Gone are the days that employees stay with one or two companies for the entirety of their careers. But that doesn’t mean loyalty is completely out of the picture. Now, more than ever, businesses depend on bosses and managers who can inspire loyalty through their leadership.
Need some tips on how to inspire a sense of loyalty within your team? Check out the following post brought to you by Arden Coaching.
Golden Rule of Employee Retention
Your employees may be loyal to your company’s mission (a great thing, no doubt) and love the work they do as an accountant, engineer, or designer (also fabulous), but what really inspires them to do their best every day and go above and beyond when the going gets tough is their interactions with their higher-ups.
Who you are as a boss will inspire your team to stay or go—the reason why creating a positive, nurturing, challenging environment is crucial. Here’s how.
Inspire Loyalty: Give Feedback
Feedback is important at any and every stage of an employee’s development. Without it, it’s difficult for team members to get their bearings and produce the kind of work you’re after. Feedback can be simple, from sending an email to give thoughts on a project to sitting down once a month to discuss challenges. Even negative feedback is said to be better than none, so don’t cut corners with your employees by skipping performance reviews or being inconsistent with checking in or they’re likely to seek a new leader who will.
Inspire Loyalty: Plan for the Future
Do your employees feel as though they have a place at your company in the long run and the opportunity for advancement? Great leaders take the time to sit down with the members of their team one-on-one to find out what they enjoy and what their professional goals are for the near and distant future.
Use these sessions to chart a course of development for each employee for growing within his or her role and gaining new experience. Be sure that you provide them with the training and resources they need to make these goals a reality.
Inspire Loyalty: Reward Them in Their Preferred Language
How you reward your team for a job well done can inspire loyalty and motivation to keep up the good work. But not every reward method works for every person. Some prefer public praise, while others may appreciate a handwritten thank you for their efforts.
Figuring out what your people prefer can take a little time to figure out. Once you do, you can reward each of your team members in the way that they find most meaningful, whether that’s taking the afternoon off or presenting them with a small surprise gift.
Building a Team That Stands by Your Side
Help your team thrive in their current positions and be inspired to keep growing at your company by providing them with individual feedback, planning for their professional development, and rewarding them in their preferred language of recognition.
Want more information about building a team that stands by your side? Check out our free eBook, Leadership Down the Line: How Executive Coaching Can Help You Inspire Your Executives and Their Leadership Teams to explore how executive coaching can inspire your employees at multiple levels.
