LeBron James announced his decision to leave Cleveland and play for Miami. He agreed to a lower salary than he commands in the league for an opportunity to “win now and in the future.” Obviously, LeBron felt that the chance to play with Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and others gave him the greatest chance to win and it was worth it to accept less money. Many fans, and not just Cleveland fans, have criticized LeBron for an apparent lack of loyalty or appreciation to the city of Cleveland and the Cavalier’s organization. I don’t think that anyone can doubt that the city embraced him has an incredible talent, and a giving person. His contributions to the city have also been well documented. I have heard many commentators state that this perceived lack loyal to the Cavaliers is without merit due to the impact he has had on the organization. I can’t speak to that. I’m not a professional sports analyst. I can say that I think there is some merit to that opinion. However, I’m curious about the idea of loyalty being a two-way street between the employer and the employee.
Years ago many people went to work for a single company for the duration of their working lives. They believed in the company, they supported the company and they were loyal to the company. This is not the case today. Employees are often cited as believing that they should take what they can get from the company. Employee theft, turnover, dissatisfaction and intentional acts against the employer are big, real problems that face employers today.
During the days of employee loyalty, employers were just as loyal to their employees. Pensions, vacation, job training, promotions, bonuses, family outings and other perks were the norm. Those perks are not as prevalent today. I understand that the economic climate makes it very difficult for employers to continue those practices. Increased wages, rising costs of doing business, enhanced benefits packages and more have taken away many discretionary dollars.
Where did this loyalty go? Is this a chicken and an egg thing, or can one point at a specific event or trend that changed this loyalty structure? In the case of LeBron, I have heard many people say that the Cavaliers failed to give him the supporting cast to win and that his loyalty was abused. Maybe so. Look at the retention of places like Google. Google pays a decent wage, but provides a host of non-economic benefits (this does not mean they are without cost) to improve the quality of life for their employees. There’s no question that employee turnover costs an employer money and that makes loyalty the employer’s problem.
Are you fostering employee loyalty? What could you do to improve their work lives? How can you show appreciation? How can you give your employees a sense of ownership in what they are doing? Can you make them share in the success of the company? Answer those questions and see if you can’t see a relationship to your turnover rates.
