concept?’ Interestingly, they talked about a gentleman called Michel Balthazard who had worked for the car maker Renault for 31 years and was then fired when the company linked him to corporate espionage. But Renault said later that it might have been hoaxed. The writers asked the question, “Should 3 decades of service have bought Mr. Balthazard the benefit of the doubt? Or is employee loyalty outmoded in the modern workplace?” what they are basically saying is, “After 30 years, could they not have done better due diligence and given him the benefit of the doubt?”
Management guru, Tom Peters, when faced with this question, says this: “Loyalty matters as much as it ever did; both ways, I might add. By definition ‘organization’ is built on trust and enduring relationships, as is society as a whole. The bottom line – loyalty matters a lot; yesterday, today and tomorrow. I’m inclined to say: Renault quick-triggered on this issue.”
But work expert Lynda Gratton, who is also a professor at London Business School and author of the book ‘The Shift: The Future of Work is Already here’ says, “Loyalty is dead, killed off through shortening contracts, outsourcing, automation and multiple careers. Faced with what could be 50 years of work, who honestly wants to spend that much time with one company? Serial monogamy is the order of the day.”
Loyalty! I wonder if that’s something that you in different corporate offices and
work spots all across India think about. What is loyalty? Is there a need to be loyal to companies? Isn’t there a quid pro quo with loyalty or is it just unwavering loyalty?
Eva Rykr says, “There’s a false sense of loyalty that pervades our understanding. In years past, both companies and individuals welcomed blind loyalty. Even today, many people display a false sense of loyalty. According to the dictionary, ‘loyal’ means unswerving in allegiance. And this just doesn’t translate well into relationships, which are often built on trust and fair give-and-take. Unwavering loyalty doesn’t help anyone. It doesn’t help the individual making a commitment at the expense of their own well-being. Taking a relationship for granted and labeling it as loyalty, is not loyalty.”
I like the fact that trust is included in talk about loyalty. Because when we look at companies and the relationships that we have with companies, at the very heart of the relationship, good and healthy relationship, is trust. You cannot have a good relationship if you don’t have trust. And trust is two-way; it cannot be one-way.
Phyllis Korkki writing in an article ‘The Shifting Definition of Worker Loyalty’ says, “If loyalty is seen as a commitment to keep workers of all ages fulfilled, productive and involved, it can continue to be cultivated in the marketplace to the benefit of both employer and employee. But the key here is that it’s seen as a commitment to keep workers of all ages fulfilled, productive and involved. But there is something that management has to offer to workers to gain their loyalty.”
She quotes Lynda Gratton who says that ‘Workplace loyalty has been killed off through shortening contracts, outsourcing, automation and multiple careers.’ “The old reason for loyalty was that at the end of the 30 or 40 years, you retired, got a pension or a golden handshake or something like that. Today workers are able to give loyalty when it also benefits them even if it is in the short-term; and that needs to be the order of the day – that we must be able to offer them a fulfilled, productive and involved tenure for the time that they are available.”
If that is at the heart of what loyalty is, then I believe that there must be room for disagreement, there must be room for dissenting and differing voices. Because that is what is involved in communication and in trust.
I love this quote by former Secretary of State, General Colin Powell who says, “When we are debating an issue, loyalty means giving me your honest opinion whether you think I like it or not. Disagreement at this stage stimulates me. But once a decision is made, the debate ends. From that point on, loyalty means executing the decision as if it were your own.”
So well put! A loyalty that allows place for diverse differing opinions might be the loyalty that works in today’s short-lived business environment, where one is able to speak one’s mind, offer a differing opinion; but at the end of the day be able to say, ‘If the decision has been taken, I am going to now back it.’
How do you bring trust and loyalty back to the workplace? Roger Hall, in an article entitled ‘Bring Trust and Loyalty back to the Workplace’ says “The key is effective communication.” He offers 5 points for effective communication.
1. Make sure you have ‘face time’ with employees. So often these days, the mode of communication is just to send out an email and not have face-to-face meetings with people. But when you have face-to-face meetings, it increases trust.
2. Choose appropriate communication channels. There may be people who don’t access email (those who work in a plant for example). Make sure that you use the communication channel best suitable for the persons who work with you and around you – more of a ‘horses for courses’ kind of approach.
3. Offer acknowledgment and praise. Be free with that. Be able to say, “You did well” and do it in front of people.
4. Be honest. People like honesty even if sometimes it is not very palatable. Because ultimately the grapevine will create much more trouble than your honesty might have done.
5. Walk the Talk. Do what you say you will do.
Effective communication builds trust and trust, I believe, is central to harmonious effective productive working in the marketplace. Loyalty as it was known might be outmoded, but trust begins to be the centerpiece of even short-term contracts, out-sourcing, automation and multiple careers. Trust must be integral to our workplaces. Just a thought; mull it over and see what you think and apply the things that you thought were worth applying.
God Bless You All.
No comments:
Post a Comment