Developing Employee and Customer Loyalty

Employees and customers simply don't feel as much loyalty to companies as they once did. They will accept new jobs or products for just a few little advantages. It is easy to blame employees and the competition but they are not wholly at fault. When companies retain talent, employees often showed much more loyalty. However, when executives lay off employees without much consideration many people begin to think, "I can't trust them and I owe them nothing". Yet loyalty is still important to developing strong businesses and customers that continue to purchase over and over.

Employees who respect a company's values, their product, their management, and perceive the compensation to be fair are likely to stay with an organization much longer then if they don't. These employees are satisfied with what the company has to offer and believe in the work that they are doing. When they believe in the organization they are likely to work harder and more diligently.

An organization should also consider that employers which have strong reputations in the field are likely to recruit stronger talent. Motivated workers may start to search out the company in an attempt to find employment from a progressive employer that respects their work. In a future where talent shortages are likely it is important to draw in and retain as much talent as possible.

Values in organizations are important. Values help satisfy vendors, stakeholders, customers, and employees. Yet questions as to how to develop corporate values are not always easily answered. One could take a top-down approach or take a down-up approach. In the top-down approaches the executives develop the values and let everyone know what they are. In the other approach the company polls the values of the organizational members and the executives tweak them for relevancy and appropriateness.

A company should also consider the long-term impact of an organization that has loyalty among employees, among stakeholders and among consumers. Such a company is likely to avoid many of the damaging public relations blunders and wringing lawsuits launched from nearly every venue when their reputation is strong. Companies that have a strong public opinion are often worth much more then companies whose public images are poor.

Developing both customer and employee loyalty go hand in hand. It is difficult to develop one without at least impacted the other. For examples, if employee's have a strong commitment to the organization there is a good chance that they will influence customers. Likewise, if customers continually come back then employees will have more commitment to serving these regulars.