Trust and Loyalty: Avoiding the Great Resignation

The Lede

Loyalty is the foundation for why some people leave and others stay.
One of our biggest mistakes in the workplace is assuming loyalty is static.
Building loyalty is far from a one-and-done action; it is a series of actions we must consciously choose to make.

In November of 2021, a record number of individuals in the United States quit their jobs. Aptly named The Great Resignation, 4.5 million individuals have filed for job divorce.

How is it that things got this collectively bad and why is this happening now? A number this large should cause us to pause and reflect on how we can reform our workplaces to avoid succumbing to this troubling trend.

Nela Richardson, the chief economist at ADP, makes an interesting observation regarding these numbers; she says, “This is a moment where employers will have to rethink what loyalty means and how to retain workers beyond merely a paycheck.”

Perhaps this is because the fabric of our work-lives is comprised of more than simply the number on our paychecks. The truth is that the answer doesn’t lie in whether we’re working remotely or not, or how many times we’re on a Zoom call that could have been a meeting. Instead, it’s about the tiny stitches that piece together our reason for staying. Or, in other words: it’s about trust, loyalty, and respect.

In conversations about business and loyalty, we often equate loyalty to the company itself; however, it is the people within companies who display loyalty and earn the trust and respect of their teams. As we all know but sometimes forget, companies are comprised of a collection of teams and these teams are simply made up of real people. So it isn’t an enterprise that is nice or funny, but rather, the people within it. It isn’t a company that has a great culture or is inclusive, it is the people within it. The same applies to loyalty: loyalty is built by the individuals who stand behind a brand or a company name.

Trust, respect, and loyalty are the foundation for why some people leave and others stay which is why we have to remember that finding and quitting a job is about more than the job itself: it is about the relationships at the job and the life as a result. In some ways, searching for a job is a lot like trying to find your partner. Some of us find them online, others get connected through mutual friends, and others have a Hallmark-worthy story.

Regardless of how we find our jobs, most of us possess a similar desire for meaning and connection within them. And when that need is not fulfilled, we risk a painful job (or team) divorce.

In Rick Watzman’s book The End of Loyalty: The Rise and Fall of Good Jobs in America, Watzman features Kodak as having one of the most successful employee retention rates- with the average worker staying up to 20 years at the company! The secret? You guessed it: loyalty. It has been said that the founder, George Eastman “knew that there was only one way to create loyalty, and that was to be loyal.”

One of our biggest mistakes in the workplace is assuming loyalty is static. We assume that employment itself produces company loyalty. In reality, loyalty ebbs and flows- it is built by a series of small one-degree shifts within the workplace that contribute to the overall environment and experience. Building loyalty is far from a one-step wonder- it is a series of small shifts we must consciously choose to make. It must be continually nurtured and repeated over time.

The bottom line is this:

Loyalty is earned, NOT assumed.

There are practical methods for us to implement building loyalty within our workplaces.

For example:

Having scheduled check-ins with your employees.
Listening to their opinions and input.
Recognizing their strengths and encouraging them in those strengths.
Asking your employees about their weekends and showing genuine interest.
Giving grace where grace is needed.

While these may seem apparent, they are often overlooked and rarely practiced. Loyalty is the best tool we own for fighting back against the Great Resignation- so, let’s work together to use it.

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