Creating Loyalty

Leading the Way

contributed article by B. Lynn Gordon Leader Consulting

How leadership works on the ranch.

CREATING LOYALTY HOW GREAT LEADERS CREATE ORGANIZATIONS YOU NEVER WANT TO LEAVE

hange is hard and so is uncertainty. As I write this column, we are facing more uncertainty than ever before impacting citizens in the U.S. and around the globe. We can all relate to the uneasy feeling we have in our stomachs as we tune into the news wondering what is next, what does this uncertainty facing our nation mean for our families, our jobs, our community? Uncertainty causes uneasiness, anxiety, and frustration. The health emergency facing the world is unchartered territory as many of us to try and navigate through, and we are all praying and hoping for the best.

The feeling of uneasiness can be the result of unchartered territory and the unknown. These are the reasons why finding a workplace that aligns with our needs, values, and culture is so important to us and when we find it, we are often loyal and long-lasting employees. We all want to be able to say, “I am at my job because I love it here.”

I recently had the opportunity to hear Clint Pulver, author of the book, I Love it Here: How Great Leaders Create an Organization Their People Never Want to Leave, discuss what he learned from researching over 181 organizations and 10,000 employees about loyalty to their employer.

Pulver said, “I titled the book ‘I Love it Here’ because that was the message I heard when I would ask an employee, ‘What is it like to work here?’. Employees who found a culture that fit, responded with, ‘I love it here. I love my job, the management, the culture, what we are doing, what I get to build or develop.’”

His initial research focus was to gain a greater understanding of Millennials and Gen Z’s in the workplace. Millennials are people born between 1981 – 1996 and Gen Z’s is the label given to people born between 1997 -2010. He concluded, the results were not impacted by the generation represented as much as the management style occurring in the business. “People are people,” he said, “they still appear to want the underlining basics to be heard, understood, valued, and recognized by those around them.” As Pulver gathered data from employees, he realized that their loyalty to their employers could be traced back to what the employers did to encourage loyalty. What did the leaders in the organizations, companies, or businesses do to create an environment that employees didn’t want to leave? From this, he identified four types of managers and how their management and leadership styles impacted employee engagement. (See chart). Manager S tyleStandardsConnec tionEmployee Reac tion Removed Manager Low Low Disengagement Buddy Manager Low High Entitlement Controlling Manager High Low Rebellion Mentor Manager High High Repect C

REMOVED MANAGER

A manager who is removed is very disengaged from the daily interactions with his employees. Disengaged managers don’t communicate with employees, don’t know their names or address the employees by name. They manage from afar, not being seen regularly, not having staff meetings and limit face-to-face contact with employees. These managers present low standards to employees and, as a result, have a low connection with them. The perception presented to the employees is, “the manager doesn’t care, so why should I?”

Employee action: Disengagement

BUDDY MANAGER

This manager is everyone’s friend. She expresses to employees that everyone should be friends, and since we are all friends, an “anything-goes” attitude permeates through the workplace. This manager has a high connection with employees, going out for lunch with them, chatting over long coffee breaks, or shooting the breeze for long periods, but has low standards. Employees believe, this manager won’t fire me or discipline me because we are friends. I can show up late, do poor quality work, leave early, ask for lots of time off because we are buddies; they won’t enforce any standards or rules.

Employee action: Entitlement

CONTROLLING MANAGER

The controlling manager is representative of managers trained in the command and reward management system often associated with previous generations. They enforce an attitude of show up, do your work and don’t complain. Similar to that which we may remember hearing our parents say – children should be seen and not heard. Controlling managers are not there to be the employees’ friend, their focus is on getting the work done, making money, or focusing on the measurement associated with their business (e.g. manufacturing – number of items produced in one day). These individuals focus on high standards and low connection with employees. This creates an environment where employees don’t feel connected, appreciated. Employees perception is the manager values the product produced, not the person involved in producing the product.

Employee action: Rebellion

How do your employees react to your style?

MENTOR MANAGER

The mentor manager represents high standards and high connections. He is not just the developer, but an advocate for the individual. This manager demonstrates connection. He knows your name and expresses support for your work, but, at the same time has standards and expectations for your work. She focuses her efforts on empowerment and building an environment where productive relationships are nurtured, and trust is established. Employee engagement and loyalty is developed because the employee believes the manager truly cares about them, their abilities to contribute to the business and helping them achieve personally and professionally.

Employee action: RESPECT

Pulver encourages managers, CEO’s or anybody that goes by the title of an influencer (e.g. a leader or boss) to see the results gained by looking at their employees as people, not just generations and see the impact their management styles can have on loyalty. “If you learn how to do this and create this within your business, you give your people that opportunity to thrive, to survive and to come to an environment, a workplace where they like themselves best,” says Pulver.

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